Day 4 - Last day at Navarre Beach

Saturday July 10

7:30 a.m.
A dozen or so of us milling around the kitchen. 2nd pot of coffee brewing. The last bit of detritus from the party the night before had been swept away by the early risers. Half of the household was packing up and preparing to leave.  That allowed me to have some one-on-one time with John and Shelley.  Learned a bit about their house in Georgia - right beside brother Jorge.  John's next career with a large defence contractor.  The townhouse the girls will share as they attend a Florida university together.  Possible plans to make it up to Ontario in August.  A lesson about the gun that was presented to John at the retirement ceremony. More details about the extraordinary adventures he and Shelley have had the past two decades. 

My brief window of catch-up time closed as John was surrounded by family members. John's youngest brother Michael has a flair for stand up comedy and made a hilarious presentation in honour of John's new teaching career.  Prop after prop was pulled out of a paper bag and within minutes (and amidst roars of laughter) John had everything he needed to assume the role of revered professor:

Not to be outdone by the parents, the 2 daughters and niece and nephew of Michael and Caroline marched us upstairs to watch a dance routine for John. 

It didn't take long for everyone to get on the dance floor.  It was if we had to make up for the lack of dancing at the party the night before. 

Matt and Kyle met their matches on the dance floor - Carmen and her mom Leila wowed all of us (but especially the young men) with their moves.

We loved all the kids, but it was this little one who stole our hearts:

Hours past schedule, several of the families made their tearful goodbyes.  Loaded into their vehicles, they were given a push out of the driveway by the remaining family members.  This ritual was repeated throughout the weekend.  When mom and the aunties left the house Saturday night, John's parents made them drive up to the house - they were parked in the lot across the street - in order to officially push them on their way. 

An insider's view from our turn on Sunday morning:

Back to Saturday afternoon: Cindy and I headed to the beach for a swim then followed up on our promise to rent scooters.  We drove from Navarre Beach to Pensacola Beach - about a half an hour. Lots of protected shores where humans were not allowed to tread.  The white sand looked like snow. The sign reads "Dune Restoration. Please Keep Off".

It was another steaming hot day.  We cooled off at the beach and caught the tail end of the Blue Angels air show. 

We would have liked to stop for a snack and drink somewhere before returning home, but the skies were turning dark and we could see lightning to the east.  Traffic was heavy on the way back - and I'm sure the motorists didn't appreciate following two gutless scooters.  For once Cindy and I drove the speed limit. 

Our moms were at the house and we spent an enjoyable evening with the rest of the family.  Jorge made his famous pork ribs with Mojo sauce.  I now have the recipe:  Sour orange, Garlic - a lot, Onion - a lot, Oregano, Cilantro, Salt, Dry wine ( little).  Put in blender and taste until it's perfect.

(I also have a bottle of Mojo sauce that I bought from Publix. Jorge says that it is a good substitute for the real thing.) 

Can't remember if it was before or after dinner when Kim, Mary, mom and I took a last walk on the beach (last for me, first for the others).

Sometime in the evening Carmen (John's mom) cornered me and offered to do my horoscope - she seems to think that I have a lot of things on my mind right now...  I suppose some guidance from the stars is better than what I have been working with lately!  Armed with my birth date, she also needed to know my time of birth.  My memory being what it is, I could not provide her with that info.  Lucky for me that mom was right beside me - who better to ask?  Not surprising, mom's memory being what it is, she couldn't remember either!  That made for a good laugh.  I could not take offense as I cannot recall the exact time - or even time of day - when my girls were born. 

That in a nutshell was what those 4 days in Florida were all about - laughter, love, caring, celebrating and not taking ourselves too seriously.  It may not have been my dream trip to Provence, but it provided some well-needed mojo for my soul.

Day 3 - Hurlbert Field

Friday July 9, 2010

John's retirement party was as touching and patriotic as I had imagined.

We were up and out of the house by 7:20 a.m.  The wall of heat that greeted us also fogged up our cameras.  But the boys managed to get some nice shots of Kim, Cindy and I on the driveway.

 

I'm not glowing - that's condensation on the camera lens. My hair was considerably bigger and wilder 4 hours later.

