Posted on 03/26/2002 11:40:31 PM PST by acnielsen guy
Ok, me's got to run and do some work, so nice chatting with riff and raff, and dreg and flake too ;-)Ciao my chickadees!!
Hope you enjoy your swim and come back refreshed and ready for Freeping...
Yes, indeed, I do remember our long talks about the Chicago Forest Preserves...in fact the hubby will be celebrating Memorial Day, out in one of the Chicago Forest Preserves, at St Pauls Woods to be exact...he always goes back to Chicago once a year, always the week before and the week after Memorial day, for his boyhood friends traditional Memorial Day Picnic
This will be the 25th time they have met in such a manner..its hard to believe that these guys still meet every single Memorial day, for a day of fun...
It started out as just all these guys, then year after year the makeup of the picnic changed...girlfriends were added, some of us girlfriends became wives...then we all started having babies...the babies grew into kids, and more babies were added....then the kids grew up, some of the couples wound up divorced, some of the guys have died....now even the still existing wives no longer go to the picnics, the grown kids have their own traditions, and now its just the guys again...
Of course in the beginning, they drank a lot, played football all day, cooked lots of hot dogs, burgers, etc...they offered their opinions on everything, the wives got together to discuss their hubbies, the kids got together to play together...
Currently now, tho, they dont drink as much, they dont play football(much to my hubbys chagrin, as he can still drink as much as ever, and having been in the military until just a few months ago, he can still play a rousing game of football)...
But they still all venture out there...three of them have died, one dying just this year of liver cancer, a few days before ST Pats. day...so they always have a tradition now at their picnics, where they hoist a few to those who have departed...and there are a few that a ill now, so they hoist a few to their return to health, if possible...
I suspect that all these guys will return every Memorial Day to the picnic, and twenty years from now, more will have died, and those who are still alive may attend the picnic in wheelchairs, or accompanied by their walkers, and nurses, and some will be wearing their depends...but they have all said, until the last of them dies, the picnics will continue...
And I somehow think, that once we are all gone, the happy sounds and ghosts of all those Memorial Days past, will be lingering still in St Pauls Woods, one of the Chicago Forest Preserves...
Andy returned from his year long around the world trip at the end of September of last year...He said it was the most amazing experience he believes he may ever have in his life, and it was indeed a most worthwhile venture...he lived with us for two months, recovering from his trip, and renewing all his old friendships, and spun his tales of travel to friends and family alike
He moved out the beginning of November, and moved back to Seattle, which he loves....(Hubby and I live in Olympia, and the son considers that the boonies, and hates to visit down here...but he did come down and spend a few days with us at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then again a few days with us this Easter...
And we go up to Seattle about once a month or so, and get a motel, and visit the son up there for a few days...we will be going again the middle of April, to celebrate the hubbys birthday....
So it was grand to have him back home again, so I did not worry so much about him, in out of the way places...(Tho he says it is probably more dangerous up in Seattle, than in any place he visited)...
Sure glad to see the Meema, and hope you return to this thread often for updates and news...
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