My Mother and the Neil Diamond Concert!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

The Neil Diamond concert was on July 1 in Cleveland, OH.  My mom was going to get there come hell or high water.  Every member of her family knew she was going and even her heart Doctor had asked her to take pictures and bring them with her at the next appointment.  Four days before she was due to leave, she went to Bridge Club and I am beginning to have my suspicions about what goes on there, and came home and propped her legs up, only to see that they were swollen to double the size.  Panic ensued, she called me, and I did my best to calm her down. She kept repeating, “I am not going to the hospital. I am going to see Neil Diamond!”  I tried to reassure her that she had a few days before the concert and it was better that it happened now than on the day she was leaving, and she got a little cranky and informed me that I was including a day when she had a hair appointment. Luckily, she had called her doctor’s office first and since she doesn’t have call waiting was waiting for a call back and had to get off the phone.  I told her I would call and check on her later.  I started to worry a little when she did not answer on the call back, but as it turned out she did what many people do in a health crisis and went down to get a Root Beer Float at the ice cream social they were having.  The nurse did call her back and they doubled one of her medicines and even the nurse knew about the concert and said they would get her there.

Health crisis averted and Mother Nature decided to throw another wrench into her plans by sending a terrible storm through her area just days before the big show and leaving her and the niece, who was taking her to the concert, without power.  It also hit in other states including Maryland and she had a few moments of terror worrying that my sister from Maryland would not make her flight and get to Cleveland on time. The odd thing is they needed rain desperately, but no one could believe it finally came right before the concert and she was convinced, by that time, that someone had it out for her. She also did not seem duly concerned that the prayed for rain came at a time when her area was taking drought precautions, but rather, was heard to remark on more than one occasion, “why does this stuff always happen to me?” I have spent the last few months listening to all of her preparations for this much-anticipated concert, so I was worried for my own mental health and well being and not looking forward to the months of agony in my future if she missed this concert.  She has dieted, exercised, and changed her hairstyle for this concert and I thought about questioning her as to what a Neil Diamond groupie was actually expected to do at these concerts, but I realized I might not want to hear the answer.

 

Meanwhile, we have elevated the niece, Emily, who was driving her to the concert to Sainthood. The concert was not until Sunday at 8 p.m., but my mom wanted to leave for Cleveland (a 3 hour drive) no latter than 9:00 a.m. on Saturday.  When Emily suggested they leave a little later, my mom let Emily know who was running the show and Emily fell right into line. Emily had also decided the route they would be taking, but I think my mom hit her over the head with her Triple AAA Trip Tik and let her know, once again, that Grandma Virginia was in charge. Emily has always been a kind, easy going, person, but we were all anticipating that come Monday, after the concert, she was going to be swearing like a sailor, drinking heavily, and saying things like, “Grandma is nuts!”  Unfortunately, for Emily, we were also thinking, “better her than me,” and had no trouble throwing her to the wolf, so to speak, when we had originally thought about who could take my mother to this concert.  I tried to help her out and talked to my mother about being gracious and keeping her mouth shut when it was warranted, but I could tell from her laughter that it was a lost cause.  At that point, I just offered up some extra prayers for Emily.

After all of the initial glitches, everything fell into place. My sister, nephew, and his friend, arrived on time to Cleveland.  Mom and Emily made it, too, and according to my mother the weekend and the concert were the absolute best days of her life.  She made no mention of giving birth to three daughters in that statement and I knew if I asked her about it, she would only have confirmed that she stood by her original declaration.  Over and over she repeated that it could not have been more perfect.  My nephew impressed her with opening doors for her and taking great care of her, and even my sister was shocked at that development.  She thought maybe he was trying to get himself into her will and I think she waited until they got back home to tell him that if our mother continued to go to these expensive concerts all that would be left was loose change, a black purse with side pockets, a few romance novels, a copy of the Jazz Singer, miscellaneous VHS tapes, and a whole lot of Neil Diamond and Alan Jackson memorabilia.

My mom is now suffering from concert withdrawal, and has been quite blue that it is all over.  As some of you might remember, she originally stated that she could die happy if she saw Neil Diamond one more time, but it now seems she thinks she needs to see him again.  I talked to her this week and told her we should plan a trip for her to come visit us, so she had something to look forward to, and she sighed and said it was getting too hard for her to travel and in the very next breath wondered if she could make it to Anaheim, California, for another Neil Diamond concert.  The woman lives in Indiana!  Meanwhile, my aunt talked to her recently about the show and reported back that my mother told her she hoped she was as happy to see the Lord when he came to get her, as she was to see Neil Diamond.  We have our doubts and think the Lord might be waiting until Neil Diamond gets to heaven first before he brings her home.  Otherwise, he is going to have one mad woman running around up there saying, “You call this heaven?  Where are the Neil Diamond concerts?”

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Laurie, YES I do have to carry a paperback book everywhere I go!  And I may not have a bottle of water but I do have a small squirt bottle of water ( to spritz my hair when I take of the motorcycle helmet).....

[F, Calla & Luca]

Neil may be willing to be a bigamist.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Karen, F's purse seems more like my mom's purse....LOL!

Jennifer, Now you tell us....she could have stayed with you for an extended visit. She likes Doodles....LOL!

Jane, LOL....she would NEVER let me sing along to any Neil Diamond song! I am sure she would tell me to "shut up" so she could hear him better. Thank you to everyone for the sweet comments about my mom!!

F, She is in her forties, I believe. I think they got married this year. My mom is aware of the marriage, but seems unfazed by it :)

[F, Calla & Luca]

Sadly there is a young Mrs. Neil Diamond I think.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I love "Mrs Neil Diamond"!  I think many of us have sort of "adopted" your Mom.  Have you thought about getting some of the live concert DVDs and staging a show right in your home?  There are several of them on Amazon.  You would need to recreate the atmosphere so you'd need to be doing some singing along to Sweet Caroline.  Thanks for sharing your Mom with us, Laurie.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Hey Karen stop putting down older ladies : )

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thanks, I love it too. F, there are several interior pockets and compartments.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Laurie! I was just Thinking about your mom because Neil was playing at Summerfest in
MILWAUKEE too! (Notice I didn't mention that earlier!) So happy for you all that she made it to the CONCERT! THANKS FOR SHARING THE STORY!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Two measly pockets : ) I need a full length compartment on one side and several pockets on the other.

[Carol and Banjo]

Karen.....YUMMY purse!!!!   I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!!