Betty and I have known each other for a long time. She used to work in my friend Ralph's office, and I worked for an agency back home that coordinated a lot of economic development projects and public sector loan programs with Ralph's agency. Although we did not "physically" work together in the same office...we worked together on a lot of mutual projects that were beneficial for the community. And while we were "friendly," we weren't...friends.
We became "hanging out together" friends about this time twelve years ago. It came about when my friend since college... Carlisa...passed away suddenly. Carlisa was married to Ralph and mother to my godson...Nathaniel. She was forty-four when she died...way too young. I was going to devote an entire post to her this evening, the anniversary of her passing, but I'm just not up to it. Suffice to say...I miss her.
Anyway, Betty and I spent the days immediately following Carlisa's death planning meals and coordinating the delivery of food to Ralph's house. I am "known" for my homemade brownies and I cannot remember now how many pans of those I made. I just remember people standing in line waiting for Betty to cut the brownies, and she somehow contrived to get chocolate frosting on her boob (white sweater) in the process.
Throughout all this "forced" togetherness, Betty and I discovered that we had fun together, so we started going shopping and to movies and eating out and such. Her husband, Paul, had an inoperable, benign brain tumor that caused seizures. He also had a spinal injury as a result of a bad fall that occurred during a seizure, so he needed a wheelchair to get around. Sometimes Paul would go out to dinner with us, or I would visit at their house...Paul was a real charmer. He passed away in April 2000.
Betty loves to travel, so she's hard to track down these days now that she has retired. She loves her kids, her grandkids and now her...three or four...great-grandkids. We like to eat a little and laugh a lot because...like most people...we have endured our share of hardships. It's the laughter, the camaraderie and the...friendships... that help make this thing that happens to us called -- LIFE -- a tiny bit more bearable.
This is Betty with Logan...just a few hours old. Now tell me, does this sweet, old, gray-haired great-granny look like the sort who would pilfer a menu from Clint Eastwood's restaurant and then skedaddle out the door? Well, she did.
Four generations: Betty, her daughter...Crystal, Crystal's son...Matthew, and Matthew's brand new baby boy...Logan Paul.
2 comments:
Well, she looks a bit like me, and as I would steal a menu from Mr Eastwood's restaurant (especially under the circumstances she took it) I have to say, yes she does look like someone who would do such a thing!
She looks like a very proud grandma..and having met a couple of those in my time I'd bet she'd be up for most things :-D
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