So, Mike and Judy went to a dinner commemorating the 70th birthday of Alcoholics Anonymous in Atlanta. AA was founded in 1935 and its first meeting in Atlanta occurred in 1941. It was brought to Atlanta by a fellow named Steve who was a member of the original Washington DC group that was established in 1939. In 1941 Steve moved to Atlanta and established a new group. There are now over 1200 AA meetings in Atlanta every week. There is no official number of AA members because of the anonymous nature of the organization. However, it’s a safe bet to say that the same people don’t go to all 1200 meetings every week. There was a lot of good fellowship at the meeting and they served a meal of salad, chicken, garlic bread, pasta, steamed broccoli, and cake. While Mike was in line to get his meal a lady cut in front of him and started spooning broccoli onto her plate. The tray that she served herself out of was a large throwaway aluminum pan that probably had 30 servings of broccoli in it, and it was full at the beginning of the extraction operation. Remarkably, she spooned more and more broccoli onto her plate until a substantial pile of broccoli had accumulated. Mike kept expecting her to stop and move on but she simply kept piling more broccoli onto her plate. After she had taken at least 15 servings of broccoli Mike said to her “why don’t you just take the whole tray?” Somehow, she was not amused and gave him a long dirty stare and then went back to spooning broccoli onto her plate. Afterwards Judy told Mike that he had been rude and that it’s not nice to comment to people about their eating disorders. In truth, Mike was just trying to be funny but at times his judgment is way off about how his humor will be perceived. I wish I had been there to see this though. I bet it was pretty funny.
Mike has a cold right now. He has a little cough but no fever and he doesn’t feel sick. His voice is down about an octave. The rash on his hands and feet is much improved. Maybe he’ll get to start his next chemo medication this week. We’ll find out on Thursday.
So, another Hallmark holiday has come and gone. Father’s Day it was this time. Mike’s dad was an outspoken critic of Hallmark holidays. This has rubbed off on Mike who nevertheless appreciates the relationship that he has with Michelle and for that matter the relationship he had with his father. He doesn’t need a commercial reminder to be grateful for his family. Cats are another story altogether. We seldom know who our father was. My grandfather, Black Jack, commented in his autobiography, “Autobiography of a Georgia Cat,” that this lack of knowledge of our father is part of what propels us on our spiritual path, seeking the father of us all. I have no idea who my father was. Black Angel was my mother. All she would say about my father is that he was small, dark, and handsome, a stranger who passed through in the night.
Well, Mike seems to be in a hurry to get to work, so I will close this for now. Enjoy your day. You will hear from us all in Happy Meadows again very soon.
Small dark and handsome?!
That is way too much broccoli!
Full disclosure: The phrase “small, dark, and handsome” is the brainstorm of Judy Gordon, from whom I steal much of my material.