Sometimes I do things just for fun.
Don’t get me wrong. Writing is fun. But writing is also one of my vocations. Just one I don’t make much money at. Scentsy is fun. I get a monthly check from Scentsy, but more times than not, I have spent that much or more on products for samples and/or mailings – or products for myself. (I am my own best customer.)
But sometimes I go off-track and do things that are just crazy-fun. Or that simply need to be done, and I squeeze as much fun as I can into those situations.
Concerts qualify as crazy-fun, but they got their own blog this month – and C. Thomas Howell was in with them. See “Stage Presence” for all the details.
In this blog, though, I thought I’d talk about some special people I’ve been spending time with. There are lots of special people in life I don’t get to spend time with, but maybe that’s what make these times so special.
I’ll start with our monthly dinners in Tazewell. When we had our 35th Class Reunion last October, our favorite teacher, Mrs. Susan Whittaker, didn’t get to come because there was a funeral she needed to go to (my friend and Sorority Sister Mary Beth Carter Greer’s dad passed away unexpectedly). We all understood. Life – and death – happens. But a few of us girls – Lillian, Kandy, and I – decided we weren’t waiting five more years to have dinner with Mrs. Whittaker, so we got together in either November or December, I think – maybe even both (I’ve slept since then, lol). We took off for the winter months, but once we could start getting back to Tazewell (Kandy lives in Wytheville, and I’m in Bristol), we have been trying to get together once a month, the four of us. Mrs. Whittaker hasn’t been able to make it once, just a week ago – because this woman who was our eighth grade teacher, then moved to the high school to teach us English, Public Speaking/Speech, Drama, Forensics, etc., and has been retired for years now – was busy preparing for a special breakfast for the football team the next morning. She still looks and acts exactly like she did when we were in school, I swear! She’s amazing! I started calling her “Mom” in eighth grade when she was on chaperone duty during our production of Oliver (I think). My own mom couldn’t make it to many of the productions and I asked Mrs. Whittaker if she’d be my stand-in mom. I think she tried not to cry. But she hugged me and said, “Of course, I will.” And I’ve called her “Mom” ever since. She and Carol Hart – along with Marti Bowen and Nancy Wallace – got me through high school and made sure I had all my paperwork in on time for all my college deadlines. Without them, I’m not sure where I’d be. She truly has been like a mother, giving me advice and listening to me for decades. She and Carol have encouraged me in my writing endeavors. So, it’s a pleasure to not only call her “Mom,” but to also call her “friend” and to have these wonderful dinners that started around her. I’m blessed by the friendships of Lillian and Kandy, too. Lillian and I have been buddies since elementary school, so a really, really long time. And Kandy and I have grown closer in the past five years or so, since our 30th Class Reunion, thanks to the wonders of Facebook – see? Social media isn’t all bad! I love spending time with these three ladies, regardless of whether we’re at the Mexican restaurant near McDonald’s or the new restaurant up town, The Wayfarer. I wouldn’t trade anything for any of them. And I’m already looking forward to our October outing, ladies – let’s set a date!
I suppose I could have lumped this in with “Stage Presence,” but I wanted to put it in this blog because it was my birthday present from Russ. The weekend of my final chapbook class, he took me to Nashville to the campus of Belmont University to see the Dolly Parton musical. It was so good! The actress who played “grown-up” Dolly was in Wicked on Broadway and sounded just like her. Our seats were way up in the balcony, so I couldn’t see her very well until the end when they projected her onto a screen – at which point I wondered, “Were they using that screen the whole time and I was just fixated on the main stage?” I don’t think they were… But the show was great. It involved a lot more about her relationship with Carl than I thought it would and explored the tense relationship between her and Porter Wagner more than I imagined it would. At any rate, it was almost three hours long with the intermission. Russ enjoyed it, too. It was a fun afternoon.
