What a great weekend!!

The much traveled military family arrived on Friday afternoon. Katie, Bryan and little Maddy found their way to Stone mountain and were warmly received
I couldn't believe how much Maddy had grown. She cooed and babbled her way into our hearts in the first three minutes sh was here. She was crawling and climbing all over the house. I'm sure she was happy to out of the restraints of the car seat. we had dinner at a local restaurant and she was good as gold.
On Saturday we went to the Georgia Aquarium where she delighted in talking to the fish and trying to grab them. She was such a well behaved little 10 month old. Of course I had a great time on two counts, watching this little child enjoy the sights of such a variety of colors and the fact that the Aquarium is one of my favorite places to visit.
As much fun as Saturday was, Sunday was even better. After charming everyone at Holy Cross, Maddy met so many more of her family. Four of the boys and their families came to visit. (We missed Peg & Tom very much.) It is always such a great time when the family gathers. I like to just sit back and watch them enjoy each other and the little charmer. And charm she did.
Thanks to the family for a great weekend. There was a little talk about my upcoming surgery, but I'm g;ad it was not the topic of discussion. It's going to happen and we are going to make the most of it.
Love.

A Book I read

I just finished a really good book. The title is "Good Day, The Paul Harvey Story". It is a very well written biography of the famous voice Paul Harvey. It looks at all the various phases of his life and his character
It is very well researched, documented and presented. I, like so many millions of others, have always liked to listen to Paul Harvey and this book tells me why. He and his wife were such radio pioneers and did so much to form news and comment shows so early in the history of radio.
This is a book that I very much recommend. If you like biographies, you will love this book. Thank you Sue for the gift.
Love.

What the heck you been doing?

As everyone says, it's been a while since I blogged. For the most part, I have been trying this old brain of mine to focus on some dialog for a few short skits. I have been honored to be asked to participate in a fund raiser for the Sclerderma Foundation. My very talented daughter in law and her family wanted to put a fund raiser on to honor their sister Kathleen Basile. It was a day long event on Friday July 31st. In the afternoon there was a golf tournament (I was not asked to play for very obvious reasons). In the evening there was a dinner and entertainment with entertainment, auctions, door prizes, and a grant prize raffle.
I along with some very talented friends from Holly Cross theater ministry, put on some of the evenings entertainment. It was so much fun to be performing with these wonderful people who all have the attitude that they will do what ever is asked from them to help with the cause. we did several numbers from some of the Broadway show that Holy Cross had put on. Gale Goodman Played accompaniment for the singers and her hubby, Bruce took care of the sound requirements. Dennis Nelson did "If I Were a Rich Man". Sarah Mason did "Hello Harry(Dolly)" along with a group of male backup singers. Christina Kravits and a group of female backup singers did "I' Going To Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair". Jim Walsh and the male singers did "You Gotta Have Heart" to round out the show. Jim Basile was the Master of Ceremonies while portrayed the "Oldest Living Bus Boy in Captivity" and introduced the numbers.
Their goal for the days events was $15,000, and the last number I heard was in excess of $20,000 and the money was still coming in. It was a great success for a great cause. The Basile handled the whole thing and did an outstanding job.
Now, I know the question is coming to your mind, "What were you doing all that time?" This old mind of mine takes forever to memorize just a few simple lines. I am the first to admit that age is taking it's roll on my memory capacities. Remembering lines are hard for me, but the rewards of working with such wonderful people more that compensates for the memory loss.
I hope the people that attended to events had as good a time as I had participating.

Wonderful weekend!

I am sorry that I was not first to blog about our July 4th weekend in South Carolina. Peg's blog did a great job in describing the activities, I c an only add that I can't remember a better weekend anywhere.The food was abundant and tasted great. When I got on the scale at home it said "One of you will have to get off." Steve cooked his heart out and we could not stop eating. We gabbed and talked ate and drank and just about wore the house out.
It was so much fun to be relaxed with so many of the family. I don't think anyone stopped smiling until it was time to go. The steaks were great, the ribs were just right and even the potato salad was wonderful. The fireworks show was so much better that the sparklers and helicopters I used to provide my family.
The deck was out of this world. The weather was wonderful and I could have lived on that deck all the time. Steve did a marvelous job. It's big and shady and very comfortable.
I can't thank Steve & Peg for their most generous hospitality. It truly was a wonderful long weekend.
Love

