My maternal grandfather, shown here at Easter when he was quite young, would celebrate his 118th birthday today. Sadly, I never knew my Nana very well; I was only 4 when she died. But grandpa was charismatic, infuriating, charming, temperamental, demanding and hilarious. I loved him dearly, in spite of my mother’s stories about growing up with a mercurial father. He was a dentist who made drama over me refusing to floss my teeth. I still don’t. An innocent post about his birthday last year caused an estrangement from a cousin who had a very different experience with him. It’s been 40 years since he died, yet she still carries so much baggage. Since I’m 10 years older than this cousin, I’m sure my experience with Grandpa was better than hers, yet her reaction was OVER THE TOP. Unfriending, really? Are we in junior high?
As for my last post about friendships, we all have varied needs for companionship and socialization. I’m no extrovert, but I do like being around people (37 years of teaching), going out to coffee dates and Happy Hours and having “dates” on my calendar. I’m not married and don’t live with anyone, so that influences my attitude toward friendships and maintaining them. I’m not lonely and I do have my cat…sitting right next to me at the moment. But I easily could isolate myself (it’s less stressful sometimes) and also could withdraw from the complexities of the world. I choose not to.
On a very hot day, our last one for a while, Mari is relaxing in the sun–from the heat pumped and comfortable family room. She’s so spoiled!
Isn’t Ian something else? He’s such a personable baby.
This week I’ve been going out to Older Daughter’s to spend time with those grandsons. Here, OD was helping Sharky do a coil pot. She’s extremely artistic and doesn’t mind mess. I wasn’t the greatest parent for her although I did try. Her dad was much more her vibe. Now that she’s nearly 40, I consider her another close friend. Note: Her ’80s themed party is coming up soon, so I’ll have to figure out my complete outfit. Due to the drop in temperature, leg warmers are definitely in!
Book Club today included only four people and we 100% disliked the book. Yet, we had an excellent discussion about cults, teaching and teachers, fascism and other personal events and feelings that I won’t share here. And the ice cream bars on a 93-degree day were very fitting!
Leave a Reply