Valentine’s Day is over.
I miss my old buddy Al. 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 sitting at his desk behind me muttering comments to me the whole time he was reading it.
He sure hated mushy stuff, or pretended to, though and every week, especially on Thursdays, I am still missing his under his breath “comments” about the mushy stuff I was usually putting in my column…
Anyway, that romantic Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and I forgot to buy a special card for Jack until the very afternoon of the 14th.
I thought about chocolates, but since we are both dieting and watching our waistlines, maybe that’s not such a good idea. Then again, at our age, who cares?
I could have bought a chocolate flavored card. Don’t laugh, I have actually seen one. It didn’t list how many calories though.
I just had to stick with a plain old mushy card with lots of hearts – purchased at the last minute of course. He isn’t into flowers (I am though – and I already had a lovely bouquet on the counter to prove it!
I should have got him something after all of the years (57 now) he has put up with me. Despite my awful health issues over the past year, and my idiosyncrasies, he is still my best friend, strongest supporter and my very favorite Valentine, who says he doesn’t need cards or gifts, ‘cause he has me…
That comment makes me tear up just to read it here. “Shades of mushy – Al!”
Now, with Valentine’s Day over and the end of February here again, it’s time for birthdays. Great grandson Watson Jack just turned four years old! He is a card and money lover and was sooo excited to get one from us with “dollars” to buy Pokemon cards inside it!
Besides Valentine’s Day, February and March are really big months in this family for birthdays. Grandson Jason was next. He the oldest grandchild and just turned 38!
Daughter Lisa’s birthday is nearly here – 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 that I am flirting with 80.
In her Thayer family, everybody’s birthday is in March. Both granddaughters – Alea and Alison – will celebrate their big days on March 13. I can’t believe Alea will be 25 and Alison 22, 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 cute little toddlers.
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 last year, I 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. Now I just have to remember to “look” at the calendar pages…
With all of those birthdays coming up, it seems that February, now nearly over, was just the beginning of the “busy” months for us. 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 less than 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 coming up soon too.
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 later in March to keep track of all the area has to offer.