Grandma's 80th

In May 2004, Robyn and I missed my Grandpa's 80th birthday party because we were celebrating our first anniversary in Florida. It was just unfortunate timing... I certainly didn't want to miss G-pa's big party. I called and talked to him and Grandma for a few minutes from our hotel room. They thought it was a big expensive sacrifice for me to make a long distance call to say hi. Of course, it wasn't an expense at all, they just don't understand that long distance charges don't exist on cell phones.

Tonight was Grandma's night. Born 80 years ago today, faithful wife of Grandpa for 60 years, 5 kids, 9 grandkids, and 5 great-grandkids. She's a wonderful woman and was given quite a party: appetizers from 4:30-5:30, wine tasting from 5:30-6:30, a huge Italian dinner, entertainment by the grandkids, lots of dessert, presents, and storytelling. Heck, for all I know, they might still be partying in Delhi. (We had to get home for the sake of The Tobe.)

I got to be a part of the entertainment. Two of the grandkids (Robert & Bradley) are taking piano lessons, so they performed what they are learning. One of the grandkids (Andrew) is a solid guitar player, so he performed a Beatles song. A group of grandkids sang her one of her favorite tunes, "A Bushel and a Peck". A great-grandkid (Stephanie) presented her with a piece of artwork. A great-grandkid (Jenna) performed a dance. Then I sang and played a couple songs for her. (Perry Como is a STUD!) We thought it was a fitting way to honor her... to let her see her legacy put on a show for her based upon their talents.

I've sang/played in front of many many many people in my musical career, but never was I as nervous as I was to play and sing, all by my lonesome, in front of a room full of 25 family members.