Good Things Come in Surprise Packages

April 22, 2013, just seven days after the terrible events in Boston...it hardly seems possible.  A week of horror, disbelief and confusion.  There was a bright spot in the middle of the week for me, when I came home to discover a USO package on my doorstep.  I could have been knocked over with a feather.  Flowers from Brendan! Gorgeous, unique patriotic white roses tinted blue and red.  They had the appearance of colored tissue paper once they were in full bloom.  I took them to work so I could enjoy them all day.  Early Mother's Day present?   Late Christmas gift?  Doesn't matter, it was a floral hug from the other side of the world during a week of distress and sorrow.  

That Was Then...This is Now

     In my last post, I talked about my childhood girlfriends and our upcoming beach trip.  I started thinking about my mother and her girlfriends, many of whom she has also known since her school days.  These women are a strong group and they have been a wonderful example of how to support one another through both good and bad - the happy times of babies, childraising, weddings, grandchildren and their own long marriages.  But they have also been there for some harrowing times - serious illnesses, deaths of spouses, parents,  children and sbilings, children who were in trouble or just troubled and the many bumps and bruises that life brings to us all.

     There they were at a charity fashion show when they were in their 30's.  Now in their mid 70's to early 80's, they have no less fun - bridge, trips, Saturday morning breakfast every week, Buddy Dinner once a month and almost daily contact.  Here they are at a recent cocktail party to introduce the new daughters-in-law of Betzy's grandsons.

Here's to our women friends and all the joy, fun and support they bring to our lives! 

Getting Stoned...

Ladies night out at the Atlanta History Center on April 15, 2013.  It was a few hours of very welcome distraction from the awful and bewildering bombings at the Boston Marathon which had just occurred earlier that afternoon.  We went to hear Curtis Stone, celebrity chef, TV personality/host of Top Chef Masters.  I had no real notion of what was in store for the evening;  I  wasn't sure if it would be a cooking demo, or traditional lecture.  It turned out to be a delightful, entertaining event.  It felt like we were a talk show audience. The highlights were when the affable Australian chef  took questions from the audience.  We fell in love with Pips, a woman (with an Australian daughter-in-law, no less) who was herself in love with THE chef and guest-of-honor.  Tons of  laughter at their banter...and Pips entertained Chef Stone enough for him to whip out his phone and videotape her.  Perhaps we'll  find it on YouTube...   It was a fun evening that ended with a book signing.  You can read more about him here:  http://www.curtisstone.com/About-Curtis.aspx

or here: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef-masters

 Cindy shakes Curtis' hand....note how polite he was to stand up....

 I must be stoned...he's a blur.  That's Susan getting books for Margaret and Frank.

 A gracious host, with a hug for all who patiently waited in line for a signature...

He sure is eye candy....candy? No, dessert! 

We Are the Sub Deb Girls of Danville

   How many people can say they still keep in contact with ten friends that they started kindergarten with?  Growing up in Danville, VA, the same girls I was riding bikes with or taking ballet with became my best high school friends.  There were eleven of us in the same class (our precious Laura died suddently at 39) that became members of a high school sorority called the Sub Debs.  Many of our mothers had been members of the same group back in the 1950's.  One of several sororities in our high school of course we were THE Sub Debs and therefore the best!!!
    So what did we do???  We met every single Wednesday at someone's home (any excuse to escape on a school night) for refreshments and official meetings and to pay our $1 dues.  But mostly when we met we were planning the two formal dances we held each year - bands, all night breakfasts and what boys to ask were the big topics - or talking about our annual week long beach trip to Myrtle Beach where we took over the Blue Bay Inn ( no parents allowed).  The whole year was spent raising money for these ventures - the biggest fundraiser being a big Brunswick Stew sale (we hired someone professional but we helped make it and tend the pots overnight).
     Thanks to our parents still being in Danville, we all stayed in touch and sent Christmas cards but it was not until 2000 (26 years after high school graduation) that we met for a weekend at Smith Mountain Lake.  Since that time we have had numerous trips to the beach and to Charleston and when we are together it is like going back in time.  As often happens with the best of friends, we just magically pick up like we have never been apart.  As Jane famously said - we KNOW each other - we know where we came from and who our moms and dads were - so there is no need to impress or compete.  What joy there is in that knowledge.

