This is a reposting from last year for Lisa's birthday

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2009

A special day in our family

Today marks the 36th anniversary of the birth of my niece, Lisa. Growing up in a family with six girls plus my mom and having my grandma integrated into my life, I knew nothing of what it was like to not have females. When my older sister, Lynn, told us she was going to have a baby, my sister, Lori, and I were in the sewing room of our family's home, jumping up and down with glee. I was a senior in high school at this time. It quickly became a "we" situation because in our family, sharing was important! My memory about exact dates and times is vague but I do know that Lynn could not be at my cousin's wedding because she was in labor. BUT I do remember being among the very first people to hold that little monkey baby when she was born!

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Lisa was quite dark in color when she was born, hairy as could be, and the most beautiful thing I ever laid my eyes on! My former spouse was my boyfriend at this time and we just could not get enough of her. We went to Copp's the day she was born, when Copp's was still a department store, and bought her outfits and necessary baby items. We bought her a little sweater outfit which is what she wore home from the hospital. I think it was mint in color and with her coloring---gorgeous!

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Our lives would never be the same, the sun rose and set on that child. When Lynn's husband rejoined the service, going into the Navy, it tore our hearts from our chests to say good-bye to them as they left for Norfolk. They had stopped at my house in Milwaukee, as I was married at this time, on their way to Norfolk, and after they left, I threw myself across the bed and sobbed my heart out.

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Lori, my former spouse, and I drove out to see them at Easter, enjoying our time spent on the East Coast, seeing them and the sites around Williamsburg, VA, etc. That year at ThanksLiving we girls and Mom chipped together to fly Lynn and Lisa home, and surprised my dad. He was asleep in the chair and we put Lisa on his lap. He opened his eyes, and ta da!, there is our little dolly, Lisa. We had an airport in Manitowoc at the time, prop planes, but sadly, no more. The next January, Roger and Lori borrowed my brother-in-law's truck and drove out to pick up Lynn and Lisa, to bring them home for good. The husband did a Dear John thing, so the family to the rescue!

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We rallied to help Lynn out with Lisa, by this time I had moved back to Manty from MKE, and could pitch in where I could. Lynn got a job through a temporary service at the area technical school, working in the mail room. She did so well that she was hired permanently and is presently there at LTC about 33 years! Lynn is an administrative assistant and works in public safety training, etc. Lisa was cared for between her aunts and eventually went to day care. Still the most adorable child you would ever want to meet. My brother-in-law, David, asked Lisa once, "What is it like to have people hang on your every word?" I really don't think she had a problem with it!

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During the summers when Lisa was not in school, she would often spend her days with us where she was trained on office etiquette. Lisa loved to play with the typewriter, the big clunky type we used back in those days. Since our building business was run from our home, she had to learn the proper way to answer the phone, take messages, and so on, and did a good job at it. Later should thank me for the training as she would be complimented on her skills, both phone and people ones!

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Where I went, Lisa went and we spent good time together. Memorable for me, if not for her. And memorable for my sisters and Mom who also spent a good deal of time with Lisa. When we would go to the Mall, I would meet and chat with people, much to Lisa's chagrin. After years of enduring this, she asked me, in exasperation, "Do you have to talk to everyone????" Yes, I do! She would cringe when I sang along to the music in the grocery store and would duck down in the seat when I used the windshield cleaner when driving down the street. Yes, Lisa was quirky! And loved every minute of it!

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Fast forward through her dance recitals, Christmas programs, confirmation and the party (at our house), her cleaning and eventually babysitting for me...She visited us often when we moved to Florida and, then, she was getting married. Oh my! Here it gets tricky (sorry, sweetheart.....) because the same year she was getting married was the same year problems came to light in my marriage. She had always wanted my former spouse, who had been like a daddy to her, to walk her down the aisle, and it was touch and go there for a while whether he would be in the picture or not. He did "give the bride away" at her wedding while I had the privilege of singing for the service.

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Now Lisa is the mama of two darling boys and the wife of Noah, a wonderful husband and daddy to his boys. She was the only granddaughter/niece for a full twelve years, spoiled beyond measure and loved beyond measure. And today, we celebrate her birthday!!!

