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No longer on the river and, again, an empty nester. Back to living on Fleming Island and making some more friends!

Monday, April 30, 2012

Family stuff

The news I saw late afternoon Sunday sounded so tragic that my hands flew to my face and I said out loud, "Oh no!" The story was how a vehicle full of family members crashed over a railing and fell into the Bronx Zoo. The report at  the time indicted three children were killed, and no one was sure if they were zoo goers or in the car. Reported now, no one on the ground was hurt or killed when the car went hurtling over the railing---all of the 7 killed were in the vehicle. 

It seems from this a.m.'s reports that a tire blew, causing the car to careen out of control and over the railing. Tragic, there is no other word for it. Even a fireman who responded said he'd never experienced a traffic accident like that in his 30 years of service. The people in the car, mainly females, were heading to a family gathering, a get-together to greet some of those visitors from out of town who were passangers when they crashed. Yikes....
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Some friends of mine were telling me yesterday about the recurring estrangement in their family between the adult children and the parents. This has happened in varying degrees on and off  for many years, and right now, as I told my friend, they are celebrating "Festivus", also known as the 'airing of grievances'. He knows full well what that means as they celebrate this 'fake' holiday more often than most! 

The mom in this extended family has reached out to me in the past so I was glad to know some of the background and such in case I get a call. Sometimes, it's best to not involve myself, which means ignoring the call, if or when it comes. This makes me sad for the entire family but after a point, enough nonsense is enough!
                 
Lisa calls Manny her little monkey but if that's so, then he is a spider monkey! Look at those skinny arms!

My niece, Lisa, and her family took a weekend trip to visit Noah's grandma 'up north'. They celebrated Manny's 7th birthday with the elderly grandma, which is very nice. The family stayed overnight in a motel where Manny came upon the Bible in the nightstand. Lisa related via Facebook how he sat and read from the Bible for awhile that evening....

In my own home, I will be mostly an empty-nester this week. Justin's friend and he are going to be house-sitting for their respective parents---Jesse early in the week, and Justin, later in the week/weekend. They are using this opportunity to watch their Marvel comic book movies which they are missing at the theater on Thursday. Stretched out for the week, the three guys will then go to the AMC to see the new Avenger movie on the weekend, at some point. A good compromise to missing the marathon event, and cheaper, too!
                                  The Red Zone Margarita
After work each day, though, Justin will be stopping in to clean up after work, probably throw in a load of laundry for the next day. Then he will scoot to Fleming Island for the movie du jour. Saturday, he is having a Cinco d' Mayo party for which he is making Mexican food (for real???) so he has been planning menus, etc. Ron owns a Margaritaville machine which will likely be pressed into service. Fun will be had by all...in moderation, I am sure! Except his mama, home, all alone....