Joyce's KP Adventure mikepasini.com headlines
What Are We Celebrating?
26 September 2020
Today is a Big Day around here. For one thing, Joyce took a long walk up the hill and into Rockridge Terrace for a view north. And she sat on the patio for a while after, getting her Vitamin D, before climbing the stairs for lunch.
But that's when the party started. Today is George Bailey's 106th birthday and we unscrewed the screw cap to toast the Family Elder.
We are obscuring just what we drank to toast George because we haven't gotten our washer and dryer yet so we had to resort to something we could spill without staining our clothes.
But it's the thought that counts.
And our thought was how lucky we are to have made the acquaintance of Mr. Bailey. We are oft reminded of the Boys Town motto when we think of George. "He's not
heavymy grandfather, he's my brother!"
Despite the chasm in our ages (I'm only 45), we were able to acquire this photo of George from the Getty Archives taken on his matriculation from pre-school.
Most of the class was dressed in a white suites as if for First Communion but George had been elected the anti-Valedictorian and wore black. His speech, given privately in a room well plumbed, has been praised for its correct pronunciation of Latin as documented in the Merchant Marines Pronouncing Dictionary.
It was a skill he honed his whole life.
"Quod mulier potest ludere iaculis!" George would pronounce, rise from his chair around 11 p.m. every summer night. Or (for those in need of remedial Latin), "That woman can sure play darts!"
It was darts that drew George and Carol together, apparently. Darting glances, that is. I myself was too young to observe the fireworks but apparently once you hit the bullseye, Cupid can take the night off.
They both hit the bullseye.
And as Joyce and I try to stay awake on this Big Day, reflecting on our good fortune to have known our brother George, I can only sigh in Latin and mumble, "Petra in!" or, as the rest of the admiring world would say, "Rock on!"