The Sweet Life ~ A Beautiful Wedding & A Family Vacation

Mr. and Mrs. Jack Bishop!

Just having returned from the beautiful wedding of my nephew Jack Bishop and Kristin Grimsgaard, memories of each little facet of the wedding, and those precious days before and after, continue to play over and over in my head.  Wanting to remember every single detail of what was a joyous and poignant moment in the lives of this young couple, as well as all  who were there as witness, has me focusing on the highlights of the evening (and the entire six days we were there).  The setting was The Addison in Boca Raton, Florida.  Here's a synopsis of how we experienced this past week and the memories of this time that many will take with us as Jack and Kristin move forward in their married life together.

July 4th:  After the exciting first-ever flight for Henry and Peter, we (being me, son Jeff, daughter Katie, son-in-law Bill, and Hank and Pete) arrived at our hotel and later joined Jack and Kristin and their families for a cook-out at the marina where Kristin's parents, Curt and Sherry, live in their house boat (beautiful!). I was especially happy to see my brother Danny and his wife Suzette there, in from California.  It's been too long since we've seen each other.  It was a great time with an all-American barbecue and all the fixings, and later we watched fireworks over the ocean from lawn chairs in the marina parking lot.  Henry and Peter loved it!

July 5th:
Early Thursday morning Henry agreed to go with me to the hotel pool (Embassy Suites, Deerfield Beach) where he met 5-year old twins Archer and Brody.  The ice breaker was when Brody approached Henry saying, "We have the same swim trunks" - all three boys were wearing identical Star Wars bathing suits. They became fast friends and played in the pool together each day until the twins and their parents checked out a few days later.  We also ventured to the beach that day, a gorgeous strip across the drive from the back of the hotel.  Henry loved (Pete didn't) the beach and the sand.  He especially loved jumping over the waves.  Our hotel hosted a happy hour every night, where we met family and relaxed for a while.  After happy hour that night, we drove to the Mai Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale where we feasted on tropical drinks and dishes.  Henry and Peter especially enjoyed the walk through the gardens with waterfalls and lighted Tiki torches!  It was getting late, and Henry fell asleep before he could finish his dinner.  Little brother Pete powered through.

Deerfield Beach, F-L-A!

Henry in the surf!

July 6th:
After morning pool and beach time, we ventured out to a local sea-turtle exhibit (which was lacking sea turtles because their expired permit had not yet been renewed) but it was fun nonetheless.  We saw other aquatic life, and took a walk on a boardwalk that wound around and through a wooded, marshy area.  Katie was horrified by the spiders and their huge webs.  It was a good afternoon, but we were happy to return to the air-conditioned car and  head back to the hotel.   Dinner that night was at the Whale's Rib, a really funky, 70s-ish era seafood restaurant/bar where I ordered a Caesar salad with crab cakes.  The kids were great, though Henry again fell asleep half way through dinner.  Something tells me we wore that kid out!

July 7th, THE BIG DAY:
The Wedding!!!  7 p.m. at The Addison in Boca Raton.  A visually beautiful setting.  Add to that a beautiful bride, her so-handsome groom, proud fathers, and the two best-looking and happy mothers of the bride and groom, and it was magical.  These are two special families, and I'm not just saying that.  Kristin is the eldest of four daughters.  Jack is the eldest of four sons.  The love and respect the siblings have for one another, their parents, and for their families-by-marriage, is evident.  It's as if these families had lived somewhat parallel lives and their joining is meant to be, and so easily understood.  This new expanded family will have many years of happy life to experience together, and I am excited to see what unfolds in their combined future. (and once again, Henry fell asleep and Pete partied on!)...

Here are just a few memories of that amazing evening:

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

July 8th.  Wind-down day.
It's a little anti-climactic, the day after a wedding.  People are still in a post-wedding happy stupor of sorts.  There may be a little sentiment of a bittersweet nature, realizing (for mothers,especially) that your child has moved on and things won't ever be the same again.  Yet,  you've done all you can to prepare them for the life ahead, trust them to make good decisions, and hold back a little when your opinion could help, because you want them to figure it out for themselves.  The day after the wedding has one thinking, "OK, that was great! What happens next?" after so many months of planning and anticipation.  My sister and her husband have much ahead this year, with their youngest son headed to college in August, a move from their current home pending, as well as all the details of everyday life we all manage.  After an afternoon excursion with our contingent to the Palm Beach Zoo, I finally caught up with Anne later in the afternoon.  She joined us at happy hour, and soon most of the family was gathered together. It was fun to relive happy moments of the wedding -- how beautiful it was, how gorgeous Kristin looked, Ben's terrific Best Man toast to his brother and new wife, how great the food was at The Addison, and THE DANCING:  Our brother Danny (O'Farrell) had everyone laughing with his entertaining dance moves, and it was a lively party all night long.

