My Last Weekend Away

I’ve been away for exactly 3 weeks. In that time I hardly did anything very constructive. Oh I wandered around their land and talked to my dear little grandson and laughed until I held my sides in pain when my daughter and son-in-law and even Elijah cracked one joke after another. And I haven’t even mentioned the dog, Mochi, who gets the worst flatulence on earth. The weather now in our winter has been so dreary, cold and wet that days felt like night and it was hard to work up any genuine motivation. But last weekend we celebrated the birthday of my amazing little grandson, Elijah, and on the same day, we celebrated for his other Daddy, who surprisingly has his birthday on the same date. That usually means two separate cakes for my daughter, but this year it was just one and it was a whopper. 

It was a very small party. Only real Daddy and his girlfriend, my daughter and her partner (other Daddy that he lives with) and of course Elijah were at this shindig (aside from me). But it was wonderful and made all the better by only having a few special people there so Elijah could get all the attention he deserves. Since it was during the school break there will be another party with his friends sometime soon and then my daughter will bake and decorate her extraordinary chocolate sheet cake with waves all over again to surround the pirate ship I bought for the center. He really got great gifts that matched what he wanted (a miracle) and it was very entertaining to see how excited he was upon opening each one. Eventually, after a casual dinner we had birthday cake and all I can add is that it tasted as good as it looked.

Actually, there wasn’t an argument the entire day. I think that was a world record. Elijah maintained his decorum quite well for an outspoken 8-year old who appears to be smarter than all of us put together. 

I never thought that my daughter would have kids. There were just too many medical issues in the way. But in the end she and I both had babies at very advanced ages and both our boys have definitely transformed our lives, even though my miracle boy was my 5^th child over a 24-year span. But now they live on a different island, which is really only accessible by plane unless I want to spend 15 or 16 hours driving, ferrying and then driving again somehow. And I don’t. But I am the world’s worst packer and I don’t enjoy flying, especially alone, but it sure beats the other way and actually it wasn’t too bad. So here are a few photos of that special day. Enjoy.