I had a very good weekend save for the news that my maternal grandmother passed away on Saturday night. Even this cloud had an evident silver lining as her death meant that her battle with Alzheimer’s Disease had finally ended.
I spent Friday night with RAW and KJW. Being rested enough to visit them made the previous long night worth the effort. In an extremely rare occurrence, I inadvertently ignored KJW as her father and I caught up on the week’s events. She managed to curl herself into the laundry basket that was lying on the floor as we talked.
We procured food from the nearby McDonald’s and returned home. (Thanks again for my meal, RAW!) KJW enjoyed her happy meal. I brought KJW a snow globe with the outline of Mississippi and dice in it as her souvenir from my trip. I bought the gift for its movable colors, not to instill an affinity for gambling.
RAW and I watched the Atlanta Hawks continue to defy expectations by evening their playoff series with the heavily favored Boston Celtics via a 103-100 victory. We relaxed and talked as we watched the game. KJW was more interested in the remote control that governs the television than what was on the television itself.
I spent Saturday morning working a shift at MoFoS with JTH. No, neither of us work there. Our friend and the owner, JBT, has an ill mother in Nashville and we covered his shift so that he could be at her side. We were also responsible for training CDM. Yes, JTH’s recent love interest secured a job at the store. Does it seem strange that two people who are not employed were given the task of training the new employee? Actually, in the context of MoFoS, it is not really that irregular.
JTH professes that he is no longer officially dating CDM but an unacquainted bystander could not tell this from their interaction.
I then traveled to the home of my uncle JHV (and aunt LAMV) for a party celebrating the first birthday of their grandson and my cousin LV’s son Weston (CWV). The event also marked the birthday of my aunt MCVD (one of my favorite people) who shares the same birthday with Weston (May 4th). My aunt was upstaged by the baby as partygoers stalked the child like paparazzi to Miley Cyrus at a hamburger joint. (It is sad that I know that.)
My cousin selected a Batman theme for the party. Though I generally prefer Marvel characters to its DC counterparts, we both concur that Batman is the coolest super hero. The child’s cake was a Darth Vader cake in which the red candle served as his light saber. Can you see the genetic similarities?
For what it’s worth, my cousin had seen the new Iron Man movie the previous night and strongly recommended it.
As usual, my aunt prepared a good spread. We had many varieties of sandwiches and side dishes. My cousin JEV complimented his with something called “Rectum Ripper” hot sauce. I felt this needed to be documented for posterity.
Many friends and family attended, including CWV’s father who is as estranged as one can be from my cousin, the mother of his child. I got to incessantly tease LV’s friend Abby and catch up with Blair (BC, pictured). BC, whom I worked with at MoFoS, is well and now works at Carmike Wynnsong 16. She is content for now but needs another job to supplement her income. I suggested she be a Barker’s Beauty as she did a fine job displaying CWV’s gifts so that all party attendees could see them.
In other party news, RRP still has an exquisite gluteus and I attempted to convince him to write a book on how to sculp one. He is apprehensive about sharing his secrets, though it may just the time. Do not be disturbed. This is a very, very inside joke. Even knowing that, it is still a bit troubling...
CWV did not seem to like his cake. We were all hoping that he would dive into the cake like most one-year olds do, but he was not interested. Our lust for messy cake eating would be satisfied one way or the other and LV’s good (grown) friend Joey (JS) did the honors. He took several nosedives into the case, hoping to evoke some interest from the birthday boy, but to no avail. At least JS seemed to enjoy the process.
Though CWV did not engulf the cake, he did manage to begrime his and his mother’s outfits. This was good as every great event should have at least one costume change. As LV washed the cake from her top, she noted that it was “coagulating.” I was so proud she busted out a five-syllable word.
I was also pleased that when CWV changed into a green golf shirt, he left an opening at the top, showing skin like a 1970s film star. I am pretty sure that is the look he was going for too.
CWV received a bevy of gifts. He seemed especially entertained by the Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Learning Puppy that LV’s friend Michael gave him. It is a great gift. I gave KJW one for her first Christmas. The one negative is that the toy’s voice can be activated with little to no stimulus making it appear as if the toy is possessed.
As he played with his new booty, CWV demonstrated that he is clearly right-handed. (I typed that sentence primarily to use the word “booty.”) This may change as his mother was right-handed until age three and has been left-handed ever since.
Though the party may seem exciting (and my account of it is enthralling), it did not captivate all. My uncle, ECD slept through virtually the entire occasion! This happens more than you might think.
After returning from the birthday party, my mother received a phone call from Shannondale, the retirement community where my grandmother was residing. They informed us that she had died in her sleep. My mother was in shock as she had visited her the day before and the nurses told her to proceed with plans to go to Boston the following week as death did not appear imminent. My mother noted the decline her condition but did not sense since she would pass as quickly as she did.
