August 18 – “Surprise”

Well, that was a surprise.  On me.  Totally. 

Yesterday Josh and Christi and their boys took me and Chris and Mom out to Saltgrass Steakhouse for our big combined birthday celebration meal.  Great food.  Even greater company.  On the way home I texted Nathan to see if he was going to be able to swing by and see Josh before they had to head home to San Antonio.  He responded that they would come by for a few minutes.  Little did I know …

When we arrived at the house I helped Mom out of the car and went over to unlock the front door.  I smelled the distinctive odor of Mexican food, so as the front door opened, I reflexively looked back across the street to see what our neighbors might be cooking.  Nothing evident, so I turned back to the door and saw … black and yellow streamers hanging from the ceiling, balloons flying toward me, and tiny little human bodies jumping up and down.  I heard varying decibels of squeals and laughs amidst the occasionally clear strains of “Happy birthday” and “Surprise.”  I stepped inside to see streamers and balloons hanging from, well, everywhere.  A giant “Happy Birthday” poster covered the doors to the back yard.  On the table was an assortment of baseball caps surrounding a cake decorated with a baseball theme that read “Happy Birthday Kelley and Chris.”  I found out later that the wording was a nod to her participation in the whole scheme.  She knew about it all along.  Each of the grandchildren had written or drawn a picture for me depicting some fun time we have had together.  Over on the serving bar was an array of Mexican food (which, by the way, I did sample, but not until much later.  I was still full from our decoy lunch).  Oh, and Nathan had indeed “come by for a few minutes.” 

Over the course of the afternoon I got texts and emails and FaceBook messages as well as in person visitors from the different areas of our life.  Church.    Fire department.  Basketball (Perhaps the biggest surprise.  Great to see Cordy, one of the guys I used to coach, and his dad). And of course family.  All of our kids and grandkids were there in one place at the same time.  As I said before, that was the best birthday gift Chris could ever get.  Thank you to our kids for getting this set up and to everyone who came by or sent us good wishes.  It was … a good day.

Psalms 105:5-7 says, “Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, O descendants of Abraham his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.  He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.”

Father, what more can I say but thank you again?  Amen.

August 17 – “Happy birthday to you, Chris”

That’s right.  Today is the birthday of my beautiful bride of 38 years, the lovely Chris. 
She is not as old as I am, so don’t even go there.  At least not this year (wink, wink).  Want to know the best gift she received this year?  I know the day hasn’t started yet, but she was surprised with a visit from Josh and Christia and Zak and Caleb yesterday.  And of course that meant Kel and Christina, Jachin, Micah, Josiah, and Noa came over.  Cailyn was already here, and her Mom joined her shortly after.  I feel fairly certain we will see Nathan sometime today after he gets off work.  That’s the kind of present that really gets Nani’s heart going.  Her entire brood all in one place.  Nothing quite like it.  In her eyes it just doesn’t get any better than that.

There wasn’t much planned as far as celebrations go, at least not yesterday.  Who knows what will happen today.  We George Foreman-ed (Could that really be a verb?) some burgers and boiled up some hot dogs along with Chris’ famous noodle salad.  Not much preparation required, so she could spend more time snuggling with Noa (if she could get her away from the two Aunties), and looking at pictures of the house Josh and Christi bought in Waco, and refereeing wrestling matches, and talking with the daughters-in-law, and timing races, and dodging squealing and laughing children as the ran over and under and around whatever was in their path to get away from whatever monster or pirate was chasing them at the time, and tickling where she could make the most of open opportunities, and serving up ice cream for dessert, and generally speaking absorbing - and relishing - the chaos of the moment.  All in all I would have to say it was a good day for the matriarch of this clan.  May today be even better.

Happy birthday, Chris.  I love you.

Psalms 105:3-4 says, “Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.  Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”

Father, thank you for the perfect helpmeet you gifted me with.  Please make her day, and year, and life a happy one.  Amen.

August 16 – “Why not a goldfish?”

The last bit of my computer work got done for this week, other than the daily blogs, of course.  For some reason my hardest thing was the children’s sermon.  I needed something to go along with Jesus teaching about resurrection in John 5.  My first idea was pretty much nixed by a look from Chris.  Why not use a goldfish?  I could bring in a goldfish and see how long he would last out of the water before we threw him back in and he came back to life.  Too much drama for young hearts, I guess.  Well, that and my knowledge of goldfish is quite limited.  I would never know when to put him back in the bowl so that he would for sure come out of it.  Bad idea all the way around.  But you have to be creative to keep the kids’ attention, right?  Think outside the box, or in this case, the bowl.

The funeral in Friendswood went well.  There was a good group present in spite of the family’s fears that not many would show up.  The funeral home did a very nice job setting everything up.  They even arranged for the military honors to be carried out.  That part was kind of strange, though.  They soldiers had to be at another funeral as well, so they did the honors at the very beginning of the service.  One marched in, stood at the head of the casket and saluted.  The second stayed in the back of the room, held a bugle to his lips, and played a recording of taps.  After the recording ended, he joined his comrade at the casket.  They folded the flag and presented it to the wife.  Always a touching experience.  It really set a somber mood for the service, though.  The family wanted it to be more light-hearted, so it took a while to regain that feeling.  By the time we ended, though, several folks had shared some stories and encouragement was taking place. 

