Godspeed, Jimmy.........

Today, I paid my respects to the family of a favorite cousin of my parents. 

From Mom's archives:  Jimmy, Uncle Henry, Uncle George, and Mom, circa 1925.

His name was Jimmy, and he is responsible for the existence of my sisters and I. Relax, there is no controversy, no scandal, only another plot on the timeline of my family history that has been revisited with the passing of time...and yet another family member.  

When the news of Jimmy's passing came last week, I was reminded, after talking to family members who were close to him in his younger years, that not only was he my mother's first cousin, but he was also one of my father's best buddies in their pre-World War II later teen years. Within weeks of my paternal grandmother's unexpected passing in 1941, my grieving father was introduced to my mother by Jimmy.  My parents' relationship resulted in marriage, and four children.  

Another from Mom's archives: Jimmy, Carmela, Mom and Dad, circa 1946.

My parents' relationship with Jimmy, and all the cousins of his generation and their spouses, was lifelong and heartfelt, and their regard for their extended families was unmistakable.  

Yet another from the archives: Mom, Dad, Anita, Wally, Jim, and Carmela, circa 1947.

I can remember the stories of the cousins all living within walking distance of each other throughout their younger years, and only a short drive from each other during their young married days. With each of the events like today, the folks of my generation and the one preceding it all express their disappointment in today's 'way of the world', and the significance of funerals as the only chance for meetings of all these fine folks.  Today, I must concur that they are correct. Most of the family members I saw today, I last saw at my mother's funeral two years ago, and my sister's funeral two years before that.  

My personal recollection of Jimmy was that he was a family man, very active athletically, and always smiling. Maybe it was Jimmy's doing that on my way back to work after visiting his family, my cellphone rang.  It was a funeral home...not the one that arranged Jimmy's celebration, but the one that arranged my mother's some twenty-two months ago.  The conversation went something like this:

Woman:    Hello, is this Joseph?

Me:   Yes it is.

Woman:  Hi, Joseph, this is _________ from ________ Funeral Home calling.  How are you today?

Me:    Fine.

Woman:    Great, We're just calling to see if you'd like to schedule an appointment to come in and discuss your wishes for prearranging your funeral with a member of our staff.

LONG PAUSE..........

Me:    I don't think so!

At first I was taken aback.  I don't really think Jimmy had a hand in this coincidence, but I'd like to think that Jimmy, Mom, Dad, and everyone else up there got a chuckle out of my "What the ______?" moment.

I do sometimes wish we lived in a simpler world in which distance and obligations would stop preventing family reunions that didn't involve funerals.  I wish that death and sickness didn't have to be such a big factor in life.  I wish that all in the family could know that, despite the distance and the obligations, good thoughts are with them as we once again go our separate ways.  Maybe our next time together will be a happy one.

Godspeed, Jimmy: thanks for getting the folks together in the first place and being such a special part of their lives. Peace to you and all of yours.........

READ, READ, READ!

It was Dr. Seuss's birthday this week!  Read Across America! 

 Imagine the difficulty in being the only curmudgeon in a building full of fun people.  The threat to my quiet and reserved demeanor began with a door decorating contest.  It was decided that the Reading Department would decorate with Thing One, Thing Two, and several other Things.  I obediently traced the Things onto paper with the aid of an overhead projector, but being an individual and the only male in the department, I deviated from the request to be one of the Things, and traced the Grinch to represent myself.  

    

The Reading Room Door
Guess who's the Grinch?!

The work week was chock full of fun things for the students and staff to do to make it a fun week.  Monday was Silly Sock Day.  I had been ill throughout the weekend, and needed Monday to fully recuperate, so I missed Silly Sock Day.  I figured that on Tuesday, I could wear the silly socks, and unless I lifted my pant legs, no one would know I was belatedly participating in the fun. 

Unbeknownst to me, Tuesday was Striped Shirt Day.  I felt well enough to return to work, and put on my silly socks.  Temperatures outside were milder on that day, so I donned a short sleeved striped shirt.  Imagine the wonder and awe when my coworkers thought I had actually worn a striped shirt to support their cause.  Anyone that noticed my accidental homage to Striped Shirt Day was treated to a lift of the pant legs, and a view of my daughter's mismatched soccer socks, one bright red, and one blue.

