Surprise Visit

 

   The ashes of Teresa's Uncle Vern were being interred in a military cemetery just south of San Francisco on April 10. He had died at his home in Mesa, AZ the previous April and we planned to join the family at the interment. We had grown close to Vern and his daughter Kelly during several visits to their home in the past few years. After the interment ceremony we planned to spend three days up in San Francisco doing some hiking on the trails around the city.

   That was the plan anyway. We had reservations for two nights at a hotel near the airport where Vern's family would be staying. A few days before the interment ceremony as we were looking for a hotel in San Francisco's tourist district we got a call from our son Joe. Joe works as first mate on a tug and barge, two weeks on the boat and two weeks at home. When he's home he has his two kids and when he goes back to work, their mother has them.

   He had called to say the company wanted him to work an extra week as probationary captain on a different tug. This would look good on his record when there was an opening for him to be promoted to captain. Could we come and stay at his place to watch the kids for a week and get them to their activities? We live in Minnesota. We were going to San Francisco. Sure. We could ditch our plans to see San Francisco and fly to Boston to take care of business.

  As a bonus, we'd be able to attend my sister's St. Patrick’s Day party. Every year I hear about her fabulous party which occurs after the parade in her town but we could never attend because Teresa and I host our own party that weekend after the imaginary Wannaska parade. This year, thanks to a blizzard in Boston in March, the parade in my sister's town was postponed till April 12. If we hopped on a plane the day after Vern's interment, we could be in Boston the day before the parade/party. 

   We drove to the Twin Cities on April 8. Our friends Alex and Nancy put our car in their garage, put us up in their guest room, and took us to the airport next morning. How do you find friends like that? As we flew west I noticed great stretches of nothing below us. Instead of going to the moon, couldn't we develop this area using cheap immigrant labor? 

   We took a shuttle bus to our hotel. We were too early to check in, but the hotel took our bags, gave us water bottles and directed us to a walking path along the bay behind the hotel. It was a beautiful day and we walked till we found a coffee shop which provided lunch. There was also a restaurant along the way that provided supper later.

   Next day we caught a ride to the cemetery with Vern's daughter Kelly and Teresa's brother Pete. About 35 family and friends gathered in the chapel at the cemetery and after a short ceremony Vern's ashes were lowered under a marker next to his wife Dottie's ashes which have been there since 1993. Vern was 102. We then drove to a restaurant where the family bought lunch. After stuffing ourselves, we were told we hadn't met the minimum they had paid to use the room in the restaurant. The dessert menu was passed around and we stuffed ourselves some more.

   Next morning we caught the 5:00 a.m. shuttle to the airport. The five and a half hour flight was a good time to read a book that needed finishing. Joe picked us up at the airport and we stayed under cover till the next day, Sunday, parade day. Our grandson Nash had an early Sunday activity and I got to see my first ever lacrosse game.

   Everyone was shocked and amazed when we showed up at my sister's place. Some early revelers show up before the parade for a wee dram then everyone walks over to the parade route. Since some towns had already had their parades, many groups who live to march in parades showed up in my sister's town. Everyone said it was the best parade ever with several floats with old rockers playing the classics and a record number of bagpipe and kilt bands. I counted four. The kids' candy bags were filled to bursting. They were urged to eat, eat.

   And then it was back to the party. Our party back home has been rated the best St Patrick's Day party in northern Minnesota, but now that I've attended my sister’s party I see that hers is the real thing and I'm happy we were able to see it for ourselves. Since the party, we've been making the kids' favorite meals and shuttling them back and forth to activities. I just got word that Nash's lacrosse game for this weekend has been canceled so it's lucky we got to see the one before the party.

The Queen of the Parade