My family--or part of it--celebrated my 68th birthday this weekend. Jamie and Mel brought 7-year-old Maddie and 3-year-old Edie from Frisco (Texas) and Jordan and Christian came with 1-mos-old Jake. Our family friend, Uncle Charles, joined us. And it was lovely to take my mind off the office, publishing, writing, what to do with my life (at this stage!), and just enjoy my family. Maddie, with a little help from Edie and a lot from me, baked a chocolate cake (well, okay, she claims it)--an elaborate concoction with huge cream cheese/Cool Whip/crushed Oreos filling. And when she stood in the kitchen, licking spoon in hand, and said, "Juju, I'm never bored at your house," I thought life couldn't get any better.
But my writing becomes part of even family get-togethers. I'd done a column for the Dallas Morning News, on a book, Mystery of the Gooey, Grey Glob, part of the A.R.T.S. (Academy of Slightly Twisted Arts) series and when I was through with the column I gave the book to Maddie. Last night she proudly showed me how much of it she and her mom had read. And then she asked, "What's that story you said we could read to Edie?" It was a picture-book text, How Louie the Longhorn and Jake the Jackelope Saved Christmas." I had explained it had no pictures yet, and she forecast that Edie would be bored. But they took it home to read.
It's fun to know that my grandkids will someday remember cooking with Juju and that I wrote books.
Don't think I ignored the other two--Edie played and wrote and "helped" while her dad activated the new photo system on my computer so that all day today I've been looking at pictures of her (she's an imp). And it was wonderful to hold Jake when he was content--but he was overtired and fussy much of the evening. Still, I can't imagine having things any better than all of us around the table, with Maddie leading off the grace.
And the families who weren't here--the Austin Hudgeons' and the Colorado Springs Alters--were much missed.
I don't mind at all being 68!
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