In which January 9th is muuuuch more boring than it was one year ago…
One year ago today, we were headed north on yet another emergency trip. Our last, more or less, as it turned out. The Commander was back in the hoosegow and after a touch-and-go week of discharge plans that didn’t ever quite get executed, I was informed that she had a c. diff infection. Google it if you dare. I don’t even want to think about it. I won’t go into detail here but things went downhill from there. The worst thing? January 9th was The Comm’s birthday (and Richard Nixon’s by the way). I am not feeling upset that she isn’t around for her 92nd. Her last year was horrible and I believe she’s in a better place. Do I miss her? That’s waaaayyyy too complicated for today. Short answer? No, but! Today, I am going to do some stories…
My parents, mugging for the camera, ca. early 2000s… Sam (dog, not archaeologist) can be seen behind Grandroobly…
The Commander and Grandroobly dealing with fighting about the moomincabin garbage.
In which Kayak Woman is in trouble with The Commander.
And again…
The Comm was raised to be a “proppa” kind of gal and here she is making sure that Radical Betty had a napkin at RB’s last birthday. A cloth one, no less. Weeee have to doooo this right! Roight?
And then, there is the Thud Club. It started with The Goddess Esther, who apparently had a “thud” incident over in the Niagara Falls area, where she lives. The Comm earned her Thud Club apron back in the day when The Engineer and I were 20-somethings and kind of floundering around. Well, I was floundering, The Engineer was an engineer. The story was that The Comm and Radical Betty drank wine after dinner at RB’s house and kvetched about their kids and then they walked the beach and The Comm fell down in the shallow water next to the shore. And may have had some difficulty getting up. Oh heck, we all have Thud Club aprons now. I earned mine long ago.
I could go on but I think I am done for the night. HB to The Commander and a HUGE thanks to all who loved her and helped me during the last couple years of her life.
January 9th, 2013 at 8:09 pm
Thanks Anne, you brought back many wonderful memories, and I have been thinking about her today, too. Jan
January 9th, 2013 at 8:26 pm
Happy birthday to the Commander. You and the GG were so attentive to her needs and protective of her dignity during that difficult time. I really admire her sense of humor during some pretty challenging moments. And remember when she watched the presidential State of the Union address? What a woman!
January 9th, 2013 at 9:20 pm
Loved her glare in the one photo! What in the world did you do? This is a great post and makes me wish I had known her. Happy Trails to the Commander. 🙂
January 9th, 2013 at 10:24 pm
Happy Birthday to our gal. I so enjoyed those last years with her, getting to know her better. Very generous spirit with a sense of humor, and the ability to put that into wonderful glares, and turns of speech with creative word search. I’m missing the Thud Club uniform, but I know I’m an honorary member. Much love to you my friend, I can say that I haven’t stopped missing RB, but the missing becomes softer edged and sweeter with time. My imagination roams when I think about our gals in the spirit realm, what fun havoc!
ps Is that really the grandroobly with the garbage, or is it RB?. . . I suppose the stance could be familial
January 10th, 2013 at 7:46 am
The Commander was a source of quiet (mostly) wisdom for me. Of course, she also told me things about beach people that gave me whole new perspectives. It’s odd, because yesterday, (the 9th), I was thinking that she had a January birthday, but I didn’t remember the date. Hugs to you.