On this post-wedding evening, we went separate ways for dinner, with my group walking about a mile up the beach to JB's on the Beach, where we enjoyed a great meal and live music.  Our return trip to the hotel, on the walkway along the beach as dusk fell, was so nice.  The sky was in that just-before-dark glow of late day, lamp posts were lit, and there was a refreshing breeze coming off the ocean.  Beach-goers were packing up their cars, saying good-bye to a beautiful day.  I leisurely pushed the stroller through it all, and walked behind Katie, Bill, and Jeff.  Henry hummed all the way back, and Pete said "hi" to everyone we passed.  Back at the hotel, Henry and Pete enjoyed a cool bath, and were soon sound asleep.  We packed our bags for our trip home (reluctantly!), though Bill and I kept our swimsuits out in the hopes of an early morning dip in the ocean before heading to the airport.

This morning, July 9th:
7:15 a.m.:  I hear, "Jeannie, are you awake?" It was Bill, ready to go to the beach with his new snorkel gear. We were out the door in 5 minutes.  The water was calm as could be.  We were the only ones out there.  Bill went out into the water first, and saw a bunch of little fish.  Then he handed the equipment to me, and I gave it a shot, though I don't have the breathe/blow/water/don't suck in water thing down very well!  I opted for just the mask and stayed in shallow water where there were schools of small fish darting back and forth.  I gave Bill his equipment back and after a few minutes, he asked me to check out the fish that were tickling his ankles!  These were about 6-inches long and had a neon yellow spine along their back.  They were playful, and not at all afraid of Bill's hand attempting to swat them away.  Then they started on me!  I swear they did nip at me, and it feels like a misquito bit me!  After that I was a little freaked out because they followed my feet so we got out and got ready for our journey home, thus ending a beautiful six-day break from reality all centered around the wedding of Jack and Kristin.

I am so grateful I was able to spend this time with precious family and friends, and that Henry and Peter's first flight is attached to such a wonderful memory.  I don't know that they will be able to recall this week when they are older, but I will tell them about it often, and continue to share the joy of this wonderful occasion.

And before I part, just a few more extra memories, and then on to anticipating the joyful celebration of my own daughter Tricia's wedding to her fiance Jeff in October!  And you KNOW I'll be writing about that!

Let the happiness continue!

HAPPY MARRIAGE, JACK AND KRISTIN!

I love you both, so much.

Aunt Jeannie

A Red, White, and Blue Weekend

I've taken a few days off from my regular daily posting, and I'm back now to tell you about my 4th of July weekend.  The 4th, Sunday, was spent at home.  Katie and Bill cooked out. Later, my son Jeffrey and I decided to take a ride in to town (now that I am a country bumpkin, that's what I say when heading in to Saratoga Springs) to see the fireworks in Congress Park.  The park was beautiful as darkness set in.  Little girls were selling those glow-in-the-dark headbands and necklaces, and vendors lined the road leading to Canfield Casino.  People were picnicking on blankets, and the whole atmosphere was one of happy anticipation. 

Fireworks in Congress Park, Saratoga Springs

The highlight of the long holiday weekend was our trip on the 5th to western Massachusetts, to Tanglewood, to see James Taylor and Carol King perform on the last leg of their Troubador tour.  It was an incredibly beautiful night after a scorching hot day.  We packed up Katie's Outback wagon with everything we would ever need.  We picked up boxed lunches from Putnam Market on our way out of Saratoga (Katie's very smart idea!) and brought blankets, folding chairs, pillows and all kinds of Henry-paraphernalia to lug from the parking lot in Henry's little red wagon (leaving no room for Henry).  I brought sugar cookies I'd baked earlier in the day (see above, and right). 

We found a great spot on the lawn, settled in and enjoyed a relaxing, entertaining evening of music that just soothes my soul.  They sang all my favorites, and ended the evening with Up on the Roof, which I'd been waiting for and was so happy to hear.  It was my first time there, and I loved Tanglewood.  The drive from Saratoga is really enjoyable, and it is only about an hour and a half away.  I have a feeling we've started a nice tradition.

