Anticipation

You can guess from the title that this upcoming weekend will involve contact with granddaughters. You would be correct. In what has become an annual Mother’s Day tradition my son’s family comes down here along with the ABFA’s parents so we can celebrate together. An additional bonus this year is the attendance of Great Aunt. While I always oversell the sheer joy (now that I’ve written that, I don’t even think it is possible, but I digress) of spending time with granddaughters, I’m equally stoked to hang out with my Favorite Son and the ABA, not to mention the other worthies listed above.

The BRS and BR3 along with their parental units pull into town tomorrow to begin the celebration. The others will follow on Sunday, hopefully along with a mystery guest. The New Jersey bunch is headed for the hills for their annual cabin weekend with the FBR’s gang of friends and their parents. So, everyone is going to have fun this weekend, which is how it should be as we honor the most important personages in our lives, mothers. I sometimes have some hard thoughts about my own mother but I’m trying to overcome those feelings, generated by the shell of the person she became after the death of my younger sister. My mom had a seriously tough childhood, some of which I am just now learning about.

Mom and I

Mom When She was Young

Deceased Sister

If I’ve learned anything about life, it is hanging on to resentment is a recipe for unhappiness. I don’t even know if it’s my place to forgive her those last few decades but I’m trying to remember the gorgeous, young outgoing mother from my earliest years. It’s interesting to talk with older cousins who equated my mother with Jackie Kennedy. I guess I was too close to the issue and her descent over her final years muddled those memories. Still, I’m intensely proud to call her my mom as I delve into the memory bank of those earlier years. Happy Mother’s Day, mom, I wish you could have met your great-granddaughters, they are special.

With Great Aunt

With my Remaining Two Sisters

With my Son and Daughter

Shortly Before her Passing

Well, after that weird right turn, let’s return to a discussion of anticipation. When I was working, Friday was always anticipated as the first of its kind for each week and to be celebrated for that primacy. Some people still, weirdly, thought I meant the first Friday of a month. Peasants. Any discussion of anticipation should include the revered position of Friday and the fact it happens every week. I’m not sure the mothers we hope to honor this week are anticipating the dinner that we, possessed of a Y chromosome, will be preparing for them. I always lean on the old adage, it’s the thought that counts. We could never adequately thank them for all they have done and continue to do to make our lives special. So, yeah, anticipation. With granddaughters in residence, there will be no blog writing until Monday at the earliest.

Three movies fell in my A-Z watch, all keepers (obviously!), Die Hard, Christmas classic that made Willis a star; Die Hard 2, Die Harder, silliest of the bunch but still a wild ride; and Die Hard With a Vengeance, Willis and Jackson made a great team. Editor’s note: As you can see, I am immersed in the Die Hard series. Interestingly, as I look at the movie library shelves, the Die Hard Series and Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry series surround the two Dirty Dancing movies which is juxta-positioned between the two series. An interesting happenstance considering the content. Additional note, the Dirty Dancing movies belong to my Favorite Panamanian and as such I can’t eliminate them, still, two ultimate chick movies between all that mayhem and macho. Things that make you go, “Hmmm”.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course