Wednesday was Dress Like Your Favorite Character Day.  Oh yes, this sounded like something I would love to be a part of.  My favorite character was a gray haired old curmudgeon, and as such, they got just what they wanted...no costume necessary!  I do have a tee shirt with the Grinch's picture on it, and I wore it under my shirt that day.  Whenever a coworker asked where my costume was, and if there were no children around, I lifted my shirt and showed them the Grinch.  This was almost getting to be fun.

Thursday was the most comfortable day of the week to this point.  All I had to do was wear a shirt with words on it. I wore my lovely daughter's Temple Owls tee shirt.  Oh, the spirit those kids thought I had now!  I knew better.

It was finally Friday.  I was starting to feel this spirit of f-f-fun in the air.  It was Hat Day.  That morning, I went through my collection of hats.  All my favorites were there:  the one from Wildwood, New Jersey, making me yearn for a vacation; the one from Lackland Air Force Base, where my son Kevin graduated from basic training; a Father's Day gift hat boasting, 'Aged to Perfection';  another Father's Day gift hat lamenting, 'I Can't Take It Anymore!'; a beanie with a propeller, reminiscent of my days of watching Beanie and Cecil as a kid; my personal favorite, my 'Greatest Grandpa' hat from you know who; and, finally, the ugly plain yellow one I bought at a Dollar Store on the boardwalk because I'd forgotten all my other hats on that particular vacation.  I couldn't decide which to bring, for they were all so much fun to wear when I was indoors, and they all looked so stunning on me.  Well, not only am I the proud owner of so many fun hats, but I also have a collection of Walmart's plastic bags in my pantry, and I think they multiply right there in the pantry, so I stuck ALL the hats in one of those bags and alternated them throughout the day, and by the end of the day they all had been worn. 

HATS!

In the end, it was time to put all the amusing visuals aside and do something that would define Read Across America for me:  entering a classroom as a mystery reader.  I knew I wanted to read a Dr. Seuss classic, but the choice was difficult, given that there were so many to choose from.  I had read in an article that Dr. Seuss's first book was And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, and lo and behold, it was included in a Dr. Seuss Treasury book right in my home, and in my children's bookcase,  right in front of my eyes.  With the book chosen, I wanted to give the students something to take from the experience, so I wrote a poem in limerick form just for them, leaving a blank space in the last verse for their name, and gave a copy to each of them.  I told them of my love for writing, and of the importance of reading in anything they were interested in doing in their lifetime.  Their undivided attention, as well as their enthusiasm and response for the phrase I saw it on Mulberry Street whenever they heard the cue made this a fun fifteen minutes for me.  They may forget tomorrow my little poem about the importance of reading, but for a short time, they followed it, they understood it, and they shouted their names in that last verse.  

It was Dr. Seuss's birthday this week!  Read Across America!  Things have come full circle.  As a boy, I would read Dr. Seuss classics over and over again.  When my own children were young, I read the same classics to them.  Now, I have had the chance to read one of them to a new audience of youngsters, and the enthusiasm hasn't been diminished by the passage of time.  I had fun this week.........

Positive Living: A CURMUDGEON'S BIRTHDAY.....

BIRTHDAYS:

  THEY'RE INEVITABLE.  THEY ARE THE ANNUAL REMINDER THAT WE'RE ANOTHER YEAR OLDER. YESTERDAY WAS MY BIRTHDAY.   IF WE'RE FORTUNATE, THE NUMBER ASSOCIATED WITH A PARTICULAR BIRTHDAY CAN BE INSIGNIFICANT.  THIS YEAR, THE SURPLUS OF POUNDS AND THE DEFICIENCY OF HAIR WERE AS STRONG AS EVER.  THE ABSENT-MINDEDNESS ABOUNDED.  I'VE DECIDED THAT THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED AND DIDN'T HAPPEN ON THIS BIRTHDAY ARE ALL POSITIVE.  LET'S EXPLORE......