Here is a picture of Henry enjoying our spot at Tanglewood.

And Henry enjoying a little time with Ben & Jerry as we waited for the performance to begin (I think he had three changes of clothes, and another one after this!)...

A nice shot of our neighbor's picnic site...

And Tanglewood's ampitheater where JT and CK made beautiful music!

While we chose a spot on the lawn that didn't allow a direct view of the stage, it didn't matter.  We could feel the music, we were a part of it, and knowing we were right there was enough.  James Taylor and Carol King have fun.  They enjoy their music, and each other, so beautifully.  It seems that their collaboration is a musical marriage of sorts, where their styles and personalities seem one in the same as they play together.   I heard on NPR that their tour ends in Anaheim on July 20th, and that date is finite.  There will be no extension to this tour.  I'm so glad we had a chance to be part of it, but I want more.  Carol King said in the interview on NPR that the real sign of a successful performance is not just that it leaves an audience wanting more, it leaves her wanting more, too.  And it shows -- they played long into the night even after the concert was over, serenading us with songs as we loaded up our cars and left the parking lots.  How many performers care enough about their music or their fans to do that?  It is a beautiful thing.

I really enjoyed the essence of summer that was so present this 4th of July weekend.  I hope you all had a memorable time with your families and friends as well.

Happy Fourth of July!

Here we are celebrating our country's 234th birthday.  Since none of us were around to remember what that first birthday was like, we rely on our own memories of the holiday.  I love the Americana of it all -- parades, cook outs, family gatherings, and fireworks.  Containers overflowing with flowers.  The distinctive American flag.  Honoring those who made it all possible.  It all means summer and relaxation and taking a little bit of time to enjoy all that we are so fortunate to have.

Yesterday my sister's neighborhood celebrated one day early, and we went down to the pool to enjoy some time in the sun.  Soon, her family joined us, and it wasn't long before the entire area will filled with families ready to party.  In preparation for last night's celebration, a crew was setting up all the containers and inserting fireworks in each.  That in itself was very interesting.

I had to return home to finish up some baking for this morning.  I made a cake for a former neighbor whose five daughters and seven grandchildren are hosting her 90th birthday party today.  What a beautiful day for a party. 

Yesterday, I delivered a cake for a couple celebrating  their fiftieth wedding anniversary.  To have such significant milestones combined with the excitement of the Fourth of July guarantees that this weekend's parties are truly happy, festive occasions. 

Tonight the city of Saratoga Springs will have its own fireworks display.  It's always a great evening in Congress Park as people sit on blankets, some there for the whole day, waiting in happy anticipation for that first "BOOM!"  I love watching the faces of little kids, the wonder and the oohs and aahs as the bright and explosive beauty in the sky unfolds. 

For me, my memories of the fourth of July are predominantly focused on two parts of my life.  First, as kids on Mac Arthur Drive in Saratoga Springs when all the neighbors came out after dark and the kids swirled sparklers in beautiful spirals in the night.  It was small, and intimate, and very, very special.   Second, the memory of July 4, 1985 will always and forever be, without a doubt, THE most memorable, for many reasons.  I wrote about it in last year's blog for this holiday, and it can be found here.

Enjoy this long weekend and this uniquely American holiday!  Have a great time!

Photos:  mine

July 4, 1985

We secured our vantage points early. There were a lot of parents with little children, all wanting to see. It was just after 9 p.m. Normally, these kids would have all been asleep by then. We had a spectacular view of the fireworks, reflected in the windows of the tall buildings surrounding the Empire State Plaza in Albany. We could feel the rumbling power, though it was conspicuously quiet despite the explosions happening just a few blocks away from the parents’ room in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Albany Medical Center. By day, and on other nights, this room was refuge for parents staying with critically ill children. That’s why we were there. On this night, it was a place to forget, for a few moments, how fragile life had become for all of us.

Gene and I stood with Meghan, then five years old, tethered to her I.V. pole. Her head had been shaved for surgery and later wrapped in bandages, with the exception of a little ponytail up on top (think Pebbles Flintstone). The nurses wanted to save some of her pretty dark brown hair. She was awed by the fireworks, just as she had been for the few Independence Day displays she’d witnessed in her young life. As we sat in the darkened room, the children’s faces literally lit up with each burst of light. There were the typical “ooohs” and “ahhhs” you’d expect on any other 4th of July, though this was a unique holiday, one I wished had turned out very differently, and one that would undoubtedly stay with all of us forever.