We assembled in an air-conditioned room in the chapel prior to the ceremony.  Despite the institutional background, everyone began to snap group shots.  I would have preferred a better setting, but a cool climate won out over an aesthetically pleasing backdrop. 

Here's John with his nieces and nephews:

And here is the rest of the family capturing that moment:

In anticipation of sitting in the heat at the ceremony, Kim splurged on fans for all the ladies:

I ventured outside to watch the preparations.  The crowds were gathering and the uniforms were inspected:

John's grandmother Leila had her very own escort and vehicle to take her to the ceremony:

As we stood, and many saluted, John and his retiring officer were led by the colour guard to the podium

We remained standing for the national anthem and the Invocation. Next were remarks by John's former commanding officer.  I had heard that Tommy was quite a character and he lived up to his reputation.  As he made his opening remarks, he reached into the podium and pulled out a can of diet coke and an unusual container.  It was a large cup made from one of John's original prosthesis.  I found out later that John "tricked it out" and presented it to Tommy in recognition of the support provided to get John back into service following his accident. 

Following Tommy's funny and touching speech, he presented to John the Award of the Defence Superior Service Medal.  We found out later that this medal is one of the highest award that can be bestowed upon members of the United States military by the Secretary of Defense.   

I cannot do justice to John's speech.  He acknowledged the many people who supported him throughout his career.  I was in awe of the people he described - the doctor who saved his life in Nicaragua; the colleague who, after finishing his 2 hour plus marathon run, ran back to find John and spend the next 4 hours running with and encouraging John (with a stress fracture in his good leg) to finish the race: the pilot who crash landed a plane in the jungle to rescue John after his accident; the people who believed in John before, during and after his accident. John's tribute to his family was equally touching and throughout his speech, John kept his composure.  There would be no tears shed by him during this formal ceremony. That said, John (and Kyle, or so he says) were the only ones with dry eyes during the ceremony. 

We all blubbered some more when, after presenting bouquets to his wife, daughters, mom, aunt, grand-mother and mom-in-law, John handed his son a wooden box.  Jake is just a bit older than Leah, and like Leah, the youngest in that family.  John recognized that Jake missed out on a lot of time together while John held higher and more demanding responsibilities and assignments that took him all over the world.   My understanding is that Jake learned to accept this life. Imagine how Jake felt when he opened the box that his dad presented to him. It was an original coin from John's favourite squadron, and the following inscribed in the box:

Jake

It is time to make up for lost time.

The adventure begins.

Love

Your Dad

We finally had to laugh through all the tears. 

The formal ceremony over, we moved inside for the informal awards and speeches.  Both John and Shelley were recognized by the Department of Defense for service to their country.

We met many of John's former colleagues.  All of them raved about John, his leadership and his dedication to family and country.  We knew John was special, but until then, we had no idea how special.

Before we headed back to beach house, the family was invited to get a closer look at the helicopters that John had flown. I'm surprised my hair fit into the cargo bay:

Speeches and tours over, it was party time!

Day 2 - Navarre Beach

Yawn
Between the snorer and the kids partying on the deck on the other side of my wall, sleep was fleeting. Wide awake at 5 - our 6, but was able to doze. Puttered online then went downstairs to forage for breakfast. John's sister Cuqui (Cookie) and her family were up.

Her brother Jorge, and husband Rich were heading out for a jog. I poured myself a coffee and stewed about packing the wrong camera battery charger. My mood improved significantly when I found a squeeze bottle of Welch's grape jelly. I love America! I squeezed the jelly onto 2 slices of whole grain bread. Battery-shmattery. I was in jam sandwich heaven.
Then Cuqui spoiled it all by announcing that she was heading to the beach to lead a mini boot camp. Would I care to join them? Not really, but really, why not?

By 7:15 we had crossed the street to the beach and were doing lunges and jumping jacks in the sand. The day was shaping up to be heavenly. And it was.

By lunch time I had purchased a battery charger and spent a fun time at Walmart with Kim and her son Matt.

Matt is burnt to a crisp, courtesy of 2 hours of jet skiing without sunscreen.

 Did I mention that he is a redhead? It hurts to look at his bright red skin. Matt was in so much pain that he used a motorized scooter/buggy to shop. We found out that a young kid in scooter is a chick magnet! Matt was stopped at least a half dozen times by women sympathizing with him about his burns.

