Monday

My big brother, Larry, flying yesterday--ON HIS NINETIETH BIRTHDAY!  Okay, he may not look like a dashing young pilot, but he's intrepid! 💗

As for me, I puttered around a bit until 11:45 when Julie picked me up for lunch with Soaring Spirits. She had a friend of hers in the car, also named Rosemary, but always called "Rosie," and we had a good time talking. Incredibly, when Rosie was a girl, she lived in Toms River, until she married her first husband and they moved to Arizona. She has a interesting background: had her five children with the first, then he joined some way-out religion called "Christadelphias." According to the great god Internet, they are 

"...a non-Trinitarian, millennial Christian group whose fellowship is linked by a common understanding of the Bible and Christianity. Christadelphians aim to get as close as possible to the faith and practice of the early Christian church..."

It seems he had all kinds of odd ideas and beliefs, which he tried to impose on Rosie and their children, and that's why she left. Rosie herself is of Sicilian descent. 

Besides the three of us, only Vera, Susan, and Regina were there, but we had a good chat session after--for more than two hours, in fact. I mentioned I was going to bus from there to town to the library to pick up the book I had on reserve. Julie, wouldn't you know, insisted on driving me there. I got the book, strolled around town a bit, then bused home.

On the way, I got a text from James C., who is my neighbor, Bennie's, brother. James invited Vickie and me to an 80th birthday party for Bennie on June 26th at the Hill Street Café. I stopped at Vickie's to tell her and found her in tears, worrying about Mary. I went in for awhile, listened, and tried to help. Vickie is so worried because she thinks the facility where Mary is doesn't treat her properly. She has contacted an ombudsman and Mary's daughter is involved, too. Vickie did say she'd like to go to the party, so we put it on our calendars. 

I called Jim about our plan to visit Diane so he can see Silver Crest. Since she has a commitment on Saturday, I asked him to name another day. Not exactly to my surprise, he hemmed and hawed, then indicated he wanted to put it off, as he was so distraught trying to get ready for class. Did this surprise me? Not at all: Jim seems to have an inability to make any effort toward solving his chronic financial

problems. 

Okay, I should remember it's easy for me to talk; I'm not rolling in dough, but am financially secure, have a house and other assets in reserve, plus a vast network of children and kin in case of disaster. I greatly dislike getting unsolicited advice myself, so I'm going to pipe down and mind my own beeswax. 

Well, I'm going to try...