2019 Life Logs, Day 196: Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco Arrive
2019 Life Logs, Day 196: Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco Arrive
Date: Monday, July 15, 2019
Weather: Sunny; High 88, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Jet Blue offers an easy, non-stop, four-hour flight from San Juan to Boston. Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco took advantage of that and arrived in Boston at 6:30 pm this evening. I picked them up at the airport and we stopped to get some dinner and food items we can’t get here in Falmouth at a Whole Foods located on the way home. Once here, Ziggy demonstrated a few of his inventions that he brought with them and let his special robot show off a bit. When it was time for bedtime reading, Coco cracked us up with her comment about the difference between herself and Ziggy. She just pointed to their bedside tables and said, “There’s the difference.” Ziggy’s was filled with inventions and gadgets and Coco’s was filled with stuffed animals. I love the simplicity of six-year, almost seven-year old thinking. Heather and family had come over this afternoon just as I was getting ready to head to Boston to do a few things to get ready for the Puerto Rican side of the family. When we got home tonight, Ollie had posted signs around the house welcoming them to Cape Cod. Welcome, JJZ&C! Looking forward to a great week together.
I got across the Tappan Zee Bridge with no problem, but then my GPS headed me in what I thought was the wrong direction. Then five miles later, it had me turn around and head back the same five miles. I carefully set my GPS before leaving Lynne’s, but I struggled with it all the way to Hartford, Connecticut. When I get a chance, I’m going to retrace the trip to see what happened, but even with the confusion, I arrived at Alan and Helaine’s new home in Dedham, near Boston, by 12:45 pm.
They live in a Hebrew senior life center called Newbridge on the Charles. It is known as one of the most successful senior living centers in the country and is celebrating ten years of success this year. It is associated with the Harvard Medical School, has a variety of living situations—cottages, villas, apartments, independent living, assisted living, and continuing care. It has a K-8 school on the grounds, a fantastic central building that has restaurants, a state-of-the-art gym, an inside pool, a theater, meeting rooms, and an auditorium. And the Charles River runs through the grounds with nature walking paths alongside it. In fact, Helaine and I took off to walk on those paths having no idea where they headed. We enjoyed the walk and eventually we found our way back home. There’s even an area on the campus where residents can claim a raised bed to plant. I was quite impressed with what I will call the village and, in particular, I was impressed with Alan and Helaine’s cottage. Compared to my little cottage, it felt HUGE. It has vaulted ceilings and lots of tall windows making it light and airy. And most importantly, both Alan and Helaine already love their cottage and their new life at Newbridge. We had lunch in one of the restaurants and while there saw many people that Alan and Helaine have met. Everyone is friendly and the staff helpful. It is easy to see why Newbridge has been so successful. It was 5 o’clock on a Friday afternoon when I was ready to leave, not the best time to head south to Cape Cod, so I drove through Dedham to a shopping area that had both a Whole Foods and a Costco and did a little shopping while waiting for the rush hour traffic to calm down. From my little explore of the town, it seems it has unlimited shopping opportunities. In the future, I’ll drive to Dedham for my off-Cape shopping trips and include a visit with Alan and Helaine.
Jonah stopped me right there and said, “Oma, nothing is perfect. How about saying it was an amazing celebration?” Okay. I’ll buy that. It was an amazing birthday. Despite being only one-week into the recovery from knee surgery, with the help of friends and family, I really did have an amazing day. Friends brought lunch here to the cottage
and then we drove to the Woods Hole Library to see a viewing of the independent film, “Tea with the Dames.” This was a delightful visit with Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, and Joan Plowright where the audience is invited to ease drop as they reminisce and discuss their acting careers. It was a perfect birthday film as these four British Dames truly show what it means to age gracefully. Together, they are 342 years old, still going strong with lots of wit and wisdom to share. On the way home, I was dropped off at Heather and Jed’s where the boys were busy preparing for Oma’s birthday dinner.
Artichokes, of course! With gluten-free cupcakes decorated deliciously and beautifully by Heather
and so many presents to open.
Homemade cards by Sam, Jonah, and Ollie, a couple of books, one by a favorite author, the other called “Educated” which looks very interesting, lighthouse earrings, a strawberry topper, kitchen scissors, and even a small ammonite fossil refrigerator magnet from Jed’s mother, Marti. Thanks, Marti! But my favorite gift is one that any mother would want to frame. It is a dish towel from Heather that says, “OMG–My Mother was Right About Everything!”
Now I have proof! I also got a birthday phone call from Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco and a photo from my 60th birthday dinner with the Kanegsberg’s in New Zealand. I do believe I’ve aged a bit since then.
So, we had a fondue feast.
I offered to prepare the fruits, veggies, and meat, and get all of the ingredients together for chocolate and cheese fondue. Heather baked bread and cake for dipping in the chocolate, so when I arrived we just had to mix the ingredients, first for the cheese fondue feast, and then for the chocolate fondue feast. We had a rainbow of vegetables, with meat and bread for dipping in the cheese fondue. And then another rainbow of fruit for dipping in the chocolate.
It was a delicious way to celebrate Valentine’s Day. And after eating all of the chocolate, the boys had added energy and put on a bit of a play starring Ollie as King. He loves playing that role! 
