Today is a Special Day

Today is a special day.  Today, my grandma would have turned 99.  Today, grandma and I would have celebrated our birthday's together.  Today is a day that I am happy and sad all in one.  Today I miss this wonderful woman.

Bertha Lillian Geiger-Bunch-Bosqui January 22, 1914 - January 6, 2010 

Grandma was called to heaven 3 years ago, January 6th.  Only 16 days shy of her 97th birthday.  That was a very painful day for me.  I lost someone very close to me, very dear to me - and I blogged about the pain I was feeling the day after we buried her.  Her death had an impact on me like no other.

I was extremely close to my grandma. She was an extraordinary lady; she had a huge heart, and while she didn't always spoil with monetary items, she spoiled me with love...lots of it. She was there for almost every important event on my life's journey into adulthood. She never missed a play, a band recital, a birthday, Christmas, graduation, and of course, what means the most to me right now, she was there to see me walk down the aisle on my wedding day. (And she partied with us till the very end of the night, she was one of the last to leave).

I only wish she got to meet my son, or rather he knew her.  I know he would have had the kind of love for her that I did.  She was truly incredible even at 96 years old.

Last night, Tony made dinner.  We had a dish that she used to make just for me when I visited her on Wednesdays for dinner.  Breaded chicken tenderloins, tater tots, and Velveeta shells and cheese.  It was my favorite then, but only when made by her.  It didn't taste right otherwise.  :-)

Today, as I do every year on her birthday, I will go visit her.  I'll take her some pink roses, go and sit on the bench outside her mausoleum, and quietly talk to her.  I'll tell her about Drew and how he see's her picture and says "GG Bert"; I'll tell her all the things that have happened in the last year; I'll tell her happy birthday.  I'll tell her how lucky I am to have Aunt Joan - she's so good with Drew and I don't know what I would do without her.  I'll tell her how much I miss her and how a day doesn't go by that we don't think or talk about her.

I'll cry, blow her a kiss, and tell her I'll see her next year.

Tomorrow's Itinerary

Itinerary? Really? Yeah right...

Anyway, we are planning on meeting at Muddy Waters on Main St. in St. Charles around 7:30-8 PM if anyone is interested in going. Should be a pretty good time.

I'm kind of a big deal...

Do you know who I am? I don't know how to put this but....I'm kind of a big deal. People know me...I'm kind of important, uh...I have many leather-bound books, and my house smells of rich mahogany.
Wait....can I start over? I wanna say something, put it out there...and if you like it you can take it and if you don't, you can send it right back...

ITS MY BIRTHDAY SUNDAY!

Normally, I could care less, another day, another year older, not too much to celebrate. But as some of you know, my 2010 didn't get off to a good start and with everything I've been going through in the past few weeks, I decided that this year we needed to celebrate. A few years back, I was in a funk and declared myself not a birthday, but a birth month. It was freakin' awesome, and definitely got me out of my funk, but I think it took this many years later for my liver to recover from that 1 month. So this time, I'm lessening it to a day of play rather than a month.

We haven't nailed down the exact details, but we are going to be going somewhere down on Main Street in St. Charles Friday evening. I'm not a club person, so it will probably be at some hole in the wall bar. I'd love to see everyone on a good note, I know I saw a lot of you last week, but I really wasn't in the mood for socialization.

I'll post details once they are final. Hopefully, a few of you can make it (ahem...Rachel and Jamie) and if you can't...I'll drink one for you. But of course, it would mean more to me if you were there physically, not just in spirit! :-P