2018 Life Logs, Day 20—Sam’s Birthday Weekend
Date: Saturday, January 20, 2018
Weather: Warmer with South Winds; High 45, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Oh, my. They grow up so quickly. My oldest grandchild, Samuel Ellery Goldstone, will be 11 years old tomorrow.
I have a hard time believing it has been 11 years since Mark and I flew home from New Zealand for his birth. But it has been 11 years and Sam is growing up. I went to Heather’s late morning to help with some birthday projects. Sam’s party with friends was tonight, but he will get his birthday present from mom and dad tomorrow. He doesn’t know it, but he is getting a full drum set. So today the basement needed to be cleaned out to make a space for drumming. I made a run to take things to the swap shop at the city dump and to take cardboard to be recycled. Jed had to drive off Cape to get the drum set and then he had to go to work in Woods Hole, so I returned to help Heather clean out the basement. I had a dresser that belonged to my family stored in the basement room where the drums need to go, so I got that in my car, along with boxes and bags of more things that need to be donated. By 3 pm, we had the basement looking better than I have seen it for a long time, so I took off with my carload to go to the donation bins and then home to unload. It was then time to return to pick up Jonah and Ollie to take them to dinner. Sam’s request for a party this year was to have four good friends come for dinner out and then an overnight. He requested that little brothers not be a part of the dinner and not be in the same for the overnight. Fair enough. So, I was to take Jonah and Ollie to dinner. Sam requested that he and his friends go to the British Beer Company and yesterday he told me he thought I should take Jonah and Ollie to the same place, just not the same table. Growing pains. You love your brothers and want them close by, just not too close! Fair enough. Jonah and Ollie agreed with the plan, so we all went to dinner at the same place and had two completely separate experiences. You can make reservations for six or more, but not for three. So, when we arrived, Sam and crew had a table in the main restaurant, but it was going to be a thirty-minute wait for Jonah, Ollie, and myself unless we wanted to eat at one of the high tables in the bar. At first Jonah didn’t like that idea, but when we went in and sat at the table to wait, he decided it was a great idea. We could watch all the games on the tv’s and we had quite an interesting dinner conversation about football. Even Ollie was quite knowledgeable about football teams and we all discussed who we like and who we don’t and why. It was a fun evening and after a quick run on the beach (across the street from the BBC), we returned home for the opening of presents and birthday cake.
We all got a kick out of one of Sam’s presents, a book called A Manual to Manhood, touting how to cook a perfect steak, change a tire, impress a girl, and 97 other skills you need to survive!
Like his dad, angel food cake is Sam’s favorite, drizzled with chocolate, so that was the birthday fare.
Tomorrow, Sam’s actual birthday, will be a continuation of the festivities. My gift this year is an ‘experience’—tickets for all of us to attend a performance of a Japanese drumming troupe called Yamato. After Sam’s friend leave tomorrow morning, he will get his drum set gift and then mid-afternoon we will head off-Cape for the Yamato drumming experience.
Amidst the birthday celebrations, I watch with disbelief at our government shutdown. I support the Democrats in their insistence on a clear and free deal for DACA, but I just don’t understand why this couldn’t have been settled before now. And I applaud those who turned out for the women’s marches around the country today. My heart was with all those who gathered in Cambridge. I stayed up very late last night watching what was happening in the Senate chamber leading up to the midnight shutdown of the government. You could see, but not hear, what was happening on the floor, and I could see clearly that our Massachusetts senator, Elizabeth Warren, was in the fight to the end. So proud to have such a strong female senator representing Massachusetts. And Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Maggie Hassen of New Hampshire were right there with Elizabeth Warren.
