Clare County Review & Marion Press Columns

Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Valentines’ Day and loads of birthdays…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Valentine’s Day is next Tuesday.
I miss my old buddy Al.
He wasn’t my Valentine but a special friend.
He used to proofread the paper every Thursday. And every time I wrote a column about family, love or anything like that, he would be muttering comments to me the whole time he was reading it.
He sure hated the mushy stuff, (or pretended to) and every week, especially on Thursdays, I still miss his under his breath “comments” about the “mushy stuff” he said I was usually putting in my column…
Anyway, it is time to buy a special card for Jack, who definately is my Vanentine.
I thought about chocolates, but since we are both (sort of or sometimes) dieting and watching our waistlines, maybe that’s not such a good idea. Then again, at our age, who cares?
I could get a chocolate flavored card. Don’t laugh, I have actually seen one. It didn’t list how many calories though.
Guess I will just have to stick with a plain old mushy card with lots of hearts. He isn’t into flowers (I am though – it you think that’s a hint…it is!).
I have to get him something after all of the years (56 now) he has put up with me. Despite my idiosyncrasies, he is still my best friend, strongest supporter and my very favorite Valentine.
I also should get some Valentine cards for the great-granddaughters. The grandkids are all too old now for such stuff, but it is still a fun holiday for the little “greats”.
There are eight “greats” now, so, with that and birthdays, I will still have to buy a bunch of cards.
Great grandson Watson just turned three years old! Besides Valentine’s Day, February and March are really big months in this family for birthdays. Grandson Jason is next. He is the oldest grandchild and will be 37!
Daughter Lisa’s birthday is next, on March 2nd. I’d tell you how old she will be this year, but I don’t think that would be wise. Besides, she sure doesn’t look it. Suffice it to say, it makes me pretty old myself now.
In her family, everybody’s birthday is in March. Both daughters – Alea and Alison – will celebrate their big days on March 13. I can’t believe Alea will be 24 and Alison 21, both lovely grown -up people now! Where did all the years go? It seems like just yesterday when I was writing in this column about them as babies.
Then it will be son-in-law Terry’s turn. He will be celebrating his on St. Patrick’s Day, but I don’t think he cares for green beer.
In any case, March can be a pretty festive month for the Thayer clan.
And, there are a ton more family birthdays coming up. The family has grown so much that between now and July, it seems like there’s one or two nearly every week or so. Luckily Facebook helps me keep track of quite a few but sometimes that notification is a little too late to send a card, so this year, I have put them all on the calendar…Wow what a chore, especially with the growing Maurer and Richardson clan not to mention all those cousins etc.
With all of those birthdays coming up, it seems that February is just the beginning of the “busy” months. Once the end of the month rolls around again, the time will go by so fast we won’t be able to keep up.
In fact, Clare’s big Irish Festival is only a little over a month away already.
And it’s time to get busy writing about all of the multitude of coming events in the area for the next issue of our annual Business and Visitor’s Guide, which is now also only about five weeks away.
In and around Clare County, there are going to be loads of festivals, events and fun things to keep us busy this year, so be sure and pick up your copy when they come out in mid-March to keep track of all the area has to offer.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *