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LORDY, LORDY 28 August 2006
It was the day to recognize the five kids from Generation 2, all born in 1966, who are turning 40 this year. From left to right: Joe, Jenny, Liam, Jeri, and Steve. We met at a park in Danville, about an hour and a half from here. It was an absolutely PERFECT place to hold this. Lovely lawns, great BBQ area, a volleyball pit, and very few people. We were pretty much able to take over most of the park and only occasionally did other people walk through "our" space. Pat had brought with her the original "birth order chart" that She started keeping back in about 1968 or so, so we could keep track of which kid was born when...there are 22 in the core group of 5 families, with a few others thrown in every year or so.
It's always an opportunity for people to check themselves out and remember kids who used to come to our yearly gatherings and don't any more.
There was, of course, the traditional pinata. There was one in the shape of a chicken for the little kids to hit. It broke the first time it was hit, so Jenny and Liam fixed it...I swear somewhere around here I have pictures of Liam's father and possibly Jenny's mother fixing another chicken pinata! The torch — and the duct tape — have definitely been passed. And there was a "40" pinata for the birthday kids, to which Jeri managed to give a perfect whack.
There was, of course, a birthday cake and I smiled as I watched them all gather around to blow out the candles and pose for the cameras. It's just so — unique — for these guys to have these special friendships, which have lasted for all of them since before they were born.
These days, I travel with not one, but two cameras, because I am recording not only photos, but also video (and doing a half-assed job of both!). Phil happened to catch me at my new typical...
When all the food part of the day was finished, some of the group had a lively game of volleyball, where Phil got to strut his stuff.
Later they all played a game of "ultimate frisbee," pitting the "over 40s" against the "under 40s" (some of the "under 40s" were also "under 10," and the "over 40s" were feeling a lot of those years by the time the game ended). Members of Generation 1 sat around and watched the action.
The older we all get, Generation 1 and Generation 2, the more I marvel at the serendipitous conditions which brought us all together as friends, the coincidence that put us all within walking or short driving distance of each other as our children were going through nursery school and the early years of grammar school, the conditions that allowed all these grown-up kids to be raised together, so that their meetings, whether frequent or infrequent are seamless, always as if they just saw each other the week before. We were truly blessed, 40 years ago and didn't have a clue then that 40 years later we would all be together today celebrating the birthday of the kids who were born during our "banner year." On a serious note: Jim Hightower provides a long, exasperating
list of the failings and arrogances of the Bush administration. Read it and weep.
But read it! |
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Generation 2 + spouses/significant others
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6/1/06
