Bionic Grammie 03/02/00

Like a true Reynolds-Lockhart, I was prepared for the worst and hoped for the best.  Thank goodness, I got the best.  Everyone was wonderful and the test went without a hitch. 

I wasn't nervous, not even on the early morning (7:15 a.m.) drive to the hospital.  It helped that the weather was right up my alley - great greyclouds and a brisk, spanking breeze.  I felt too exhilarated by the weather to feel nervous.

It is hard to adequately describe what the sky looked like.  The closest I can come is to compare it to the afghans that Nell, a dear friend in Australia, made.  Think of a crocheted throw, with soft-soft yarn thatincludes every possible shade of grey, thrown over a sky blue sheet. 

We drove through Bryn Athyn, through the college campus, past the church and down the Pike to the hospital. 

It felt like seashore weather, when the clouds are all jumbled over the ocean with the sun occasionally breaking through over the breakers and a bracing breeze coming off the ocean.  The type of weather that Pete and I often enjoyed when we went to Atlantic City each February for the Middle Atlantic Lumberman's Association convention.

We had so much fun at those conventions.  Pete & I never stayed at the big  hotels up in Atlantic City (this was before gambling arrived and the really flashy hotels that are there now).  We stayed down in Ventnor, at a small motel right on the board walk, yet in a residential area.  Our room included a kitchenette, so we could eat there and watch the kids riding their bikes up the boardwalk to school.  It was so private, we could get dressed in front of the window, watching the waves crashing in, without fear of being seen. 

I loved those times, just the two of us.  Even though we had the saggy-baggy bodies of the deep end of middle age, we looked to each other as if in the fullness of our youth.  We made the most of the times we were alone.

Several times, Mike & Kerry came down for the big Saturday night banquet.  It was a great source of pride to see Pete's lumberyard at the top of the list of contributors because he contributed more per earnings than any other yard.  And his was the smallest!  But the thing that Pete was proudest of was Mike's presence.  Most of the other members did not have children who were interested in the business.  He would be proud to know that Mike managed a major lumber store and now runs his own high-end hardware store in Sydney.  The acorn did not fall far from the tree! 

It is amazing how a little thing like weather can jog so many memories.They helped keep my mind off what was happening today and what could happen. And now, that is all that today's testing is - a memory, and an unusually good one at that. 

The nurses, technicians and doctors treated me with kid gloves (so to speak). We laughed and joked and had as swell a time as was possible. I'll tell you, though, I cannot WAIT until this is all over and done with.   Less than five days to go until I am the Bionic Grammie!

Love to all & thanks for your kind thoughts & good wishes ~  Mike’s Mom