Family

Bodycoat, Carpenter, Coffin, McClurkin, Russo-Savage, Savage, and Ziarnik - January 14, 2012 in Stockton Springs, Maine

What a spectacular day we had! The girls outnumbered the boys, 13-6, AND the girls tromped on the boys in all things ping-pong. We can't, however, declare utter and complete and permanent victory, because SOME of the men were reluctant (afraid???) to play. On another (more digital) front, "Words With Friends" seemed more like "Words With Enemies", particularly where siblings were involved...

A huge thank-you to Freeland and Jean for hosting us all, providing breakfast, lunch, and a fabulous dinner of lobsters and steamers for us shellfish-avores, and stew (beef and sans beef) for the shellfish-averse. Salad, bread, cake, ice cream, wine, beer, not to mention all the yummy appetizer-y objects floating around - oh, my! Thank you, too, to Nancy, for organizing us all.

Why were 19 of us together on the second Saturday in January 2012, you ask? Two reasons - to celebrate 1) the 85th anniversary of Freeland Arthur Savage's birth, and 2) the close of a hellacious year for my sister Suzy, who endured surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and all the myriad troubles attendant thereon, in her 12-month battle with breast cancer. What better reasons to have a party?

I am so glad to be in THIS family.

Speaking of family, here's today's poem. I hope no one in MY family sees themselves in these lines:

Talented Family

By Kenn Nesbitt

My family’s very talented,

I’m certain you’ll agree.

We each possess a special skill

that anyone can see.

My brother’s good at burying

his finger up his nose.

My sister’s good at covering

her room with dirty clothes.

My father’s good at eating soup

in big, disgusting slurps.

My mother’s good at cutting loose

with world-record burps.

Our dog is good at piddling

in the back seat of the car.

The baby’s good at putting

Pop-Tarts in the VCR.

Myself I’m good at sleeping late

and making lots of noise,

and cluttering the living room

with comic books and toys.

So though we’re very talented,

I’m sad to say it’s true:

We’re only good at doing things

we’re not supposed to do.

No spinning, lots of car knitting on the Malthese Flowers shawl. No

exercise, but very good with food and water.