An Addendum and More

My last blog was about our trip to Helen and to 'Babyland General'. I was reminded by Peg that I had forgotten a very unusual sight. While we were shopping at the Ingle's Supermarket in Cleveland, in the produce department I spotted a lady in a wheel chair who was evidently blind because she had a 'seeing eye' pony. The pony had a harness just like a seeing eye dog with a handle and all. She was holding on to the handle and being led by the pony. Now that is something you don't see everyday. But wait..... there is more! While we were in a shop that sold beautiful 'Dresden China', I noticed that the lady running the shop spoke with a German accent. Not being bashful, I asked if she was in fact from Germany. She confirmed that she was. I asked what part of Germany she was from, because I was stationed in a little town called Goeppingen. Her eyes widened and said that is the town she had lived in. Small world isn't it? I was there in 1951 & 1952, She left there in 1954. She had married a G. I.. I forgot to ask her who she married. It might well have been somebody I knew because ours has the only unit in that little town.
And now on to the present. My Father's Day was a big success. I either heard from or saw all of my children. I even had the pleasure of dinner with Jim & Sue on Monday evening.
Then came my Birthday. Another round of calls and visits from the children. I once again had the pleasure of a lovely dinner with Mike, Michelle & the girls at one of my favorite restaurants.
All in all, this summer, so far has been nothing but a real good time. So now I'll stop writing because my mind is going soft again. I know I forgot a lot and will hear from my Children. Love.

A little late!

It's been a week since we returned from our trip to Helen, so I thought I better blog and fill you all in on the trip. I picked the ladies (Betty & Elanor) at the airport and we set out straight away for Helen. Thanks to the GPS, we made it there with no problem. We were a little disappointed that there were two flight of steps to get to our unit. This rural location in the mountains should have tipped me off, but the catalog never mentioned steps.Always the gentleman, I told the ladies to I would bring the four suitcases up. I made it in two trips, but was completely winded. It was at this point while I was sitting and trying o catch my breath, When Bill called. He seemed concerned that I was having a heart attack, he was close. The unit was comfortable, was not a luxury operation we have been getting at other resorts. There were several wall switches that did nothing. I'm pretty sure they originally did something. The living area seemed a little crowded so we decided to rearrange the furniture. This stuff was too big and too heavy to move. I mean even the coffee table wouldn't budge.
Helen has a General Store, but not a supermarket. We were sure that the General Store Was just a for show, tourist place. We drove into Cleveland, the next little town and stocked up on groceries. We also had to go to church In Cleveland.
We spent the week seeing the sights. Peg called to let us know that she would like to visit, of course we welcomed her with open arms. She spent one night with us on the sofa (we couldn't move the coffee table to open the sleeper sofa). We did some of the little town with her the next day and 'Baby Land General' to marvel at the birth of a Cabbage Patch Baby. Her visit was a very welcome interlude.
One of the days we visited the General Store and were pleasantly surprised to find it was really a very nice little market with fresh meat and produce. The prices were very much in line with the supermarket. They even made fresh sandwiches at the deli counter. We tried them for lunch one day and they were very good.
During the week, we visited several local wineries for some wine tasting I think the ladies really enjoyed that. Of course we had to buy some of the product.
All in all, it was a very good week and very restful for El. The Friday to Friday thing is what we like, but this was a tough year to find a spot.
Hope I don't take so long to blog next time.
Love.

Happy Memorial Day

I'm not going to apologize for not blogging, I'm just a dull old man. Nothing noteworthy seem to happen in my life.
Yesterday was the exception. Most of the day was dull or partially sunny until Nancy & I started to leave the house around 4:30 PM. We were headed to the new Gwinnett Stadium for a G-Braves game. The tickets were a Mother's Day gift from Dennis & Doreen. By the time we got there the rain had ceased. The handicap parking put us about 50 feet from the stadium entrance. As we approached, a young lady asked if we wanted a wheel chair. Much to my surprise Nancy agreed. She was wheeled right to the top of the aisle. Every one we encountered told us to enjoy ourselves. Even the usher who showed us to our seats said "Enjoy the game." I commented that I guess I better enjoy it since everyone told me to. He said. "It's mandatory sir."
The young lady with the wheelchair came by and took our names and told us any time we were ready to leave, to tell the usher and she would be back to get us.
The sun was bright and the breeze warm for most of the game, unfortunately the Indians were beating the G-Braves. I got a call from Tom that Jessa and Ben were also at the park. the stopped by to see us. Our seats were really great, we were right at the "on deck circle on the 3rd base side.
Unfortunately about the bottom of the 6th inning the clouds got dark and the wind picked up. The young wheel chair lady stopped by to tell us some severe weather was coming our way and anytime we wished to leave, she would come and get us. Mid 7th inning we decided to leave. The usher call for the wheel chair and out we went. She took us right to our car. as soon as we started out of the parking lot the rain started.
Just to sum it all up, we could not have had a more pleasant experience. It is a beautiful facility and the staff could not have been more gracious.
Until something else happens, that's it for now.