We’d arrived at Albany Medical Center just after midnight three days earlier. I accompanied Meghan in the ambulance (the longest ride of my life). Gene drove with friends to meet us there. Meghan was stable and awake, immobile, her head and body strapped to a flat board. She was still wearing her polka-dotted bathing suit from earlier the day before, when we’d taken the kids to the Spa pool and planned a backyard barbeque afterwards. There was a compress on her head where the golf club had made impact. It was a terrible accident. A neighbor friend had been playing with his dad’s golf club and she walked right into the swing. The staff at Saratoga Hospital’s emergency room arranged for her transfer to Albany, but we had to wait four hours for the ambulance to be available. She required brain surgery. I was holding her hand and talking to her. She was hungry and wanted pizza. I was grateful she was irritable, assuring me that, for now, her vitality was intact.

The doctors would perform surgery to remove skull fragments from the frontal lobe of her brain. We waited and prayed in the hospital’s chapel. The sun came up in that way that stings your eyes after crying, and one of the surgeons came to find us. Meghan had done well through the operation and would be asleep for a number of hours. She woke up around 10 a.m., in her own nook in the larger sphere of nooks in the PICU. She was alert and talking, asking for pizza. We’d been told that her injury might cause memory loss. I found her to be the same child she’d always been – curious, feisty, demanding – and I was relieved.

Gathered around us that 4th of July night were many children: a baby with Downs Syndrome and leukemia whose grandparents had assumed legal custody; a little boy recovering from a coma after a near-drowning incident in his grandparents’ pool; a lovely eight year old girl who survived, with a broken back, the car accident that claimed her mother’s life; a young girl with severe, uncontrollable seizures; a nurse holding a young toddler, abandoned by her parents after a long and expensive illness, and who called every nurse “mama.”

I sat with Meghan and watched her, despite all she’d been through, filled with joy at the spectacle before her. I remember being acutely aware, just then, that while something terrible had indeed happened, how truly fortunate we were.


Photo credit: http://www.albany.com/images/fireworks-albany.jpg

It's a Different World

It’s been a rainy June in Saratoga Springs, and we’ve only had one day this month that’s reached 80 degrees. Days like this find me longing for the warm, long, lazy summer days of my childhood, when blue skies and sunshine were the only formula necessary for a good time.

When I was a little kid on MacArthur Drive, summer seemed so much longer than it does now. Then there was time to be bored, time to lie on the grass, contemplate the clouds, and watch the world go by. I often hear “it’s a different world now” usually in regard to politics, personal finances, or raising kids. It’s also a different world for the way kids experience life. During our 1950s and 60s summers, we’d run out the door after breakfast and wouldn’t return until lunch time. It was the same for the hours between lunch and “supper” as we called dinner then. Our mothers knew we were outside playing, but didn’t have to know exactly where. Play wasn’t structured or organized or considered a “date.” It didn’t cost a thing. It was spontaneous and creative. Most mothers were home then, not burdened by the worries of parents today. We didn’t take snacks with us everywhere we went. We ate when we were home. We didn’t lug water bottles or vitamin-infused drinks with us. We drank from water fountains or garden hoses. We rode our bikes or walked, and family dogs tagged along. We were participants, more than mere observers, of the world around us. We didn’t have to pay fees to be part of a team. We just signed on and anyone who wanted to, played ball. When the sun went down, our parents would gather on lawn chairs in a neighbor’s driveway and watch as the kids played Red Light Green Light , Red Rover, or Freeze Tag. On the Fourth of July, we’d gather together and swirl sparklers in glimmering spirals, with minimal caution from our parents to be careful. My mother, her world passing by more quickly than ours, would sigh, “After the Fourth of July, summer’s over…” and we’d protest, “Mom, don’t say that!” Our summer was just beginning.

Summer hasn’t yet officially started. The Fourth of July is approaching, and I can’t wait. There’s so much summer to enjoy after that!

Tomorrow's blog: Bolton Landing!

photo credit: http://images.quickblogcast.com/101258-93957/Boy_Drinking_Water_from_Garden_Hose.jpg