Going Home to Celebrate a 50th Wedding Anniversary!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

We left last Tuesday to go home to Indiana to celebrate my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Bob’s 50^th wedding anniversary.  My uncle is my mom’s brother, thirteen years her junior, and must have been an “oops” baby. He turned out to be a wonderful blessing for my grandmother and the son that stayed behind when the other brothers moved away. For many years now, my aunt, uncle, and mom have driven from Indiana to Pennsylvania to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with our family.  Along the way, we have discovered we really like each other.

 

The past few years, on the day of their anticipated arrival, I have come to expect a call telling me they are lost. My uncle swears they miss their exits because my aunt is flying down the highway and he can’t read the signs at such high speeds and my aunt swears he is exaggerating.  I am not sure whom to believe, but the last time I went to pick them up, my mom was crouched in a fetal position in the back of the car and it took three of us to pry her hands from the seat belt.  Personally, I have come to the conclusion that they just want to stop for a big glass of sweet ice tea before getting to my house, because even though they can never find our house, they are always able to find the same McDonalds just a few miles from where we live.

 

We love having them come for Thanksgiving and if it wasn’t for the fact that Nancy brings her camera and we spend a large part of the weekend teaching Bob how to operate our TV’s, they would be the perfect houseguests.  Bob has screwed up most of our TV’s trying to find Fox News and Nancy has taken about 1000 pictures of everything in our house.  I have had my picture taken when I am eating cereal, watching TV, balancing my checkbook, and she would have gotten one of me brushing my teeth, but I was able to spit out “I don’t think so!” and shut the bathroom door just in time. We have started to sleep in our street clothes just in case she sneaks in at night and tries to get one of us sleeping……or worse.

 

My uncle is the most laid back person I know and has a great sense of humor.   My aunt and I spend a good part of the time shopping and no matter what we return home with all Bob ever says is, “we aren’t going to be able to fit all this in the car for the ride back.”  If he says it once, he says it a thousand times. Nancy always counters with, “Awww, honey, it will all fit!”  Once, he threatened he was going to have to leave my mom behind and I swear that time Nancy agreed with him.  Even my husband got involved at that point and said if we had to, we would ship some of the stuff home for them because he did not want my mom to miss her ride back home. 

 

My aunt still has friends from grade school and keeps so busy that I am not sure if she watches any TV or reads any entertainment magazines, because sometimes I think she might be living under a rock. We took her to a Diane Keaton movie once and she came home and said, “that Merle (rhymes with Pearl) Steep is a very good actress,” and at the live Dancing with the Stars show in Hershey Park she asked how they could do all that on ice skates. She will never live those comments down EVER! We have lived in PA since 2004 and know very little people in our area. Nancy already has a close friend she met at a Michaels store on one of her past trips out here. They talk on the phone, exchange notes, and she visits her when they stay at my house.  Bob lets her go alone to visit her newfound friend and prefers to stay home with us and say things like, “I don’t know what button I pushed on the remote, but the TV screen is blank again!”

 

Last Thanksgiving, my uncle was quieter than usual and did not seem to be himself. Even my husband noticed and asked me if he was sick. This year, they were supposed to come out and watch our dogs in June and two weeks before they were to arrive, my aunt called to say my uncle needed heart bypass surgery.  I told him if he didn’t want to watch Fudge and Vern he could have just said no, but he said he likes to do things in a big way. Luckily, this story has a happy ending and he is doing great after surgery.  So, on Saturday we had a great party for a great couple and I got to tell everyone that I could not believe he bailed on pet sitting for Fudge and Vern this summer, just because he needed heart surgery. It sure is great to have my uncle back.

 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

F, I am very dignified, remember?? Or did you forget I took my 85 year old mom to see Bridesmaids?I guess I didn't yell because I am really quite shy..haha!

Donna, I love this....doodles are everywhere! I hope you had more than a wee taste of the blueberry custard pie...life is too short :)

[F, Calla & Luca]

Donna, we never would have thought the pastry was for you ; )

[F, Calla & Luca]

Laurie, why didn't you yell. I thought we were beyond being dignified.

[Donna K & Quincy]

I should add the pastry was not for me, but that little blueberry custard pie that I had a wee little taste of was delicious.

[Donna K & Quincy]

@Laurie and Traci, we went for a walk downtown yesterday and Quincy and I were sitting outside a little pastry shop waiting for DH when a lady came along and started talking about the doodle. She said she had a doodle as well so I proceded to tell her about DK, she was already a member. She was from Ottawa and I later had a message from her that she had been looking at Quincy's pics the day before because she was trying to figure out how big her puppy was going to get. DKers are everywhere. She is new to the site and not active, but hopefully that will change.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Traci, We saw one on our drive home from Indiana walking down the street with a woman. I wanted to yell, "Are you on DK and what is your name...LOL."

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

AWW! I am not very far away from Fort Wayne relatively speaking!  I wish there were more doodle families around me!  I don't of any (except Bexter's littermate).

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Leslie, I love it....warped, wonderful person....LOL!! Thank you!!

[Leslie and Halas]

I'm glad your uncle is doing better.  People don't turn out like you on accident, and it's clear that your family has had a huge hand in shaping you into the warped, wonderful person that you are today.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Jane, I am from Fort Wayne, Indiana. My DH is too and we met in high school, but grew up blocks apart on the same street :) I am not familiar with Rockville...is it in Southern IN?

Carol, Awww....thank you! The more the merrier, I say!