It is Flag Day – raise Old Glory! It was also my Grandma’s Birthday (Happy Birthday, Lillian!), and it is brother Jamie and Carole’s 18th Anniversary…

It reminds me (I’m rubbing my chin, wishing that the vision would get foggy – a la Letterman )…Eighteen years and ten days ago my mother got a phone call. Jamie & Carole had set a date!!! The 14th, at Mom’s house, simple, small… could we pull it together? We both assumed they meant July, but that day fell on a Tuesday or something… another phone call, and JUNE was confirmed?!?! It was a whirlwind! They had been engaged for a while, so it wasn’t a surprise – just a lot to do very quickly! Mom picked up some decorations, and ordered a couple trays of food from an Italian restaurant she had done banquets (for work) with. We both called a bunch of their friends, and one came over to help me make a few dozen “mini-Pizza Loaves , something Jamie had enjoyed… I’m sure I made something else, an appetizer (?) as well, but it escapes me now. I forget where we got the cake, or if Papa made it (probably)… I recall an absolutely beautiful sun shiny day – Mom always has a spectacular garden, so I’m sure there were lots of flowers… Everyone wore a flag pin… and yes, we still threw a birthday party for Grandma that evening!! Eighteen years is a long time – Congrats, guys!