Luncheon For Joe

The luncheon for Joe L. was great fun.  Aline and I arrived at Shore Diner early--about 12:30--but a few were already there. Joe, with his wife and two caregivers, came in shortly and so did roughly 40 others, including most of the Players & Playwright members and sister, Betty.
Betty had known Joe when she was head nurse at Atlantic City Hospital years ago.  She was pleased to see other former colleagues, including the Rosenblatts, Doctor and Mrs., with whom she had often lunched when they were all young and feisty years ago.
The luncheon was held in a private back room and--oddly, it seems to me--featured separate checks.  We were told management weren't agreeable to have us order off the menu, but that changed and I had a liverwurst and onion on rye.
For the program, some of us performed in four of Joe's short plays.  I was in the first, Condolence Visit; it included an ironic twist and was actually pretty good.  Denise presented gifts, told us of Joe's background--he was an oncologist--and enumerated his considerable accomplishments.  For one, he established a medical practice and founded a blood-drawing place.  He later sold it and it's now known as Lab Corps. Yoicks--that's where I go now for blood tests!
Joe really is old by any calculations: in his nineties, but I'm not sure exactly where.  We were told he was drafted into the army in 1940 and was given a choice of the infantry or medicine; chose the latter and the rest is history.  He's shaky--has Parkinson's--but sharp as a whip mentally.  It was a fun afternoon and everybody enjoyed it.
Stopped at the sixty-nine cent store on the way home, then at the library.  Dropped Aline off and we made a date for me to pick her up tomorrow after work at the Stafford Library. We'll then go to Dine-Around, which is up Route 9 in Waretown.