A big HELLO to TriangleParkATL readers -- I love you more than these blogs let on. How was your Memorial Day, May 31, 2021? What an honor to celebrate the men and women who bravely fought and often died for [our] freedom. And what an honor to also celebrate the men and women who are ready at this very minute to do the same thing!
If I had my druthers, every day would be Memorial Day.
The only thing I don’t like about Memorial Day is the pressure of being on a lake or beach, around a pool, or barbecuing in the backyard. I love all of those things but not necessarily on the last Monday in May, year after year. “Variety is the spice of life”...when celebrating, anything.
This Memorial Day, we celebrated by treating mom (91) and her “best friend” Marilyn (93) to an Italian dinner in Dunwoody. Not your typical, traditional M-D celebration but it was fun to be with two people who remember World War II well. Who says life slows down in your 90s, or because of Covid19? These two girls were ready to go!
Here they are heading to Marilyn’s red-hot sports car.
I wanted mom to look at the camera in this shot but she defied me and set it up sideways.
The older she gets, the more she disobeys me. Isn’t that how it goes with children? Even elderly children, when the tables turn?
It was mom’s first restaurant-outing since locking down last year. Marilyn has gone out many times. Not only were we celebrating Memorial Day, we were celebrating mom getting back out on the social scene.
Sometimes I dread getting wrinkly, out of shape and slow -- the ripple effect, if you will. But after a night with these spunky 90+ers, I’m rather looking forward to, well, not exactly wrinkles and slowing down, but sharing stories and time with generations other than my own.
Marilyn told me about her six children; 19 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren and how at this point in life she has decided to stop keeping track. She went to secretarial school in Manhattan and is thankful to have lived during the era that she did. On her sports car she has stickers for Perdue, Notre Dame, Indiana, a nursing school, a military school and others I can’t remember.
Diane and Marilyn have a lot in common. Growing up in the same era bonds them specifically and of course they both have a lot of grand and great grandchildren (Mom has about half as many). Of note is that Diane has a grandson who is an F35 Marine pilot and Marilyn has a grandson who is a Navy Seal. But, when they’re together, they enjoy sharing news of all their children and grandchildren. Not just the TopGuns.
Letting mom invite her “best friend” to dinner was a lot of fun for all of us. It was also a pleasure having Elijah (in town from New York City) join us with Diana. Obviously, those two are young but they are mature beyond their years and a joy on par with the elder guests of honor.
All age groups matter, magnificently!
Did you notice that I said I “let” my mother invite her best friend? “Letting” her sounds like she’s a toddler. The circle of life? Whatever it is, loads of fun was had by all.
I thank God for their presence.
Diane and Marilyn make “getting up there” something to look forward to...assuming there will be people around to enjoy us (psst, hi girls :-).
God Bless the United States Military and all those who served and are serving!
And God Bless us all…
Thank you for reading!
Love, Shelley