People were in and out of the house all day doing shopping, getting hair and nails done and taking trips to the beach. I passed on a shoe shopping spree in favor of joining the young ones for a swim. The water was surprisingly warm. I walked along the beach for an hour before swimming. I can never get enough of watching the persistent waves make their way to shore. As I stood in the water, with the waves splashing my legs, I made a promise to myself to spend an extended vacation, or a short-term move to a home by the sea.

My bucket list started, I returned to the beach house and yakked with mom and aunties on the balcony overlooking the beach. We were on a strict schedule that afternoon - everyone had to be at the air force base at 4:00 to get registered for the next day's ceremony. I counted 8 cars in the lot. That done, we drove further east to have dinner at a Chinese food buffet. I didn't count us all there but I estimate that there were 34 of us.

Some more shopping on our way home, then entertainment by one of John's nephews. He is a - well, not a juggler - though he does do something called contact juggling that's fun to watch. Johnny twirled fire sticks for us tonight. Lots of oohs and ahhs and singing of "Hot, hot, hot".

Mom and the aunties made their goodbyes and I decided to call it a night. John's retirement ceremony is tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. Once again, we have our marching orders - everyone out of the house by 7:30. Kim, Cindy and I have to leave a bit earlier as we have to pick up flowers on the way. We are all concerned about how we will survive the outdoor ceremony, but we know that a little heat and humidity for an hour is a small price to pay to pay our respects to our one-legged military hero.

I have no idea what to expect, but know that my camera and Kleenex will be working overtime.

Navarre Beach: Day 1

I've been sitting in front of this empty screen for the past ten minutes trying to figure out how to capture this day without turning it into another big diary entry.

Highlights (not to be confused with highbrow):
- the constant bickering and teasing between Kim and Cindy with the occasional barbs thrown in by Kyle
- Kim's brilliant execution of a car rental deal involving a same-sex partner .... Oooh this one will take too long to explain
- the delight at buying an 18 pack and a 12 pack of beer for $30!!!!!! Cold! And the good stuff!
- the location of our beach castle
- touring the beach castle

- greeting mom and the aunties as they arrived an hour after us (they drove down)

- finally meeting John's parents, siblings and kids (I'm already scheming to kidnap John's sweet 15 year old niece Mackenzie and bring her home with me for the summer - like I need more teenage girls at home)

- fine dining with Kim, mom and aunties Mary and Pat at the $5.00 "all you can eat" buffet at KFC. I loved the deep fried okra and chicken livers.

The only mis-step was allowing the aunties wash their hands before leaving KFC. We just missed the fly-by of 2 helicopters right above the beach house in John's honour. And we didn't get to play beach volleyball under the lights. But we will try again tomorrow.

Time to dig out my earplugs and try to get some sleep. I'm anticipating an eventful night. Kim and Cindy's sons are on the balcony outside our room polishing off the beer. And I'm
sharing a room with my crazy cousins. One of whom has a reputation as a loud snorer.

There are 24 of us sleeping at the beach house tonight. A few more family members will be arriving in the morning. As soon as I stepped into this place and met everyone, I longed to find a way to get the girls on a plane to join us. But hockey camp, summer school and babysitting keep them at home. I expect that there will be many more opportunities like this one. Within a half hour of everyone arriving this evening, John's mom Carmen was inviting us to spend Thanksgiving with John and Shelley in Arizona.

What a week!

Last Sunday morning I woke up to an empty house.  I savoured the quiet and solitude knowing that the week ahead was going to be a busy one.

I had been in Owen Sound the previous day working at a charity golf tournament. My stepmom Loretta accompanied me as far as Mount Forest where she spent the day visiting her aunt and cousin.  Thunderstorms were forecast all week but as I continued north, the dark grey clouds broke up and the sun graced the 38 teams and 20 odd volunteers on the golf course.

Tammy and Allan raised $22,000 for their charity, the Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation (Canadian Chapter). We have a national family conference to host in August so I will write more about this organization later in the summer.  Everything packed up and returned to Al and Tammy's, we settled in for a quick drink as I downloaded all the pictures that I had taken that day.  The visit was much too short as I had to pick up Loretta and get her home.  By 10:30 p.m. were on the road.  I dropped off Loretta well after midnight and finally collapsed into bed around 1:00 a.m. 