These pictures were taken at our last get together in 2009 at Topsail Beach, NC.  Seven of us made the trip.  We laughed and ate almost continuously and spent alot of time walking on the beach and pouring through three scrapbooks I had kept of our high school years.  When we had the Sub Deb dances, the Danville paper even printed news of the events so we were able to go back and review who we took as dates, where the parties were held, what bands we hired.  Our conversations had gone from little children to driving lessons, college applications,weddings, grandchildren (Ginny now has five and Jane has two!) and even hot flash pajamas!!

Next trip - April 26-28, 2013!!  Everyone is searching for our wonderful silver Sub Deb necklaces and memory books to take along.  As time goes on, there is such a sense of gratitude for long time friends that we know and love so well.  The years have passed quickly but we are all very blessed to have one another.

As the song says, We are THE Sub Deb Girls of Danville...We are the ones who have the fun!

And You Know I Love You

     There really is nothing in life that compares to the unconditional love of a parent.  As a parent, I know how it feels to love my children no matter what.  As a child, I was lucky enough to have parents who showed me they loved me always.

     When I was growing up there literally was not one day that my Dad did not put his hands on my cheeks, look me in the eyes and say You Know I Love You.  Once I left home there was never a phone conversation or a letter that did not include those words.  How I miss hearing that.  The last words my Dad ever spoke to me were "I Love You Susan".

     It is said that death ends a life but not a relationship.  I know now that is true.  I miss you Dad and you know I love you...always.
    

Easter Bunny Cake

Easter Sunday 2013.   A rainy day that turned out perfect for staying indoors and doing creative things. I saw this post from Jenny Steffens Hobick about her bunny cakes 

and was inspired to make one of my own.  

Mostly because I realized I just happened to have had all the ingredients on hand.  You can see the original bunny cake here:  http://jennysteffens.blogspot.com/

 I liked her pair of faceless bunnies,

But Tony decided my bunny needed some eyes.    That's OK.  Easy peasy, and the results were cute either way, eyeballs or not.  And it satisfied my need to do something to replace the non-existent Easter egg hunt in the backyard...and, the guys at work were the beneficiaries of the other half of the cake and the bunny leftovers.

The Trouble with Angels

This post is not about the Haley Mills movie but it makes for a nicer blog post title than what this is really about: my Holocaust story.  This memory came to mind when P.S. Susan and I recently attended the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival's screening of  "Defiant Requiem," a documentary film about the brave prisoners of Theresienstadt concentration camp.  (http://defiantrequiemfilm.com).   Back in 1981 Tony and I were living in Ambler, PA. a bedroom community  just north of  Philadelphia.  (Ambler also happens to be where they filmed the 1966 movie....see http://www.netreach.net/~sixofone/ttwa.htm )  Tony was working for Texas Instruments and I was working various jobs through a temp agency.  We were pre-nesters--no children yet-- living in a charming old (oxymoron?) apartment that was simple but comfortable and convenient to everything.  One weekend my college friend-turned-actress Valinda came to visit from NYC.   As soon as she arrived we got started talking non-stop and ending up in an in-depth discussion of the Holocaust: concentration camps, gas chambers and Anne Frank.  To this day we don't know what triggered that subject, but after a few hours I decided I should probably get dinner started before Tony got home.... The gas oven in the apartment  required igniting the pilot light before you could set the temp. (told you this was an old apt.)  Still chatting, deep in Hitler-atrocities, I turned on the gas and then went over to get the matches on the counter.  Big mistake.  I don't think anyone had ever told me the exact proper order of lighting a gas fire...
 WHOOOOMPH.   (I do believe my heart stopped).  With my eyes tightly clenched I timidly asked,
"Valinda?  My eyebrows.  Do I have any eyebrows?"  
Silence.
"Yes.Yes. Don't panic. You have your eyebrows. But....you need to go look in the mirror..."

I looked like I was wearing a halo of brown baby's breath.  The whole top layer of my hair was singed into ash. However, Valinda was right, my eyebrows were untouched, the burnt smell was horrible and we were....relieved but exhausted.  When we thought about the "couldas"  --as in I coulda burnt the whole building down--- we agreed the angels were watching over us that afternoon.

This past weekend I saw the film "Beasts of the Southern Wild."   There were no parts of the movie I would consider humorous but I actually laughed out loud when li'l Hushpuppy pulls out a football helmet--or was it a hockey mask--from the freezer(!) and puts it on her face before she lights up the kitchen stove with a blow torch.  WHOOOOMPH.  Despite the fact (spoiler alert) that she burns the place down,  I think that plucky kid was on to something.