That evening, we went to dinner with my Hindman friend James and his wife Moira at an Italian restaurant in Nashville, Bella Napoli. James is the one responsible for helping me “fix” the cow situation in “Genevieve,” without giving anything away. He was in Monic Ductan’s short story class with me last summer at Hindman and immediately identified a problem I’d not realized was there. What good fortune for me that he was willing to speak up and tell me – even more so that he was willing to help me fix it! We struck up a quick friendship and I’ve continued to harass him over the past year to read things for me, etc. It was so great to meet Moira after hearing all about her for over a year. She has become quite a fan of Denton Loving’s poetry, so she and I talked about Denton for a while – she wanted to know all about his work and having him as an instructor. It was fun to get to talk about Denton – someone I admire so much and am blessed to call friend – with someone who is so sweet and talented – Moira is an artist in her own right, which I find exciting, since I can’t even draw stick people. We had such a great time with them. Moira and Russ talked about Colorado while James and I chatted about writing. Russ and James talked about other things while Moira and I talked about Denton. We hope to catch up again when Russ and I go down to Nashville in December to catch Amy Grant and Vince Gill do their Christmas Show at The Ryman.
The next week found us in Chicago, working on getting the last stuff out of Russ’ parents’ house that we want to keep. He and Elise went to a lawyer’s office to sign everything over to him so neither of them has to go back up to sign anything when (I won’t say if), the house sells. We had a buyer and were set to close on it on August 18, but he died tragically three weeks before that. Our thoughts and prayers remain with his family, the exceptional next-door neighbors who have been helping to take care of things since Russ’ mom passed away last July. If you know anyone who is a die-hard Bears fan (after their performances the past two weeks, it may be hard to find any – we’re few and far between – no, there are die-hards out there, and it’s early in the season – today was ugly, but we almost had it last week), the house is literally FOUR BLOCKS from where the new stadium is being built in Arlington Heights. It would be a great Airbnb opportunity. Tell your friends to tell their friends. (This house needs to sell!) We had dinner with Elise and her boyfriend Kevin one evening at Outback, which was nice. With her being in Minneapolis, and us in Bristol, and no reason to go back to Chicago for either party, it’s hard to know when we might see her again, which is sad. There were lots of sad things about this trip, though. I’ll probably never get to go to the big Ikea again. I’ll never get to shop at the nation’s largest Torrid again. I’ll never have Chicago-style deep-dish pizza like Nancy’s again – because Nancy’s went out of business! We went to Lou Manalti’s, but it was not Nancy’s. I won’t ever get to go to a Swedish-based shop again. We just don’t have those in the South. So many experiences and memories I’ve made there. So many people I’ve met and gotten to meet up with from the Duraniverse. I feel like I’m losing a part of my past, and I didn’t even grow up there. I’m not sure I could walk away and leave it behind me forever if I’d lived and loved there like Russ did. He says he’s fine with it. I wouldn’t be. I’m not. But I guess it’s not feasible to go back for visits when there’s no family there, anymore. It’s just all very sad to me. I did get a last visit to Ikea, though, complete with Swedish meatballs and lingonberry sauce – and lingonberry icees. And I bought an octopus for Denton. (The cover of Feller, his new book, has an orange octopus on it, so I couldn’t pass up this “feller” we found in the kids’ section! I got him home and printed out Denton’s book cover on cardstock and put it in his tentacles and took it to him as a surprise at Table Rock!) So those are my fond memories of my last “big Ikea” visit. I’ll cherish those always.
The weekend after we got back from Chicago was my birthday, which fell on a Saturday this year. Since it fell on a Saturday, my best friend, Lynne, my Big Sister from the Sorority in college, messaged me and asked if I was available for lunch. I immediately said yes. It turned out, Russ was off, too. Oops! I told him he could rest up and take me out for dinner, lol! Lynne and I met and went to Cracker Barrel in Abingdon, one of our haunts in college. This was two days after they changed their logo and the place was deserted. If you want my opinion – and no, you didn’t ask for it, but I’m going to give it to you, anyway – people ought to focus more on food products and service than a logo. That’s my two cents. We had a perfectly wonderful experience that afternoon and we weren’t the least bit offended by the logo at all. Then I went shopping at The Pinnacle to pick up all my free birthday goodies – I love being on everyone’s mailing list! Later that evening, Russ and I went to Outback, where I had a coupon for $15 off for my birthday. Their logo hasn’t changed, but Russ and I had a perfectly wonderful evening there, too. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older – maybe it’s because, in the grand scheme, there’s a whole lot bigger stuff to give a flip about – never mind, I said I was leaving it there. So, there it is. I think you get the picture anyway, lol! But turning 54 was a great experience. I’ll take every day I get. Each one is precious, and none of them are promised. Here’s to a bunch more, so long as I’m healthy and of sound mind. (I heard some of you comment on that last part! I know who you are. I’m taking names…) Here’s to another great year!
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