SUNDAY
After that busy and rewarding day, I spent several leisurely hours on Sunday strolling around the Aberfoyle Antique Market. This is the 40th year the market has been in business and it is one place that I have driven by dozens of times thinking, some day I would like to go there.  It was better than I had imagined - not rows of stalls (though there are a few) but charming settings and artifacts around every corner. I was enchanted.

Lorne Young was one of my dad's (Emm) oldest friends and has been selling old telephones at the market from day one. I finally found Lorne and his wife Nancy in one of the booths and enjoyed a visit with them.  I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of them - next time. Reluctantly I had to leave. I can't wait to bring the girls with me.  Ev especially would love it here.

It was party time.  Father's Day & Birthday bbq at Adam and Yvonne's.  I was not used to attending a family function without my immediate family.  Without Leah and Evann to play with, Avry decided that I would make do. We played in her tent, we went for a walk and cuddled.  We celebrated the wonderful dads in our lives, and Yvonne's sister-in-law and I enjoyed warm birthday wishes.

Sunday night my family was once again all under one roof. 

MONDAY
Monday morning I magically awoke as a 50 year-old.  Later that night Carson asked me if I felt older. She said that she always feels older on her birthday.  "Not at all", I replied.  However, little did I know after this week of partying, 50 did feel a little tough.

No work for me Monday morning, I had booked it off as a vacation day. Plans had been made weeks before to spend the morning with mom and aunt Mary on a golf course. Carson was a late addition but made up a perfect foursome.

Mom was a great coach. Carson was exhausted from a rigorous cheerleading practice the past weekend, but she managed to impress us on her first time out.

Home from the golf course later than expected. Thought that I would get some visiting in with a few neighbours, but had to get ready to go for dinner with Rob and the girls.  The meal itself was a mixed bag of great and not so great dishes, but the company was superb.  One dish we all agreed was the best was the grilled calamari.  Ev enjoyed her mussels, but had more fun with the calamari - yes, that is a tentacle on her finger.

After dinner we enjoyed some ice cream on our walk through downtown Oakville. It was a beautiful summer evening.

TUESDAY

Back to work Tuesday.  I was supposed to play baseball that night but a torrential downpour all morning made the field too muddy for playing.  A few emails back and forth from the team confirming that despite the game rain-out, the post-game party was still a go!  With no game to race home to, I took advantage of an offer from a good friend to go out for a birthday drink.  One manhattan, some delectable appetizers, yummy red wine and many laughs and reminiscing prepped me for the baseball girls. 

I arrived a little later than the others and was immediately greeted with more red wine.  Many red wines later (I recall a birthday cupcake and singing at some time in the evening), a team mate drove me home.  I had called home around 12:30 looking for a ride, but by then everyone was in bed (go figure!).  At 1:30, somewhat worried that I wasn't in bed, Rob found me fast asleep on the couch in the family room. Let's just say that I didn't feel very good on Wednesday.

WEDNESDAY was the day an earthquake hit - between the sleep deprivation and big bad headache, a little tremour wasn't something that my body was capable of registering...

THURSDAY

Our offices were closed Thursday and Friday. It was great working from home on Thursday.  Ev wrote her last exams that day and the whole family was together for an early dinner that night.  A relatively quiet night.

FRIDAY

I had to head into the city for an event at the Royal Ontario Museum.  At the last minute, I invited Ev to join me.  What a trouper - on the first official sleep-in day of the summer, she was up and out of the house by 8:30.  I wasn't sure what to expect traffic wise as Toronto was deep into G20 lockdown, but we made it into the city in record time. 

We were at the ROM to attend the media launch of the Terracotta Warrior exhibition.  There was a great turnout.  That's our Minister (of Tourism and Culture) at the podium.  After a few speeches by various dignitaries, and a ceremonial dotting of the dragon's eyes for good luck, everyone was invited to tour the exhibition. 

This exhibition has been in the works for many years.  My job as government liaison to the ROM was quite insignificant with regard to this event, but I was very proud of efforts of the ROM, its staff and all the sponsors and supporters who bring these cultural initiatives to fruition.

I was pleased that Ev enjoyed the exhibition.

