I took a trip with Howard this weekend. It was a rare event for us to spend so much time together. Usually if we go on a trip, he goes with Andrine and I go with David. I wanted to visit Chelle in Bainbridge to catch up with her and then go to Port Townsend to say goodbye to Ande Grahn who is just about to leave to go to graduate school in Massachusetts.
So the first stop was at Chelle’s house in Bainbridge. Chelle and I have been close friends for years and years. Our children are roughly the same ages. Chelle was recently diagnosed with breast cancer so we’ve had a lot to talk about. Fortunately, hers was stage one, grade 2, so she had a lumpectomy and will soon have radiation. She can skip the chemo part, thank goodness. Her tumor was HER2-NEU positive, which means she’ll be getting herceptin for a year after the radiation. Her prognosis is excellent. But it’s so odd that we were diagnosed within a year of each other.
Anyway, I hadn’t been up so see her in a while and every so often I need a dose of Chelle. She’s just a delight to hang out with. She and Hank (her husband) live on several acres which she has turned into a paradise. She’s an amazing gardener. We sat on her patio sipping cool drinks and watching the goings on in the lush landscape. You wouldn’t know that the bee population was severely threatened when sitting in her garden. She had all sorts of flowering plants that they were happily visiting. We saw all sorts of birds there: towhees, junkos, chickadees, wrens, just to name a few.
I was tired from the drive and went to bed fairly early, but Howard stayed up talking to Chelle’s two boys, Luke and James. Howard had a great time with them. Luke showed him plans for the house that he is remodeling. He’s using all the money he makes from that job to pay off his boat, a Boston whaler. He got some tiger wood to replace the mahogany on it. Howard was very impressed how Luke had become another Hank. He’s into making things, manipulating physical reality. He brings home fish and crab that he caught.
Howard and I had a lot of time to reflect how our kids are becoming us. Jasper is an actor, Gavi is a musician, each elaborating on the different aspects of Howard’s talents and proclivities. Jasper seems to be coming into his own. He assembled a great production team for the fair. The show was a triumph and now he’s got the confidence to put on his own shows. He’s was just about to run off to a meeting with the members of his new production company when I talked to him last.
Gavi’s band has been recording for the past several days in our family room. Their band had a real bonding experience while on Chautauqua and are much more solid as a consequence. They have about six new songs to record before Yuri goes back to Bellingham. They each have one more year at college to complete. Ben (the drummer) is living in our basement and Shawn (the bass player) lives quite close. It’s such a pleasure watching them on stage. We saw them at a bar the other night. The sound was very muddy, which was a problem, one that Yuri said they had straightened out by the next gig. But of course, I love watching Gavi on stage. He looks so relaxed and natural. He’s got a great voice, too. I love the people that our children are becoming.
So the first stop was at Chelle’s house in Bainbridge. Chelle and I have been close friends for years and years. Our children are roughly the same ages. Chelle was recently diagnosed with breast cancer so we’ve had a lot to talk about. Fortunately, hers was stage one, grade 2, so she had a lumpectomy and will soon have radiation. She can skip the chemo part, thank goodness. Her tumor was HER2-NEU positive, which means she’ll be getting herceptin for a year after the radiation. Her prognosis is excellent. But it’s so odd that we were diagnosed within a year of each other.
Anyway, I hadn’t been up so see her in a while and every so often I need a dose of Chelle. She’s just a delight to hang out with. She and Hank (her husband) live on several acres which she has turned into a paradise. She’s an amazing gardener. We sat on her patio sipping cool drinks and watching the goings on in the lush landscape. You wouldn’t know that the bee population was severely threatened when sitting in her garden. She had all sorts of flowering plants that they were happily visiting. We saw all sorts of birds there: towhees, junkos, chickadees, wrens, just to name a few.
I was tired from the drive and went to bed fairly early, but Howard stayed up talking to Chelle’s two boys, Luke and James. Howard had a great time with them. Luke showed him plans for the house that he is remodeling. He’s using all the money he makes from that job to pay off his boat, a Boston whaler. He got some tiger wood to replace the mahogany on it. Howard was very impressed how Luke had become another Hank. He’s into making things, manipulating physical reality. He brings home fish and crab that he caught.
Howard and I had a lot of time to reflect how our kids are becoming us. Jasper is an actor, Gavi is a musician, each elaborating on the different aspects of Howard’s talents and proclivities. Jasper seems to be coming into his own. He assembled a great production team for the fair. The show was a triumph and now he’s got the confidence to put on his own shows. He’s was just about to run off to a meeting with the members of his new production company when I talked to him last.
Gavi’s band has been recording for the past several days in our family room. Their band had a real bonding experience while on Chautauqua and are much more solid as a consequence. They have about six new songs to record before Yuri goes back to Bellingham. They each have one more year at college to complete. Ben (the drummer) is living in our basement and Shawn (the bass player) lives quite close. It’s such a pleasure watching them on stage. We saw them at a bar the other night. The sound was very muddy, which was a problem, one that Yuri said they had straightened out by the next gig. But of course, I love watching Gavi on stage. He looks so relaxed and natural. He’s got a great voice, too. I love the people that our children are becoming.
This process of growing older is so interesting. Here we are, older and a little wiser. I've heard that people on their death bed don't express regrets that they didn't spend more time at the office. However, I wonder if that will be one of my regrets. Maybe I should have spent more time at the office. It doesn't appeal to me at present, though.
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