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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!

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Emotional roller coaster

Yup, it was one of those days today. First of all, this morning, Terri T. had invited me to join her sister, Gayle, and friend, OJ, for breakfast at Grumpy's. I am all about it!  As I drove over, I could hear a hissing sound from the back of my car. I had a bunch of Diet Cokes back there so expected to have a mess. I did!

When I got to Grumpy's, I popped open the back of the car to find the offending bottle or can to dispose of it. I found instead that a couple of the bottles which had tipped over, were leaking. I stood them up and began moving the cardboard cases aside so they wouldn't get soaked. Terri and Gayle parked next to me and came to help. Terri grabbed one of the cases and the whole bottom gave way. Soda cans everywhere!!

A couple broke open when they hit the ground and sprayed Terri and me, but Gayle jumped away in time. The spray fortunately only got our legs and not our hair, since Terri and Gayle had just come from the salon. Cans were rolling and we scurried to scoop them up while Gayle looked for napkins to mop up the mess in the car. We were laughing and upset at the same time, crying over spilled soda. Gayle had a plastic shopping bag in her car into which we put the loose cans and we cleaned our hands off with the wipes she had. Terri took the trash to the dumpster at the back of the parking lot. I had a bag of trash in the car which we used to put the ruined cans and the napkins from wiping up. So glad it was only two, but what a mess it was.

As we turned around to go into the restaurant, the hostess threw the door open and in a grand gesture assured us that certainly no one on the parking lot side of the restaurant saw what happened....Oh, how we laughed! What a show we must have put on for the diners. I so enjoyed my breakfast with the ladies, and our visit. This trio was going to church to get things ready for our Ladies' Group summer event. Neither Gayle or OJ are presently members but they really do come through for stuff like this. Terri thinks of all the details and the other two ladies enjoy the decorating and flourishes. What a good team they are!

As soon as we were done with breakfast, I had to head back to The Club for the memorial event for the young manager who had died suddenly on Memorial Day. I was expecting a 'service' for her but it was more of a gathering opportunity. My understanding was that her family had had a private service a couple weeks ago and this event was for her friends and co-workers. 


The Owner of The Club came forward to read a lovely poem called The Dash. Courtney's daughter, aged 15, spoke for a bit about her mom until she couldn't anymore. An uncle read a poem and then there were uncomfortable breaks before others came forward to speak. No one seemed to be in charge of the format. A member of the Board came up to speak, and later, a co-worker. After more uncomfortable silence, Courtney's mom came to the mic and said we should eat. I was disappointed, but probably should not have been, that there was no service of which to speak. The rest of memorial was very nice, the food, Courtney's favorites, sensational, and the staff donated their time to cook and serve it. Nice to see so many people in attendance for this memorial. I couldn't help but think that if Courtney were there, it would have been better organized!  I guess that is worthy testament to her life.

From the memorial I made my way over to church for the Ladies' Group event. I knew I wouldn't make it for the food portion but hoped to play some Bunco with the ladies. Sadly, there were only 9 people total. When I arrived, Terri gave me her seat and I finished her game. It was a blast, and fortunately the others knew how to score, etc. As it turned out, between Terri and me, we won 2nd place. Besides my prize I took home some leftovers from the buffet table. Those leftovers made a nice dinner for Justin and me tonight. 


When I got home from church, I went out to the pool for a bit. I needed to wind down after my interesting and tearful day. The memorial, for what it was, touched me. I was glad to offer my sympathies to her co-workers and friends, to offer God's blessings to her daughter. Those at the pool who were not at the memorial had heard from others already what it entailed so they didn't really need to hear from me. Most, if not all, were surprised there was no 'service' format to it, I think it would have helped those who mourn this loss, in fact, I know that is true. I do know this, The Club won't be the same without her, or won't be for a very long time. What takes a 36 year old in her sleep? I pray the answers are soon found and that the most horrible speculations are just that, speculation. I am sure her family wants to know as well. 

Time for me to rest...it's been quite a day!


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