I stopped at Sonic on the way home for a bite to eat because our home group was meeting at our house and I didn’t want to interrupt them.  Of course the interruption happened anyway.  When I walked in they had an ice cream birthday cake ready for the three birthdays in the house – me, Chris (on Saturday), and Mom (on the 20^th).  Gotta love those folks.  They do love a party.  Bryan still led the Bible study for me, and he did a good job.  The really strange part was getting to sit next to Chris and not having to be concerned with operating the computer for the songs.  I just might could get used to that. 

Psalms 105:2 says, “Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.”

Father, thank you for the love I saw expressed in different ways yesterday.  Encouragement at the funeral.  Ice cream cake at home group.  It may look different, but it’s love all the same.  Amen.

August 15 – “Birthday report”

Well, here’s another huge thank you to all of the friends on FaceBook and otherwise who wished me a happy birthday yesterday.  It was great to hear from so many of the fire fighters.  We kept the day as simple as possible.  At least we did after I made a WalMart run to pick up the groceries we needed after being gone in New Jersey for almost a week.

Kel and Christina and their four kids and Nathan and Cailyn all came over for lunch.  April had to work, but she did send me a text on her lunch break.  Chris made some of her world famous chicken enchilada pie and Christina added some extremely chocolate brownies to the mix.  Cailyn went by the Dollar Store and with her very own money got me a present – a frisbee.  We played with it for a while outside and inside before everyone else arrived.  Kel’s gang gave me a tool for extracting the center of a pineapple (one of my favorite fruits, and a breakfast staple around here).  I haven’t tried it yet, but they did include a fresh pineapple, so that will definitely be on my list.  My brother Stan and his family sent me a couple of tickets to an upcoming Astros game, always a special treat.  And Nathan has already said they will come stay with Mom so we can make it a true birthday treat for both of us (Did I mention that Chris’ birthday is coming up this Saturday?).  Chris got me a can of cashews and some new dress khaki pants.  You know, the kind you can wear as casual or somewhat dressy.  Or for me, extremely dressy.  My other pair has a rip in the back pocket that drives her nuts every time I wear them. 

Last night Mom managed to sneak out of bed without either of us hearing her.  What got Chris’ attention was one of those unusual sounds that she couldn’t quite place.  She got up to investigate the noise and found Mom asleep on the couch and the water in the kitchen sink running full blast.  Guess Mom needed to wash her hands or the dishes or something.  She finally made her way back to bed at some point, though, because that’s where she was when I got up. 

So, the partying is over and it’s back to work. I have to finish up planning for a funeral this evening.  Bryan is filling in for me and leading the home group Bible study, but I told him I would pick out some songs.  I also still have to come up with a kids’ sermon to introduce the teaching for Sunday.  Back in full swing, I would say.  It is good to be home, though.  Now to keep an eye on that disturbance in the Gulf.  And the one in the Atlantic.

Psalms 105:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.”

Father, thank you for one more year here on duty for you.  I’ll keep at it as long as you need me here.  Amen.

August 14 – “Happy birthday to me”

How’s that for a self-serving title?  But, hey, after sixty years I deserve a little bit of self-indulgence, Right?  Well, probably not. 

The firefighters from Bryan who spent several months here in Galveston after being severely burned were back in town yesterday with several of their chiefs.  They brought down some challenge coins for the Galveston department. Challenge coins are souvenirs a little bigger than a silver dollar that commemorate key events or designate department uniquenesses.  I think the idea is a really good one.  It has apparently been around for years.  The Galveston chief has quite a collection of them.  One of the Galveston guys showed me one the other day that commemorated their service during Hurricane Ike.  It had the satellite image of the hurricane in the Gulf on it.  The one the Bryan guys brought had the Galveston department logo and one side and the Bryan department logo on the other, each surrounded by the words, “Two Departments, One Brotherhood.”  They did some short speeches thanking Galveston again and again for the help they were to the fire fighters and their families while they were on the island.  Then Chief Wisko asked me to bless them all.  I prayed a quick prayer, and then we went outside for a photo op.  Everyone gathered by the side of the ladder truck.  Fifteen or twenty Galveston fire fighters were there, so it was a really good showing.  The city public information officer took the picture, so it may be in the paper before long.  If it is, I want to know who buys the ice cream?

After the photos, a group of us went over to Mario’s on 61^st Street for their lunch buffet.  I sat next to the injured guys, so I had a chance to talk to them a little bit.  We connected when we realized that we were taking some of the same nerve pain medication.  Interesting thing to find in common with someone, I know.  But severe injuries and old age make for some strange bedfellows. 

Psalms 104:34 says, “May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.”

Father, those Bryan guys are looking really good after all they have been through.  Keep healing them and walking with them.   Amen.

August 13 – “An unexpected surprise”

We are back in Galveston.  It’s great to be home, but it is always a humbling experience to be included in someone’s special family events.  Thanks so much again to the Dammeyer family for trusting us with being part of Ashley and Josh’s wedding, and for hosting us to experience part of New Jersey.  Maybe next time we can get in that trip into “The City.” 

