There's a Three's Company marathon on a local station, the obligatory holiday Twilight Zone marathon on SciFi, and a very anachronistic yet amusing Flip Wilson marathon on TVLand. As my grandmother would have said, "Ganug!" (or, "Enough already!")
Why am I sitting here in the house with the TV on all day on a holiday?
For one, that's how I spend a lot of my time, in the house, with the TV on while I'm doing other things. For another, we rarely do anything else. For yet another, it's the Fourth of July, and our annual family barbecue simply no longer exists. Not that I'm bitter ... well, okay, I'm bitter. I loved the Fourth of July barbecue. We had it every year, here at this house. There were the four of us, my sister and her husband/significant other, her three kids, various kids' friends over the years, and of course, Shirl and Jack. Once my Cousin and her husband were here; one year it was her son with his soon-to-be wife.
It was fun and it was relaxed, even for me. I prepared everything I could in advance, my sister brought her fabulous cole slaw, and everything was easy. At some point in the afternoon, my sister and I would each have a beer, prompting a loud "Uhhh!" from Jack, followed by his stated disbelief that his daughters would drink beer!
Once or twice in the later years, Jack couldn't make it because he was having trouble walking, but when Shirl couldn't come anymore, neither did he. I think the last time we had it at all was a year or two before she died. Once they couldn't come, and my sister's kids and then mine started to scatter, there just wasn't much point.
But I should have had a hot dog today. I should have made cole slaw. I should have had a Rolling Rock.
I don't have as many pictures of the barbecues as I thought I would, but that's okay. It means I was having a good time and not bothering to stop and pick up a camera. But in tribute to July 4ths gone by and to everybody I wish I'd seen in my backyard today, here are a couple:
This is over twenty years ago now, Jack with my niece and nephew, the twins.
A few years later, their favorite pose, with all five grandchildren.
This was 1999, so my mother was in a non-active cancer stage, her hair had grown back and she was really quite well, an island of tranquility in the midst of her 8-year struggle. I think this is the last really good picture of Jack and Shirl together.
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I'm watching VH1 80s
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