Reunion, The Cast & Story

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The Stars:

Mom is seated, Maxine is standing.



The stars with the supporting cast:

Nikkie, Maxine's granddaughter, is standing on the left, Tammie Maxine's daughter is kneeling on the right.



Three generations of an amazing family. So much beauty in one family:



The story:

Two friends of over fifty years meet up for a joint birthday celebration after not seeing each other for several years. They have over one hundred and eighty years between them.

Maxine, Tammy, and Nikkie arrived from Idaho Thursday night. We all met for dinner at Rose's in Sherwood. It was the initial meeting in a quiet setting. After dinner we went to Mom's house and had birthday cake. On the chocolate cake were the words: "Happy Birthday M & M." We had a nice time and the cake was pretty darn good.

Friday afternoon Mom, Maxine, Tammie, and Nikkie went to the spa. Mom and Maxine were treated to manicures. Before then Mom had never had a professional manicure. The first one in her life. It was also a great thing to do because it allowed Mom and Maxine to have some quiet time and a wonderful conversation. While they were doing women's hour I went over to the book store and read while drinking coffee.

After the manicure we all met up at McCormick's & Schmick's where we were joined by my sister and brother-in-law:

http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/

Check out M & S's menus, pay close attention to the top of the menus! Isn't that really great?





The dinner was really great. Again the the Idaho family wouldn't let us pay. They treated us. During dinner we had a really nice chat. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and all looked so nice. My sister and brother-in-law looked especially nice. Looking over the seven of us at the table I was really struck with the fact of not only how nice everyone looked but that nobody there looked their age.

The waitress we had was really both efficient and pleasant. Everyone that worked at the restaurant including the valet parkers were wonderful.

This morning Mom and I met up with Team Idaho at their hotel, The Embassy Suites, where we had a great breakfast and wonderful conversation. After a leisurely two hour breakfast we did our hugs and said our good byes. I took Mom home where we both stated we would miss them.

My Review:

Thanks to Tammie and Nikkie the weekend was a success. They made the birthday special for both my Mom and Maxine. I had a great time and got to reconnect with a young woman that I grew up with and it was a pleasure to meet her daughter.

I also was very touched by how vibrant both Mom and Maxine were. Both have great minds. Both are fun. Maxine even goes to fitness clase a few times a week. To see women of their age interact they way they did was an amazingly positive experience.

I also learned that we all have had some troubling things in our lives that have shaped who we are and what we have become. I didn't know that Tammy's first husband was killed in a plane crash when her daughter was only two months old. He was a Navy pilot that crashed on a mission. Only a strong woman recovers from a tragedy like that. She had to be one great single mom until she met her current husband who became a dad to Nikkie. Maxine obviously did well raising Tammie. Tammie obviously did well raising Nikkie. Nikkie's step dad obviously is one good character guy to have such a positive influence on her life.

Maxine told about her granddaughter's first husband and how the marriage ended with him having an affair with her best friend. I don't know how you recover from something like that but Nikki obviously did because she is a strong young woman with a pretty positive outlook, a chariable heart, strong love for her Mom and grandmother, and an important job. Personally, I think her husband must be dumber than a mud fence because he should have thanked his lucky stars that he had a woman like her in his life. Disappoints me in my gender.

That is pretty much the story of the reunion. While I was really worried the whirlwind weekend would exhaust Maxine and Mom they did great. I, however, am exhausted. I am off to the recliner, with a diet pepsi, the remote control, to watch televison the rest of the day. That is, if I stay awake.