At the Newark airport we got all checked in for our flight home, grabbed a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, and settled in for the brief wait for our boarding call.  It gave us a chance to talk a bit about our time with friends and our New Jersey excursions.  We slowly began to think ahead to the flight home.  We were already in a reminiscing mood, so that brought back memories of the flight to New Jersey.  We recalled the in-flight Wifi that enabled us to watch the progress of the airplane on the Southwest Airlines website and wondered if we would have that same amenity going home.  We chuckled when we remembered little Elizabeth, the baby on the flight who so desperately wanted out of her carseat that she wailed on and off all the way from Houston.  Chris made the comment that at least the flight home would be Elizabeth-less. 

Our reverie was broken when we heard the call to line up to board the plane for our flight home.  We didn’t have quite as good a position as we did on the way over, but we were still in group A.  We found our marker, adjusted our carry-on backpack, and turned our eyes toward the boarding screen.  And that’s when we noticed it.  At first it was just a glimpse out of the corner of our eye, one of those fleeting glances where you aren’t really sure you saw what you saw.  I looked again.  And then again.  I couldn’t believe what my eyes were telling me.  I was afraid to say anything out loud, but it couldn’t be.  Surely not.  Chris’s voice invaded my stupor when she exclaimed, “Oh, look.  It’s …” (Are you ready for this?  I sure wasn’t).  “Oh, look.  It’s Elizabeth.”  Yep.  There she was.  In the flesh.  The same Elizabeth who “entertained” us on the flight to New Jersey was lining up to board for our flight home.  What are the odds?  To her credit, though, she did very well this time.  She was allowed to sit in her Daddy’s lap, and apparently they had done enough to wear her out, because she slept the entire almost-four hours.  Another little one had a few outbursts, but they were all quite brief, and hastily extinguished by whatever means the Mom was using. 

Kel only had to make one circle around the pick-up area before we claimed our luggage and met up with him.  The trip home was an easy one, and, to fast-forward to the bottom line, it was sure good to sleep in our own bed last night. 

Psalms 104:33 says, “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.”

Father, thank you for Dammeyers, for the miracle of airplane flight, for crying babies, and, of course, for home.  Amen.

August 12 – “Farewell”

Today we are homeward bound.  Our New Jersey “business trip” comes to a close.  So long to our hotel where Abraham Lincoln once stayed on his way to be inaugurated.  We learned that fun fact from a plaque on the wall on the way to our room.  Goodbye to this quaint little town with its “no left turn” signs and Bruce Springsteen’s high school.  No more deer on the side of the road or heavily wooded acres or horse ranches or huge pumpkin patches or boardwalks by the beach.  Oh, by the way, Galveston, at these beaches you have to pay at least ten dollars to park and then you have to pay again to actually walk onto the beach.  How long before we start attempting that?  Someday we may have to come back up here when we can do an actual vacation and really partake of some of these amenities (other than the beach, of course.  We live on an island.  Why would we go on vacation to the beach?). 

Yesterday we joined the Dammeyer’s for church, where we saw many of the folks we met at the wedding.  The bride joined her brother to lead worship, and they both have great voices.  The afternoon we spent taking a leisurely drive through the countryside and then back out to the beach communities.  They are still recovering from Hurricane Sandy, so we were able to relate to the sand everywhere and some houses still in need of repair.  We didn’t have time to drive into New York City, so I guess that remains on our long-term bucket list of things of do “in the future.”  I must confess that on the drive I apparently reached my limit of “up” days.  I started feeling really whipped.  I even dozed off and on, which didn’t really help.  I did feel some better after supper.  Ashley and Josh (the bride and groom) and Allen joined Mark and Melissa and us.  We reminisced about the wedding and about the comments they had been receiving.  Sounds like all in all it was a good experience for everyone concerned.  They also asked me to tell about my strangest wedding experience.  Didn’t take long to recall the “wedding from hell” that I did on the beach years ago.  It will be hard for anything to top that one, but that’s another story. 

In an effort to kick the feeling that I was on the verge of a cold (you know it.  Almost a sore throat.  Almost aching.  Almost … just sick), I tool a Benadryl when we got back to the room.  We put on HGTV and watched Brother vs. Brother.  Gave us a link to our routine at home, I guess.  I slept better than I have any night since we have been here.  Of course, the hotel bar band had the night off as well, so that sure helped.  It actually got quiet before 12:30 a.m.  Now we have that three and a half hour flight back to Houston, so maybe we’ll have more opportunity to catch a few winks. 

Kudos to Mark and Melissa for their incredible hospitality while we were here.  It’s always great to see good friends.  Here’s an “Attaboy” to Allen for his worship leading and an “Attagirl” to Lindsey for the job she’s doing raising her two kids and being … well, Lindsey.  And back on the home front, thank you to Bryan and Jennifer for caring for Mom while we were away.  See you soon. 

Psalms 104:31 says, “May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works.”

Father, thank you for our week in New Jersey.  It certainly added many good memories to our life scrapbook.  Amen.