Gifts

My Aunt Elaine turned 85 this weekend and we were invited to the grand dame’s party. Aunt Elaine is my mother’s “ baby sister”and the only member of my mom’s immediate family left alive. We got the call last week the party was going to take place this week. We got our food assignment: dinner rolls. I picked up three dozen at Sam’s Club on Saturday before and I have to admit that the whole bag of rolls were consumed, that hardly ever happens.

The party was held in the Elaine and Jess’s club house at their new condominium and Dianne and I were invited. We were the only ‘ outsiders’ everyone else, as far as I could see were Haroldsons in one form or another. The three dozen rolls I took swiftly vanished which means that at 36 people were there and most likely more. Most of these people were from one family of the Haroldson kids. Terry Jess the oldest of the Haroldson kids, and his immediate family is huge an stretches well 30years. I was messing in my head Sunday, that if all of the kids showed up and brought their families there would be well over a hundred souls at the fest.

It seemed everyone else brought a hot dish, I saw a green bean casserole, a lot of mac and cheese(built from scratch) funeral potatoes and a couple of vats of lasagna. I was going to try and go with out eating anything but eventually I broke down trying the beans and potatoes. The beans were pretty good but the funeral spuds could have been a lot better but they were good enough.

We always get invited to these things and I never think that is because we are special and that maybe these invitation is not a across the boards to all other families of the extended family. I find this difficult to believe but maybe do to the food and space limitations there are limits as who gets to attend and who does not.

The grand and great grand children were all wearing costumes; something my cousin, Judy had come up with. Girls in princess outfits and boys in any kind a costume they saw fit. I saw one batman, a cowboy and various other outfits, which were developed after the kid got to the party. The outfits had something to do with my aunt’s youth. In fact the boys were given little fake mustaches to wear. Later Dianne later assisted Judy in assigning “names from history” to each child i.e. ‘Butch Cassidy’ ‘Jane Seymore’ ‘Theodore Roosevelt’ etc. I do not know what kind of impact names and costumes had on my aunt but kept the masses entertained and that as he commercial say is “priceless”.

I am sorry to report that this may, well in fat, be my wonderful aunt's last birthday. She looked indeed frail. I hope not, but each day of life to seniors of their age is indeed a gift as each day nof life for me is a gift. I hope we all appreciate our gifts.