Milestones

Today's my birthday, and it's the first one without both of my parents. My dad passed away in January, and my mom passed away the day after Thanksgiving. This is the first of many firsts without them. What's normally a day of celebration is a sad one, too. It's nice to be remembered, though. And it'll get easier. One of my Facebook friends posted Happy Birthday wishes, along with the hope that the next year doesn't suck. Me too. There you go.

Meanwhile, here's Mom's obituary, which my sister, brother-in-law, nieces, and I worked on collaboratively.

Happy Mother's Day!

Late this afternoon, we met up with my parents, and joined George's family (which included his grandfather, parents, Henry, Phil & Heather plus their two children, and Elaine) at MacGregor Downs Country Club in Cary for the buffet dinner. The food was yummy and the company even better! Afterward, we went by Pappa's home for drinks and more conversation. It was such a nice time! My family and George's haven't had much interaction, so I'm glad it went so well.

Mom and Dad also got to meet Pappa's helper, Thomas, who is from Zimbabwe. Mom and Dad visited Zimbabwe eight years ago, so they all enjoyed talking about the country.

Small World

Last evening, I went to Trader Joe's after work to pick up a few things. This is the third time I've been to the Chapel Hill store, and the third time I've been impressed by the speediness of the check out line. Amazing! I picked up some more of their yummy low-sodium marinara sauce (under the Trader Giotto's label), and got some more Diet Hansen's. I decided to try a new flavor, so I picked up some mandarin lime. I tried it this morning, and it was yummy, but low and behold, it turned out to be regular instead of diet. :-( I'll look for it in diet next time.

As I was leaving the shopping center, I pulled up behind the cars in the turn lane at the red light, and the car in front of me looked like one of Mom and Dad's cars. My eyes went to the license plate, an Alabama tag from Dallas County, and I realized it was my mom in the car! She and Dad have been in town for a couple of weeks, and Mom had been over at Talbot's, which is across the parking lot from Trader Joe's. I honked and waved, and she finally recognized me! She called my cell and we had a nice talk, laughing about the coincidence. She and Dad own a place in Durham, and it's a nice place for them to stay while they're in the area. We'd just had lunch a couple of days ago. They're heading back to Alabama today.