In shock, we turned our attention to the tasks at hand. My father had a previous engagement with the Kidney Foundation. As the organization’s president, we urged him to attend his fundraiser as there was little he could do at home. I picked up food from Silver Spoon and my mother and I made funeral arrangements, phone calls, and wrote the obituary. My mother had already selected the blue dress and matching shoes my grandmother would be buried in. Blue was her favorite color. We also opted for a closed casket as my grandmother was opposed to open showings.
On Sunday morning, my Sunday School class convened at RAW’s house. WAM delivered a belated birthday present. He bought me a black novelty shirt with a name tag which reads “Hello, My Name Is... Indigo Montoya, You Killed My Father. Prepare To Die.” (Read: Princess Bride reference.) It scares me how much I loved a purchase from ThinkGeek.com.
In between Biblical insights, KJW provided entertainment. She will mimic virtually anything her daddy tells her to say. Today, she said, “Mommy is a dork.” KLTW was thrilled with this turn of events. She also has placed a diaper and socks on her precious Frannie Bear. This gives the bear the appearance of having undergone triage. With the way she slings it around, it might be necessary.
On Sunday afternoon, my parents and I attended the play “The Trip to Bountiful” at Theatre Knoxville (located at 319 N. Gay Street). Neither my parents nor I had ever been to the playhouse, though it is located across the street from the popular Regas restaurant. We attended the play to support our church friend Debby Fox (DGF). Though the play runs through May 18th, this was the only date all three of us could attend.
The venue is a small, nonprofit organization. None of the actors are paid. Ticket prices only amount to approximately half of the production's overhead and the operation relies on donations from patrons to exist. There were only 21 people in the theater’s seven rows for this performance. In addition to us, DGF’s husband, parents, and sister attended.
The play was written by Texas native by Horton Foote (b. 1916) Foote actually has local ties as he was presented an honorary doctorate from local Carson-Newman College. The Horton Foote Center for the Study of Theater and Filmthere is named after him. Foote is best known for his screenplay for 1962's To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won the Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay.
Foote first wrote “The Trip to Bountiful” for television in 1953. This version starred Lillian Gish. The play opened on Broadway that same year. It was later remade as a movie in 1985 starring Geraldine Page, John Heard, Carlin Glynn, Richard Bradford and Rebecca De Mornay.
The play is set in Texas in the 1940s (though the Playbill reads 1950s). It depicts the plight of elderly hymn singing Carrie Watts (DGF), who wants to return to her small hometown (Bountiful) from Houston where she has resided for twenty years. She is opposed by her irritable Coke drinking daughter-in-law. Discontent with her two-room abode and unbearable daughter-in-law, she makes a lonely pilgrimage to her old home hoping to regain her strength, dignity and peace of mind.
DGF prepared for the role in about a week, as the actress who had been cast backed out of the play. In the starring role, she was on stage virtually the entire time and was the only actor to appear in all six scenes. Given this, she was remarkable.
For the first time in twenty years, she shared the stage with her lovely daughter Carrie (CAF). Both have been in numerous local productions. By day, CAF works for Jewelry Television. She was delightful. That is her pictured with her mother in the previous photo.
The play runs through May 18, Thursdays-Sundays. Tickets for Sunday and Thursday performances cost $8 and weekend nights are $13.
I enjoyed the play though it was slow and a bit depressing. I especially enjoyed seeing DGF’s family. Her sister, MLGT, attended and I once supervised her two youngest daughters in daycare. Arianna is now a junior at Bearden High School. She transferred from rival Farragut after her freshman year. Arianna was once my “secretary” who made all of my phone calls for me. Her little sister is now in 8th grade. The oldest of the girls, Amanda, who once worked with me at the daycare, now works in California as the producer of Yo on E! on the E! Network. She is responsible for booking thirty guests each week.
The show's official MySpace page says of Amanda:
Amanda the Talent Booker”, packs our show with fabulous guests from Madonna to the girls of “The Hills.” She is our southern belle whose now doin’ it the Cali way. Case in point: her boyfriend is in a band and she gets her hair blow out… 'nuff said. She still appreciates the simple things in life like her hometown Tennessee Vols, mom's spaghetti, Journey’s Greatest Hits and hiking, but skinny vanilla lattes and Pilates just give her more bounce in California, ya'll!
After the play, my family returned home where we ate a feast prepared for us by their Sunday School class. SWW fixed turkey, TEL brought spinach, LGW fixed mashed potatoes, JLJ made mint tea and her famous rolls, and BPS made a pound cake. And that was just the food I sampled! Breakfast for the next day was also brought by SLH. Our entire family is extremely grateful.
I learned that SWW was in the same sorority as my grandmother at UT. As my grandmother’s sister, does this make her my aunt?
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