Too much to comprehend

This is the first chance I have had to recap the rather epic Saturday that I experienced last night.  We pulled out of Marienville somewhere around noon.  I felt sort of badly saying goodbye to the sheep and llama after only two days however that is the way the schedule worked out this time as I am now sitting in Pittsburgh instead of Marienville, staged for my flight home tomorrow.

But anyway, I volunteered to drive dad and Teresa’s Subaru cross state for the dinner with Todd and his family.  Dad’s eyesight is pretty awful at this point and Teresa was really the only one of us three that could fit somewhat comfortably with Maggie and Clara in the back seat who were along for the ride.

When we got going I was concerned that the driving would be rather treacherous as it had been snowing steadily all morning.  Luckily only the side roads were snow covered, once we got onto the main thoroughfares they were plowed and salted.  The Subaru is AWD so even with snowy roads we would have been ok.

The drive over to the Reading area was long, very long, taking somewhere in the neighborhood of five hours.  By the time we got to the hotel my dad and step mom were staying at (I was going to stay with my brother), it was about an hour before we were supposed to meet up for dinner.  I quickly took a shower to wash off the day of travel grime and we were soon back on the road after making sure Maggie and Clara had a good channel playing on the TV to entertain them.

I drove to the dinner venue as well.  The area around Berkshire Mall has changed drastically since I lived in Reading, so much so that I felt rather disoriented, especially with it being dark outside.  We wound up driving through the heart of Wyomissing so we could see some of the Christmas lights on the various mansions.  When we turned towards Shillington my dad suggested that we take a less direct route to Flanagan’s the restaurant we were having dinner at.  It was my first hmmmm, moment as it seemed like an attempt to delay our arrival time.

So there was no parking in the lot so we wound up parking a couple blocks down the street.  As we opened the door to the downstairs entrance I heard a pseudo-hush quickly come over what was a pretty loud environment.  I popped my head in, knowing there were far more people in the room than my family.

So I step in and am greeted with a thunderous HAPPY BIRTHDAY which brought a smile to my face.  However very quickly that smile turned into a look of disbelief as I saw some woman that looked like Cindy filming my entrance on her phone.  As I focused more my shock grew as I realized it actually was Cindy, whom I just had texted a few minutes earlier telling her I would let he know how the dinner went as she was taking care of the house and animals in Florida, or so I believed.

She came running over as I still could not wrap my head around how she was standing there.  Evidently she secretly flew up earlier in the morning and stayed with Todd before the party.  She was flying back early Sunday morning.  This evidently all came together in the last week or so.  I couldn’t believe how bamboozled I was and the efforts to put this all together.

After I was able to close my widely open mouth I tried to focus on some of the other familiar faces in the room and there were a ton of them.  I didn’t do a headcount but I bet there were around 30 people there.  The guest list included a bunch of my old volleyball friends, co-workers, classmates, and of course my immediate family members outside of my sister who lives out in Colorado.  I did my best to roll with the moment but I just felt overwhelmed with the impact of it all.  All of these people came out there to help me, the guy that hates birthdays, celebrate turning 50.  It warmed my heart in a way few things have.

I of course wasted no time downing Miller Lites to help me feel more at ease as being the subject matter for such a large celebration.  I tried to do my best to interact with everyone that was there as much as I could.  The food that was being served was just fantastic.  Everyone could have likely been satisfied on the appetizers alone, they were so plentiful and delicious.

I was very touched when my buddy Rich, one of my friends whom I spent some of my best volleyball moments with and whom I respect very much stopped in for a short period of time.  He was limited in how long he could stay but I enjoyed every minute he was there.  When our old triples partner Jim came down to join the conversation we immediately could fall into the back and forth banter that made our time together so much fun.

The majority of the planning for the party was done by Todd which was pretty amazing.  He researched and reached out to a bunch of these people personally to invite them.  I told him repeatedly how much I appreciated his efforts but in true Todd fashion he just shrugged it off like it was no big deal.  It was a big deal.

The cake they brought for the party was beautiful and delicious.  I almost felt guilty eating it but damn did it taste good.  The cake and other solid food was in the minority of things I consumed, I did a lot more drinking than eating.  I drank four or five regular Miller Lites but then also managed to finish off a Grotto’s Big Beer sized mug.  I was definitely drunk but not as much as you would expect after that much alcohol.  Perhaps the excitement helped offset the beer.

