Update to May 31, 2008 Post

Go back to May 31, 2008. You will learn who provided most of the food for Amy Marie's first birthday party. This is courtesy of Laura.

Birthdays and a Sad Anniversary

On June 2nd, the second anniversary of my brother Dan's death occurred. Yesterday, I honored him with a brief pilgrimage to the bridge over Chippewa Creek near where most of his ashes were scattered. (It is near the intersection of OH 21 and OH 82 in Brecksville, OH, which is between Cleveland and Akron. It is about a 15-20 minute drive from my house. For those people outside my family, I do not drive. However, it is approximately half an hour away via bus from my house in Cleveland.) In the moments that I was there, I discovered a young man swimming in the creek below. I don't blame him since the temperature reached the 90s. At least, I didn't encounter a barrage of rain like what occurred last year. (Last year, I did the pilgrimage on the actual anniversary of the scattering, which was June 8, 2006. I would have had to go downtown, which is out of my way for this trip because the bus doesn't do the run up Snow-Rockside on weekends.) (Go to http://www.riderta.com and investigate the schedules of routes #35 and #77F for more details on my route.) What I just said is moot because I came from downtown, but I was doing some light reading at Cleveland State University's library, so it wasn't a major inconvenience. Besides, my brother was not one who wanted people to be inconvenienced, but he appreciated our presence. I'm sure he appreciated my presence yesterday.

On a more pleasant note, Kathleen had a birthday on June 3rd. Kendal celebrated a birthday on the next day. Both birthdays were celebrated at an earlier time and were featured in previous entries on this blog. (By the way, I changed some entries on my report of Amy Marie's birthday dealing with the presence of Dan Sr.'s family at the party.) Tomorrow, Marnie celebrates her birthday. Maybe, it will be reported on the Hayden-Kendal blog which is linked on this blog.

My next report will be another adjustment to the Amy Marie party report. It will reveal the source of the food served at the party. Beyond that, don't expect any postings for awhile.

What a Difference a Day Makes

We celebrated Kathleen's birthday tonight by having dinner at Regina High School's convent in South Euclid, OH (A suburb of Cleveland). (For reference purposes, Regina is an all girl Catholic high school with a powerhouse basketball program operated by the Sisters of Notre Dame.) We had roast beef (?), redskin potatoes, green beans, and salad. It was very appetizing. We then had cake and ice cream (What a revolutionary idea!). Cards and presents were opened during the festivities. It was a joyous occasion with Maggie, Mike, Patty, Dan Sr., Bob, Joe, and many of Kathleen's roommates in attendance. (She is a Sister of Notre Dame.)

The title of this posting means two things. This party was quieter than the last two that I attended. I was also the youngest attendee. (I'm 37.)

Despite two upcoming birthdays in my immediate family, I am done celebrating for awhile. Kendal's birthday was celebrated last week, and her mother, Marnie, lives in Michigan. However, there will be brief reports on each of the next three days with two of them birthday-related. I hope that you receive some insight from these posts.

It Was Really Howlin' in Howland Today

We celebrated Amy Marie's birthday this afternoon (Unlike Kendal, it is today) at Dan and Laura's (Sweeney) house in Howland Township, OH (Outside of Warren). We had breaded chicken on the bone, rigatoni, meatballs, salad, rolls, among other things. Most of the food came from a restaurant that I will reveal as soon as I e-mail Dan and Laura to find out the information. (6-28-08: I only e-mailed Laura and learned that the food came from The Wave restaurant in Sharon, PA.) The food was appetizing.

I believe that the attendance level ranks about the same, if not more than Kendal's party last Sunday. The guest list among my family included Kathleen, Patty, Tim, Maggie, Dan Sr., Patrick, Amy, David, Lois, Mike Schabel, Mandy, Aunt Rita, and her son Johnny. In addition, Dan Sr.'s Mom, two brothers, (Of Dan Sr.) and at least two nieces (Cousins of Dan Jr.) were also there. Not to be outdone, the Graham (Laura's Kin) family was well represented. Outside of relatives, some of Dan Jr.'s co-workers as well as Sue (Laura's maid of honor at her wedding) were present as well.

The weather was nice, though we had some breezes. The party was indoors and outdoors. Thankfully, there was plenty of space indoors, although there were some minor "obstacles" that were partially avoided with shortcuts. I can't imagine all these people at the old house in Chardon, OH (The attendance today outranked Amy Marie's Baptism) since shortcuts were practically nonexistent, and the new house is a lot larger, though I'll miss the old house and its traditional charm.

Speaking of charm, Dan Sr. accompanied the singers on his guitar as we sang "Happy Birthday." Amy Marie had an individual birthday cake. (Kendal also had the same deal last year.) The cake (for all of us) was from Giant Eagle. (Pittsburgh based grocery store chain, but with a large presence in NE Ohio, Toledo, Columbus, and other areas) It met my expectations. Eventually, Laura opened up Amy Marie's presents and cards. It was mostly toys. She received a few of the same things. I had a brief moment of inspiration, but since there are so many toys out there, and people like to shop at a variety of stores, I decided that a gift registry would be quite "mindboggling." However, the value of gift cards has been clearly illustrated. By the way, Bob and I gave Amy Marie a Toys 'R' Us/Babies 'R' Us card. We sent Kendal a Kay Bee Card for her birthday (Bob wouldn't let me send a card without a present. I'll slip the coupons for baby products that I was going to give Kendal at her party in Marnie's birthday card that I'll send her this week. It should be in "safer hands." If you've read the Kendal-Hayden blog, you may get the humor. (This applies to people who don't know Marnie. In reality, she is a wonderful niece.)

In closing, today's party was a really fun event. It allowed me to reacquaint myself with Patrick, Amy (My niece, not the baby), and David, and to a lesser extent to some other people. It allowed me to see the new house. I'll see more of it as time goes on, but I am impressed. I hope that tomorrow's more "adult" party for Kathleen's birthday will be just as entertaining. Tune in to find out.

It May Have Been Hayden's Coronation, But Kendal Won the Crown.

I saw my Great Niece Hayden for the first time today. However, Kendal conveniently grabbed the spotlight as we also celebrated her birthday (It's really June 4th, but thanks to the three day weekend, Mike, Marnie, and company came in from Howell, MI for the weekend.). It was held at Mike's parents house in Medina, OH (about 30 miles South of Cleveland). It was a nice affair with food from Dominic's Pizza in Medina (Same as last year, (Pre-Blog)) and contributions from Maggie, Mandy, Lois, and perhaps others. Maybe the Kendal-Hayden blog could give some more insight. In addition to the mentioned participants, Mike Schabel, Marnie's brother-in-law Tim and his girlfriend, my brother Tim, and Mandy were present, as well as a lot of Mike Schmidt's relatives and some friends of Mike and Marnie. It was your typical child's birthday party with kids running around. A pinata of Elmo as well as Beanbag toss were also featured. However, Kendal opened up some presents when she felt like it before we could gather around to view the enjoyment. She didn't finish the job before most of us left. Eventually, I will let you know about the rest of Kendal's present opening.

There isn't much to say about Hayden except that she cried when Grandpa Tim held her, but it faded soon after he passed her off to someone else. She cried again later in the evening, but Marnie handled the situation. In closing, it was a party to remember.

Let us hope that Amy Marie's party next weekend is as successful.