As you know, last Sunday was Mother’s Day, and so I was surprised and happy to get a Skype call from Luke in Thailand.  I said, “Did you know it’s Mother’s Day?” and he replied, “No, I don’t know what day anything is.”  But it was great to chat, though I had to hang up after a few minutes as I have a standing call to mom every Sunday at 1:00 PM.

Then later in the afternoon Nicky came upstairs and said with conviction, “I know it’s Mother’s Day.”  I said, “Well that’s good….”  You know, a person takes an acknowledgement however they can get it.

In any case, he’d kind of given me the present the day before as he used the weed eater around the vegetable beds and mowed the lawn.  I’ll have to settle for that.

This weekend I went to Osoyoos as mom was having a birthday party for Freddie, who turned 67.  Hard to believe someone who can party like that is 67.  I’m obviously the weakest member of this tribe.

I was there for two nights, and Nicky came down for the birthday party.  For once, I wasn’t hungover the next day as I’ve finally learned moderation.  It took four decades, but I finally understand I don’t have the tolerance of the rest of my family.

On Saturday night, the night of the birthday party, there were 18 people invited for dinner.  Good thing mom has a huge dining room, as we set up one table to seat ten and the other for eight.  Jerralynn barbecued chicken, and I’d made two salads, one potato and the other asparagus.

You may recall at Gerry’s memorial 40 people, many of whom don’t drink much if anything, consumed 28 bottles of wine.  The event was largely over in two hours.  At the birthday 18 of us drank 17 bottles of wine! There were also a dozen beers and a bottle of brandy consumed as well.

On Sunday night we were invited over to the Mayor’s house and he and Martha made a lovely roast beef dinner for ten of us.  It was another raucous event and on both nights I didn’t get to bed until after midnight.

Which is insane, because as you know I love nothing better than to hop into bed at 8:30.  And to think as a child I chafed at the idea!  Now I luxuriate in bed, reading happily until 9:00 and then night night.

So going to Osoyoos is like diving into an icy lake in January.  It wakes you up and if you survive it, it makes you stronger.  And to think, my mom is 88 and my dear bro’s 67 and both of them have the constitutions of horses.  I, on the other hand, have the constitution of a gnat.  Oh well.