A chilly start to winter

“Let no man boast himself that he has got through the perils of winter till at least the seventh of May.”
            “Doctor Thorne”
by Anthony Trollope

Because the weather is so cold, Hubby has finally broken down and taken out his flannel-lined Dickie jeans. He is wearing the newest pair, which he received for Christmas. The older two pair have slits through both layers of cloth in one knee of each pair thanks to Hubby using a box cutter to cut up cardboard boxes on the porch while he was standing on the stairs. (No blood was spilled, thank goodness.) He just forgot to stop cutting when he reached the end of the cardboard boxes. When Daughter Sue and I gave him the new flannel-lined jeans at Christmas, we told him that he could never hold box cutters while wearing the new pair.    
 
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I was saddened by the death of actor Alan Rickman on Jan. 14. He died of cancer at age 69. Alan began his career on the British stage. He, as Hans Gruber, was so evil in the first “Die Hard” movie with Bruce Willis that he gave me the chills. Then I saw him as Col. Brandon in Emma Thompson’s version of ”Sense and Sensibility.” He was positively wonderful, and I thought well of him after that. We’ve lost a great actor.

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 As I was checking the newspapers from before the holidays, a name happened to catch my eye in an obit in The Patriot Ledger. I saw that my longtime neighbor and friend Jean Hunt had lost her sister, Mary Pat Kaszanek on Dec. 23, at age 76. She served as the distinguished town clerk of Rockland, Mass., for 27 years (1987 to 2011). Mary Pat leaves her husband of 56 years, James Kaszanek, and her children: Barbara Wahlstrom, Celine Furlong, James “Jaime,” and Denise Esposito. In addition to her sister Jean, she leaves another sister, Carol Dodge. Mary Pat’s list of accomplishments is amazing. Jean must have been very proud of her. I send the sympathy of our family to her husband James and to the rest of the Kaszanek family, especially to our longtime friend Jean Hunt.

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In the same newspaper, I saw an obit for Frederick Youngclaus Jr., on Dec. 21, at age 73. I know no other Youngclaus other than Sr. Peggy Youngclaus, my friend from the Simon of Cyrene Society.  Frederick was, indeed, Sr. Peggy’s younger brother. As I read of his accomplishments, I was overwhelmed: a school psychologist for the US Dept. of Defense and a teacher at Bridgewater State College, among other things. I send my sympathy to Fred’s wife of 51 years, Rita, and to sons Christopher, James, and Stephen, and their families. I also send my sympathy to Sr. Peggy and her other brothers, Jack and Paul.
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I was also sorry to read that Tom Feenan, who owns the firm where we have our income taxes prepared each year, had lost his sister Mary (Feenan) Silva on Jan. 10.  I send my sympathy to Tom and all the Silva Family. Mary was originally from Dorchester but lived in recent years in Stoughton.

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Thank goodness I had seen a copy of Boston’s  Senior  Paper last month. On the back page there was an announcement that Boston would, for the 27th time, hold its Annual First Night Celebration for Seniors on Wed., Dec. 30, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It would be again held at the Seaport Hotel. We have had such a good time each year at this event. There was to be a pick-up point at Keystone, so I sent in our applications. I called Eileen Collins to tell her that we would be joining her and her Keystone friends. Several days before the 30th, our bus passes came in the mail. Daughter Sue drove us to Keystone. The bus took us in town quickly. It was a Boston Public Schools bus, so the driver knew his way around town.

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As we entered the hotel, we saw how nicely the place was decorated for the holidays. Eileen had hurried inside and found an empty table. The place was crowded (I think it was last year that The Boston Globe said there were 2,500 seniors at First Night.) We saw groups of teens, from the Mayor’s Youth Council, dressed in colored tee shirts. The teens in our area were wearing pink. These were to be our servers. I had a chance to speak with two “pink” girls. They told me that they were from Latin Academy. I told them that I was an alumna of their school, but its name in those years was Girls’ Latin. I told them that it was a hard school but a great one.

Mayor Marty Walsh then came into the hotel. He greeted many of the seniors and then went to the microphone to wish all of us a “Happy New Year.” As noon neared, wearing the party hats we had been given, we counted down from 10 to 1 and blew our paper horns at “midnight.” Hubby went around and took some photos of those at our table. Our “pink” teens then brought a turkey dinner to each of us. The turkey and stuffing were wonderful. The teens also came around to see if we wanted more rolls, water, etc. We were delighted to see Jane Boyer and photographer extraordinaire Eileen O’Connor. Then two people came over to me. It was been years since I had seen “Queenie” and Mike Joyce from the Dan Marr Boys and Girls Club. For dessert, each of us had a brownie. Commissioner for Elderly Affairs Emily Shea came around to greet us.  I was so happy that Eileen Collins saw our friend Thelma Burns walking out of the hotel. I hurried and caught up to her and gave her a big hug. The only sad part of this lovely celebration is that our bus is one of the last to be called.  We thank the City of Boston for this happy time.

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On Sat., Jan. 2, Hubby, Sue, and I were in our car, with Sue driving, on our way to Rockport to celebrate Christmas with daughter Jeanne, son-in-law David, and the World’s Greatest Grandchildren, Brendan and Erin. We hit one pocket of traffic and arrived just in time. (We had said that if we were early, we would stop at the Dollar Tree in Gloucester.)  Brendan heard us outside and came running to help. David welcomed us into the house and invited us to see their new kitchen with all the new cabinets, plenty of room, and a new dishwasher. There was also a new fridge. I noticed that the window toward the yard was new.  All of the cabinets were beautiful. (I think they were oak.) What really stunned me was that all the cabinets and drawers closed themselves slowly after they had been opened. That was amazing.
Jeanne already had things cooking on the new stove. David carved the turkey, which looked picture perfect. We sat around the kitchen table, stuffing ourselves. Of course, I headed for the meatballs. While we were eating, Jeanne, David, and the kids spoke about Las Vegas, from which they had just returned. (Over Christmas was the only time that everyone in the family had a few days off to go.) Jeanne had made a pineapple upside-down cake, her father’s favorite dessert. Sue had made a chocolate pudding pie. I tested both “to make sure they weren’t poisoned.”

The female who received the most attention that day was “Suzy,” David’s late mother’s dog. Suzy is a big black poodle and has the most wonderful personality. She follows Jeanne around  most of the time, because Jeanne is the one who feeds her. She is great with the rest of the family, also. She even liked us. Hubby and I were sitting on the sofa and Suzy jumped onto the sofa and lay down between us, with her head on Hubby’s leg. She loves to be petted, too.  What a sweet dog!
After the sun set, we didn’t stay much longer in Rockport. It was too cold to go outside. We thanked Jeanne, David, and the kids for having us. We also thanked Daughter Sue for driving our car home. Not too many people were driving early on that  Saturday evening, so we were home fairly quickly. Now our Christmas celebrations are over. I hope that your family has had as much fun as we did.

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Added note: Hubby and I took a ride over to Castle Island this week.  A sign on the front of Sully’s states that it will re-open on Sat., Feb. 27.


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