Hundreds of great displays, and tucked into a corner we found some erotic artifacts.  One of the curators was walking with us when we came upon them - a fun discussion ensued.  

We said our goodbyes and made our way south to Front Street for a peek at the security fence and other changes to our city.  It was a surreal sight of the swarms of police officers at every street corner in the downtown core.  Here's Ev in front of the fence that surrounded the Metro Toronto Convention Centre - site of the G20 meetings.

We raced back home.  I had to finish up some work and then get ready to meet up with two girlfriends for a long awaited birthday dinner.  Earlier in the afternoon they moved up the pick up time to allow us to go to a new hair salon in town.  The place is called Blo and it specialized in just styling hair. No cuts, just wash, blow-dry and hollywood hair.  Marion was already coiffed when we arrived.  As I was prepped, Marilyn popped out to pick up some wine and munchies.  What a perfect way to start an evening. 

 

Here we are in the salon - I'm taking the picture, Marilyn is having her turn, and Marion is that sexy one with the "Bardo" do on the far right.

Et voila - one hour later, we are ready for a night on the town

 

We had been planning and looking forward to this night for months.  Little did I know that it wasn't just going to be a quiet dinner with Marilyn and Marion.  We went back to Marilyn's for more wine and nibblies.  Marily presented me with a gorgeous afghan that she had been working on all winter.  Not only are my girlfriends beautiful, intelligent and oh so much fun, they are creative and talented.  I knew that she was making one for me, but I could never imagined how beautiful it would be:

  

  Finally it was time to head out to the nice italian restaurant that Marion had been raving about.  "Oh Val, you will love it. The food is great and the owners treat you like family".  I couldn't wait. 

Marilyn's husband Larry drove us, and it was decided that there was time for him to drop us off at YukYuk's to allow Marion to pick up some tickets for her son. The plan was to then walk to the restaurant which was just across the street.  As Marion went to the main desk, Marilyn decided that we should look around the place.  The "theatre" was empty but the restaurant looked like it was hopping.  As we popped in there for a look I saw some familiar faces - "Surprise" yelled Paula, Laurie, Bandna and Carol! I was escorted to the table and was greeted with laughs and warm wishes. 

As I sat at the head of the table and beamed at these wonderful women, my heart felt like it would burst. I am so fortunate to have these women in my life. What a beautiful surprise. They spoiled me with funny cards and a gift of my choice of some incredible adventures - I'm leaning toward the fly fishing afternoon or zip-lining.  Another adventure for another day.

 

During dinner we were serenaded by dueling piano men.  They invited everyone to join them on stage for a sing-a-long.  It didn't take long for Carol and I to take the stage. Apparently we were quite entertaining:

 

Thankfully for everyone, we had to move to another room (with reminders to not quit our day jobs). It was time to watch the comedians.  What a hoot!  After several hours of laughs, we made our way back to Marilyn's for tea and birthday cake.  And what a cake. My life in fondant. I will feature the cake in another post. Here's a peek for now:

It was a long and exciting day and I was looking forward to getting a good night's sleep.  Little did I know that there was an After Party! 

But not mine.  Finally home - to be greeted by several dozen teenagers partying with Carson. Carol and I kept vigil in the front room. But first we had to show off what was left of my birthday cake.  Those darling children were suitably impressed.  

There's a cake somewhere there behind the beer bottles.

The last kids left at 4:30 a.m.! 

SATURDAY

With just a few hours sleep, I was off and running errands.  Thankfully Ev and I took some time in the afternoon to enjoy a pedicure.  Carol fed us samosas as we sat in the massage chairs.

Home to get ready for the next party. Cousin Larry's surprise 49 1/2 .   With Rob at the cottage, Carol was my date. I am fortunate to have a large and loving family. If we had a motto, it would be "The more the merrier". Carol has been welcomed to many family events and last night was no exception.  We laughed and sang and danced.  A hint of fun to come when I'm in Florida next week with many of these family members.

Earlier in the week, I was thrilled to find a picture of Larry and I from 1963.  My gift to him were reprints of the following pictures:

 

SUNDAY

A day of rest. 

With a trip to Turkey Point, Port Rowan and Port Dover.  Some laundry. And some baking.

I'd post some pictures, but I think I had better get to bed.

TGIM