Where everyone knows your name

One of the advantages of living in a smaller neighborhood with local haunts is that over time you can find yourself with places that know you. There are a couple of places to eat lunch that I am known by my first name and am greeted when I enter the establishment both by the staff and the patrons. There is an area I tend to sit in and a group of regulars that I keep up with. I know about the birth of children, the death of relatives, people trying to decide if they are going to sell their house and move permanently to Florida where they have this little place that they bought a long time ago.

Recently one of the regulars did just that. He had worked for the local electrical company for years. He was a line man who worked his way into management but kept his union roots strong. He retired after almost 40 years of service due to his wife's health which has been not great to just fine over the time I have known him. Their two kids moved to the south. One is in Atlanta with his wife and kids. The other is living in Florida with her husband and kids. It seems like a good fit for all parties. He is having his boat taken down there. He has sold most of his tools and lawn care equipment. He is shutting his life down here to move on to the next part. We had a lunch the other day that was really for him. It just kind of happened spontaneously. We told him that we would miss him and his strong opinions. He kind of teared up once or twice but he was a manly man so he shoved it back down. He hugged us good-bye and left the bar probably for the last time. There is no real reason for him to come back to Long Island. His life moved and he is now moving with it.

We got to talking the other day wondering how he was doing. I noticed that no one in our group had been sitting in his usual seat. One person had heard for him and things were going well but he missed mowing the lawn. He did not miss shoveling the snow at all. It was nice to hear that he seems to be settling in to his retired life as grumpy as he was about retiring.

I hope that he and his wife have a long and happy time down in Florida. I hope he gets to fish and go out on his boat. And I hope that he finds another place like the one that he left where everyone will know his name and he will find a group of people to have lunch with and share his opinions.

I am grateful that my friend is making the adjustment he was concerned about making.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mother’s birthday.

Caroline made her a birthday poster which I hopes gets there on time.

My mother was a great part of shaping me into the person I am. She always taught by example.

I find that when I come to a point where I need to figure out how to mother, I think about what my mother did with me and usually go that route. It is kind of funny that I am doing all the things that I swore I wouldn’t do when I had kids but my mom was right that once you have them, your opinions change and you do what is best for the child not what would make you popular.

Practical is my mother’s middle name (well not really). She is a very practical person. She did what she needed to do so that her family would be healthy and happy. She learned how to make mac and cheese that would melt in your mouth so we wouldn’t get bored with it. She catered occasionally to our foods likes and dislikes but she would insist that we try something before we declared it in our no eat group. She learned how to cook all kinds of dishes. I got use to really good food with lots of taste which didn’t serve me well outside of the house because I was use to that taste. I still haven’t found a Hollandaise outside of hers that I like. But that forced me to learn to cook so I could recreate those tastes for myself.

She is quite the gardener. I am in awe of her abilities to grow plants. I covet her herb garden. She grew tomatoes which has ruined me for the tomatoes in the store. I find a farm stand in the summer which has homegrown. I think this year I am going to try to grown a plant or two. Caroline wants to have a vegetable garden this year and I think it would be good for her to learn about growing plants.

I love my mom very much. We have a good rapport which is nice. I know I am blessed to have her in my life.

I am grateful to my mom for everything she has done for me over the years.