Friday was Meredith’s grandmother’s 85th birthday. We celebrated by having a small gathering at our house. Well, mostly in our driveway. It was a gorgeous evening and the folding chairs fit right in. The kids challenged the adults to some basketball shooting competitions before dinner. Wrigley circled us as we ate a classic birthday cuisine of pizza and wings, hoping some might fall or be unattended long enough for him to strike. He didn’t need to. Grandma is always willing to share her crust. Then came the cake and some gifts. We would have stayed in the driveway all night if it weren’t for the walk we took down memory lane.
Grandma has a slide projector that’s been holding court in her attic. She wanted to use it again but wasn’t sure if it still worked so she lent it to me back in May to inspect. It took a bit to get the cover off but it fired right up without catching on fire. (Must be the electrical tape keeping the plug intact.) So she brought a tote bag full of slide decks and we sat around the kitchen table, throwing the images up on the wall. We saw her wedding. We saw several birthday parties and Christmas mornings. We saw her son graduate from the Navy and her youngest daughter’s puppy, Woozer. We saw my mother-in-law pregnant with my brother-in-law, Goose. We saw Aunt Dorothy on the beach somewhere near the Gulf of Mexico, we think. We moseyed through about 8 decks with snapshots spanning 30 years.
There are more adventures waiting for us in her attic. Grandma reminded us several times before she left that she’s available whenever we are. Looks like another guided tour down memory lane is in our future. You might consider taking one of your own if you have the supplies.
