Birthday Weekend

That old September
feeling, left over from school
days, of summer passing,
vacation nearly done,
obligations, gatherings, books,
and football in the air…
Another fall, another
turned page.”
By Wallace Stegner
Angle of Repose

I’ve reached a milestone today. This is my 80th birthday. Hubby beat me by nine days. (His mom and dad were five days apart.) My late friend Barbara Tankle and I were just a few days apart so we used to kid each other on our birthdays. I was a bit older.  Then we discovered that the gorgeous Sophia Loren was born at the same time. We moaned and groaned. God had saved one of his most beautiful faces for her.  We’d just have to settle for what God gave us – although Barbara did better than I. (She was a very, very pretty woman.) I am sorry that she is not around so that we could celebrate our 80th birthdays together. In the past 10 years or so, I learned that Fr. James Lane, of St. Brendan Parish, was born six days after me. I kidded him about my being older than he was. We agreed that 1934 was a great year in which to be born.

***
What nicer way for Hubby to spend his 80th birthday last Tuesday than to be on the Spirit of Boston for a lovely luncheon, thanks to the Boston Police Dept. Captains Jim Stone, Andy Wilcox, and Richard Sexton had invited a total of 500 people from their districts (Roxbury, Mattapan, and Fields Corner) to the luncheon to thank them for their assistance in helping the officers of their district. We were asked to meet at the McKeon Post parking lot, where we were to board buses to take us to the ship. I got out of the car and went over to CSO Officer Mike Keaney, who was showing visitors where to park in the lot, to tell him how sorry I was that his father had passed away just about a month ago. Pretty soon, two huge buses came into the lot.  We boarded one of them and saw our friend Della Costello and our new friend Sally Feeney. Soon our friend Donna Finnegan came onto the bus with Heather Dabrey and sat in front of us.

The ride in town was easy because most of the morning’s traffic crunch had subsided. We waited and then boarded the ship. Della, Donna, Evie Leahy, Maureen Lyons, Sally, and Heather invited Hubby and me to sit with them. I hadn’t seen Evie Leahy in quite a long time so it was great catching up with her. I had already spoken with Donna on the bus. Capt. Sexton welcomed us all on board. We had already seen Community Service Officers Keaney and Len Lilly at the McKeon Post’s parking area. I did see my friend Mary McCarthy, who works at District C-11. I kidded her about having a photo of her with her broken leg in a cast. Mary said that the photo had to be 10 years old. I will mail it to her before I misplace it again.

Then it was time for the buffet. Most of us waited quite a while before we stood in the long line. Those who went up first even had scrambled eggs. (Perhaps there was a breakfast aboard the ship earlier that morning.) Those of us who went later had luncheon food: chicken strips, a scrumptious Caesar salad, a penne-pasta dish, fried red peppers and onions, with summer squash, plus lovely rolls. We had brownies with a swirl of frosting on top for dessert. The wait staff brought all of us tasty hot coffee, which was much appreciated on that cool, very windy day. There were several other desserts but I had reached my limit.

Then the deejay went to work. He played such good music that he encouraged a great many people to dance. I left my chair and went over to the railing where I could hold on and still see all the dancers below. I watched and danced a little, holding onto the railing. (Every once in a while, a boat would sail beside our ship and cause waves, rocking our ship.) Many of the dancers stayed on the dance floor for most of our voyage, some until we actually docked. We boarded one of our two District C-11 buses for the ride back to the McKeon Post’s parking lot. We said goodbye to everyone and walked to our car. It wouldn’t start.

Thanks and God bless to Mike Keaney and Len Lilly, who were able to give our car a jump with our cables and one of the police cars. Thank goodness Hubby always carries jumper cables in our car. He took it to the dealer the next morning and discovered that the battery was defective. Even nicer, the new battery was free because the old battery was still under warranty.

When we arrived home from the luncheon, we told daughter Sue what a great time we had aboard the Spirit of Boston. By the way, Capt. Sexton asked the announcer to mention that Hubby was celebrating his birthday that day. We learned, from Capt. Sexton, that Sue had left a message on his voice mail, asking him to have someone mention her dad’s 80th birthday There were also four others who were celebrating their birthdays that day.

***
When I went to my doctor the other morning, I received my flu shot for this year. I also learned, from Dr. O’Keefe, that Sr. Paula Tinlin is leaving Carney Hospital after 20 years. I was shocked by the news. When I arrived home, I called Sr. Paula at Carney. She wasn’t there but I left a message so that she would know why I had called.  She sent me a long email. She told me that she had been born at the “Old Carney” in Southie, where her mom, Louise, had worked as a switchboard operator. Her mom was paging Sr. Mary Paul and decided that Mary Paula would be a good name for her daughter.

Sr. Paula said that her order, the Sisters of Notre Dame, has just been restructured and she is now one of seven “support coordinators.” Her role as a “pioneer” has not yet been defined but she “will find the path by walking it.” Needless to say, Sr. Paula will miss Carney, the staff, patients, and community. She told me “My roots go deeply into the soil, spirit and, may I add, the ‘soul’ of Carney.” Thank goodness she will continue to live in Southie. She mentioned that she meets “half of Carney” while walking at Castle Island. She hopes to be able to come to one of the senior suppers at Carney to enjoy it as a guest by being served and not to serve. We certainly wish Sr. Paula a great deal of success in her new assignment. We seniors who attend the suppers, will miss her very much. 

***
I was sorry to read of the death of Charles Cahill on Aug. 20. He resided in Bourne after living in South Boston. He was the husband of Donna and the father of Sally Cahill-Donahue, Ryan, Megan, and my good friend Jill Baker, an aide to City Councilor Frank Baker. I send my sympathy to all the Cahill Family.

***
Daughter Sue was down the Cape over Labor Day. As she was returning home on Tuesday, she noticed that there were two state troopers standing at attention on either side of Trooper Mark Charbonnier’s headstone/cenotaph along Route 3 in Kingston. I had just written about Mark in last week’s paper so I knew that it was the 20th anniversary of his death that day, Sept. 2. It doesn’t seem possible that it is 20 years. Mark touched so many lives.

***
 We were watching the Hallmark Movie Channel (Ch.199 on Boston’s Comcast Cable) the other evening. At the end of this month, the channel will be known as the Hallmark Movie and Mysteries channel The station also mentioned that after Halloween, they will feature just Christmas movies through the holidays. I know that Hubby will be watching.

***
Hubby received a lovely book from our friend Joan Hill, from church, after Mass the other day. The book is “National Geographic’s Backyard Guide to the Night Sky,” by Howard Schneider. We often speak about happenings in the sky as we are leaving church. We were sorry that we could not see the Northern Lights because of the cloud cover last Friday evening. On days when we see rainbows as we come out of church, we are thrilled. One day, years ago, we were treated to a double rainbow as we walked out.

***
Here is Bob Hope’s thought “On Turning 80”: “That‘s the time of your life when even your birthday suit needs pressing!”


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