Early Birthday Celebration

Thanksgiving is late this year and we couldn't schedule another trip to celebrate "The Birthdays" in early December, so we had an early birthday dinner last night.

Happy Birthday to Hutch...5 years old on December 2.

Happy Birthday to David...??? years old on December 4.

Maggie just enjoyed the cake!

Now on to the Thanksgiving calories.

Connections

A few years ago there was a great TV show called "Connections". At the beginning of the show the announcer would name two seemingly unrelated things and the next 30 minutes would prove how these things were connected. It was great.

Since Clare and Joel's wedding I have been thinking about how being a bad flute player and Clare and Joel's wedding are related. Here goes...this may be long...

When I was a freshman in high school I played the flute. Our high school band was good and not all freshmen got into the marching band. I was one who had to spend a year in prep band. There I met Pam. She, too, was a flute player and sat next to me. We got to know each other and became friends.

During high school Pam dated local guys but she always had a "penpal" boyfriend (Al) who was a few years older than us. A couple of years after high school Pam and Al were married. They were married for about 20 years and had three lovely children. Then one night when several high school girl friends were having a "girls night out", Pam announced that she and Al were getting a divorce.

For the next 10 years (approximately) they were apart but neither ever found another "soul mate". Five years ago they decided to remarry and planned a second wedding. David and I were invited, but we also had an invitation to attend a party to celebrate another couple's wedding anniversary on the same night. We chose to go to the wedding.

The wedding was beautiful. Pam was a beautiful bride, Al a handsome groom and their, now adult, children made the wedding ceremony special by reading a letter that had those in attendance in tears and then laughing.

Following the wedding was a terrific reception. As the guests entered the reception a sign said "Take Your Seat". On the table below the sign were chairs folded out of paper with guests names and table numbers on them. We were directed to a table with all the "girls" who had served the cake at the first wedding. (In southern Indiana in the late 60's it was a tradition that your girlfriends served cake at the reception.) Of course the girls all began talking and trying to catch up on everyone's life since we'd last seen each other. We left our husbands, who didn't know each other, to talk.

Clare had just graduated from Denision a few weeks prior to the wedding. David began talking to Jaynie's husband and mentioned this and that Clare was looking for a job. Jim said not only was he a Denison graduate, but he was on the board of directors there. He also said that he had worked in personnel all his life. This chance meeting lead to Clare getting a job interview in Atlanta with the company where Jim's nephew was a vice president.

Clare got the job. She liked it and did well. The company sent her to New York for several months for training and offered her a position in Chicago.

Clare moved to Chicago. She didn't know anyone there so she decided to sign up on a computer dating site. She met Joel. She liked him. He liked her. They began dating and she eventually brought him to Atlanta to meet the family. We all liked him and evidently we didn't scare him away.

That was almost 2 years ago...last month Clare and Joel were married in a beautiful ceremony on St. George Island.

Just think, if I'd been a great flute player I would not have met Pam in prep band, wouldn't have served cake at her first wedding, wouldn't have gone to the second wedding, David wouldn't have met Jim, Clare wouldn't have gotten the job placement in Chicago, and wouldn't have met Joel!

How's that for a Connection?