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER:

It is my duty every day to ensure that my coworkers remember their day to monitor Read Naturally, a computer program  used to strengthen reading skills in students.  Most days, I have to remind my colleagues to get to their post when 9:10 rolls around!  Last year, my scheduled time was 10:00.  This year, it's 9:10.  On my birthday, it was my turn to do the monitoring, but I had it in my head that the time was 10:00.  I was 10 minutes late, but hey, I remembered!

HITTING BELOW THE BELT:

I only had one belt on yesterday.  Just about a month ago, I had a very busy day at work and didn't get to the rest room until later in the day.  When I undid my belt, there was another belt underneath it.  Simple as that, and hey, it didn't happen on my birthday!  

FROM QUIET AS A MOUSE TO FOR CRYING OUT LOUD:

I was always one to try to low-key my birthday.  Then the kids came along, and my birthday was common knowledge.  I remember one year, 1996 to be exact, I walked into the school to volunteer, and when my daughter's teacher saw me she exclaimed, "Happy 39th birthday!" It was indeed my  39th birthday!   Now in 2013, it's my 39th birthday again, and my Facebook friends were notified, and.....

THE PERSONNEL IN THE BUILDING WHICH I WORK VERY RECENTLY DECIDED TO  PUBLISH A MONTHLY BIRTHDAY CALENDAR AND GUESS WHOSE BIRTHDAY GOT  ON THE ATTENDANCE EMAIL WITH THE PICTURE ABOVE NEXT TO HIS BIRTHDAY GREETING?  THE OLD GUY IN THE PICTURE PROBABLY COULDN'T EVEN BLOW OUT THOSE CANDLES!  I BLEW OUT MY ONE CANDLE EFFORTLESSLY!  LOOK AT ALL HIS WHITE HAIR!! NOT SURE I WANTED MY BIRTHDAY PUBLISHED, BUT IT WAS KIND OF CUTE TO SEE THE KIDS' FACES LIGHT UP AND SMILE WHEN THEY WISHED ME A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  AND THOSE FACEBOOK GREETINGS?  I WANTED A LOW-KEY BIRTHDAY, BUT THEY REALLY WARMED MY HEART TOO!

MOOD SWINGS ON A CURMUDGEON'S BIRTHDAY:

NO, DON'T TAKE IT!
I HATE TO HAVE MY PICTURE TAKEN!

IF YOU PRESS THAT BUTTON,
I'LL KILL YA!

NOW YOU CAN TAKE IT!

GRANDMA'S GREAT GRUB AND GRANDCHILDREN:

I CAN'T WAIT TO TASTE GRANDPA JOE'S CAKE!

JEEZ, GRANDPA, DO YA HAVE TO TAKE A PICTURE EVERY TIME ONE OF YOU PICKS ME UP?

SIMPLY THE BEST:

A SMILE THAT BRINGS A FEELING NEVER BEFORE FELT!

ON MY BIRTHDAY THIS YEAR, THERE WAS SO MUCH GOOD NEWS!  OUR GRANDDAUGHTER'S SMILE GIVES US A FEELING THAT WE'VE NEVER FELT BEFORE!  A NEIGHBORS' DAUGHTER GAVE BIRTH TO HER OWN DAUGHTER, AND SHE IS ALREADY A LOVED BABY!  MY SON SPENT MONTHS PREPARING FOR A FEBRUARY 5TH AUDITION TO ENTER MILLERSVILLE UNIVERSITY'S MUSIC PERFORMANCE PROGRAM.   WHILE HE WAS WISHING ME 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' ON THE PHONE, AN EMAIL POPPED UP ON HIS COMPUTER SAYING THAT HIS AUDITION WAS SUCCESSFUL AND HE'S IN!

IN THE END:

YEAH, IN THE END, SOME THINGS TRUMP THE BIG BELLY, THE  THINNING  WHITE HAIR, THE NOT-SO-SELECTIVE MEMORY LOSS, AND THE INCREASING NUMBER REPRESENTING ONE'S AGE.  IN FACT, IN RETROSPECT, MAYBE NOT LOW-KEYING ONE'S MANAGING TO HAVE SURVIVED ANOTHER YEAR SHOULD BE THE ORDER OF THE DAY!  I HAVE ENJOYED BEING ABLE TO HAVE A NOT-SO-LOW KEY BIRTHDAY!