Getting back to my version of normal

Look at what came to the top when sorting through stuff from the back office! A CD which Ken had made for us when he redid my wedding photo album for our 25th wedding anniversary. I cannot find the album but I have the photos on a CD for posterity. How fun is this?? (click the photo, if you dare!)

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Yes, it is true. Things are seemingly getting back to normal around here, the dust settling as it were. The insurance companies are working with everyone, as far as I know. Regarding my unit, I am about ready to go select my replacement flooring for Mike to install. Hopefully he has hired someone to replace his brother who recently quit working with him. Andy sure was good with the saw!

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Today was a busy one with not much being accomplished regarding sorting and repacking or tossing. What I did go through, though, was my bag of paperwork from The Writer's Crew and the conferences I had attended. It was interesting to read the 'critiques' from folks on the portions of my book about Timmy that I submitted to the Crew. It sort of makes me think it is time to work on the book again...now that summer is over. (Oh, I always have an excuse!). Anyway, I decided that not much of the garnered paperwork from the conferences needed to be kept so out it went. Now I have an empty cloth bag to deal with!

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This a.m. I got to church really early, about 8:15 so I could get a jump on the service folder before having to leave for my luncheon. The only info needing to be plugged into the bulletin yet was the head count for confirmation class which would not be available until tomorrow, so Pastor said to put in N/A. Works for me! The new copier did not like me and no one was there to advise me so I resorted to using the 'old' one. All other things were ready to go for those who staple the bulletin together and do the children's pages which they will do on Friday. Jackie came in before I left, doing a mailing to the shut-ins. It was nice to have a quiet visit with her while she worked.

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The luncheon was not to begin until 11:30 but they wanted us in our seats by at least 11:15, which Ellen and I did. We sat with non-neighbors, at least we thought so, as it was not until we were walking home that we discovered one of our tablemates is a renter on the 1st floor of The Palace! How in the world did THIS happen? Ellen told Brittany how unusual it was the 'town crier' did not know someone, which really made me laugh. I have seen her come and go when in her car but this our first face-to-face meeting. A new friend! She owns and operates a dance studio and is also part of the ROAR, a Jaguar cheerleader. Nice young lady.

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The food was good and the fashions extraordinary. Many were amazed that Belk had such high-end garments, some with prices over $1000. More than one person remarked, "Not at the Orange Park store!" Must be The Avenues store providing the attire. We knew several of the models including our neighbor, Judee, who looked absolutely smashing. They had professionals do their hair and make-up, first class all the way. Our lunch was chicken salad on lettuce with some fruit and tiny muffin on the side. It turned out the muffin was banana nut so had to leave it. The chicken had some sort of little seeds mixed in which were good, making it crunchy. I ate about half of it, leaving room for my raspberry sorbet. Ellen and I had a nice time together, with her deciding she needed to buy one of the fake fur vest jackets for her daughter, Maggie. It was a bit pricey, in my opinion, and I said we would have to go shopping on Senior Citizen's Day for the discount. She was going for a mani-pedi in the afternoon so we parted company after the luncheon.

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This late afternoon I got a phone call from Mary Lew reporting she was indeed coming to Happy Hour and hoped I would be there. Not in my original plans, I felt like I should be there to keep her company, in case she did not know anyone else. See? Back to normal! We sat with one of the ladies who rents on the 2nd floor and her daughter with whom I've enjoyed HH in the past. They are both a delight and Mary Lew had a connection with them from the past. I did not have to worry about her at all, she was fine. The appetizers were quite good---fried brie, lo mein with tufu (I could pick around the tofu) and more fruit. It was a fruity day for me. Several of the neighbors came over to where I was sitting to ask how I am doing and gave hugs of support and comfort for me. They know I have been distressed about my downstairs' neighbor's situation and were glad to see me out today. Again, the assurances really help. Maureen offered to come and help me put all the bins back again, imagine that....

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Tomorrow is Bible study and lunch with Justin, again a normal thing. This weekend Suzanne and I are attending the LWMS Rally in Port Orange where Mark Vance is going to be the guest speaker regarding our Synod's work in Haiti. I preparation for our road trip, I am getting an oil change and having the tires rotated. Nothing but the finest for Suzanne!