I’m not normally the type that is into parties and social events and even more uncomfortable if I am the focal point to any major degree.  Despite those normal hesitations, I felt I fully embraced the moment and did my best to let those in attendance know how much I appreciated them being a part of it.  The party started breaking up somewhere between 9 and 10.  Even as pretty much everything was cleaned up I was still in the far corner drinking and hanging with a few of the remaining guests.  I have said many, many times that I have not ever regretted moving to Florida 17 years ago, not even for a second.  Well that statement may not actually be true anymore.  Saturday night I definitely had some regret that I don’t get to see most of these people anymore.  One thing that did not move with me was a large circle of friends.  I really hope I can get some of them to come visit us more, Charlie already said he was down for a visit next year which would be an awesome start.

All through the night Cindy was by my side and I told her repeatedly how amazing this all was and how I couldn’t believe she managed to be there.  One of the things that was also at the party was a looping projected video.  It was something Cindy made with the help of Todd.  The video included a ton of pictures of me in various stages of life as well as videos that a bunch of people made wishing me happy birthday.  I couldn’t really pay attention to or hear the video at the party but I did so at Todd’s house before bed.

As I watched the 38 minute plus compilation that Cindy worked hard on in iMovie it didn’t take long for tears to start flowing down my face for several reasons.  The pictures of me and my mom hit me hard.  It seemed like I could remember her 50th birthday celebration like it was yesterday yet here we are with her being gone for three years already.  I thought about how happy she would have been to see how my 50th birthday party played out. That thought was warm but hurt at the same time.

More of the tears were from thinking about how amazing it was that Cindy did what she did and how lucky I was to have someone who is willing to work so hard to show her love to someone who is not the easiest recipient.  The videos that people recorded ran the gambit from thoughtful, deep, and serious to outright hilarious.  I laughed out loud a lot, despite the wet eyes.

Another benefit of staying at Todd’s was I got to meet his two dogs, Oakley and Bailey, both HUGE malamutes whom are brother and sister.  I have seen big dogs before but Oakley especially was just massive.  Despite their size, they are super friendly, perhaps too friendly as they love to show their love by standing up and jumping on you.  Oakley can easily knock you down if you are not braced for impact as he weighs something like 130-140 pounds.  The dogs are adorable.

Cindy had to get up early for her flight back, setting an alarm for 6:30.  I was awake way before that getting another poor night of sleep, something that has been the case the entire trip.  Cindy was nervous having to drive back to the Philly airport herself in the rental car and I felt guilty for not being able to somehow do it for her.  However she texted back later that all was well and she was back in Naples in a little more than 24 hours after leaving it, an amazing whirlwind trip, just to make my day special, wow.

When Todd got up I offered to help him take the dogs on a walk, a challenging activity.  Due to their size, strength and lack of proper leash training, I felt like I was doing a heavy sled pull exercise, in reverse.  I was constantly trying to restrain Bailey who despite being the smaller of the two siblings, can pull like a bull.  I had to be applying massive braking force for almost the entire walk around the neighborhood.  The dogs don’t get to walk much so I didn’t mind the effort of doing it, I could tell they both love to walk.

My dad and Teresa came by mid-morning to pick me up after we all hung out for awhile.  Much like Cindy, we were heading back to where we came from in roughly a 24 hour timespan.  After saying our goodbyes and again thanking Todd for the massive time and effort he spent on making my 50th birthday awesome, we were back in the Subaru heading westward.

I didn’t think it was possible but the drive back sucked more than the drive to Reading.  Because we were going to Pittsburgh and not Marienville almost the entire drive was spent on the turnpike, an incredibly boring and monotonous way to travel.  We at least utilized a few more roadways coming from Marienville.

I was extremely happy to pull up to Patrick’s place, even though he wasn’t home yet.  We unloaded the car and quickly turned on the Steeler’s game.  I had monitored the Eagles score during the drive and was happy to see they pulled out a win which included a strong performance by Nick Foles in his first game since taking over the reins from Wentz.

During the first half Patrick and his girlfriend Nico arrived with pizza in hand which we enjoyed as we watched the very tightly contested game.  My dad, Nico, Todd, and Patrick to a lesser degree are all Steeler fans.  To see the Steelers lose the way they did, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory was not enjoyed by anyone in the room.  The way that game shifted back and forth in the last quarter was compelling stuff.

I sit here punching out these last few words in bed, hopeful that I somehow manage to squeeze out a night of quality sleep to fuel me for my last day tomorrow.  My flight does not take off until early afternoon so I plan to spend the remaining time with Pat, my dad and step mom, wrapping up what has been the most memorable birthday of my lifetime.  If you are reading this and contributed in any way, thank you so much for bringing a bright, warm light to an event that normally holds a dark gloomy place in my mind.