Mary's Visit

What a great few days! Mary left last evening and is now with the twin and his lovely wife.

We had a wonderful time together.

We went on one of our favorite rides down the coast. As she is from Las Vegas, she just loved seeing the ocean and trees instead of sand. We ate at a dive in a tiny town and had their famous artichoke soup for lunch. We drove home through the coastal hills and back to the coast. That evening, we went to an Italian restaurant in town and enjoyed nice conversation.

The next day, we had leftovers for lunch then I took her to the Ritz for cocktails. It sits right on the ocean and has beautiful views. Later, she joined me for the first orchestra rehearsal for the May concert.

It will be a concert of classical dance music and Mary does love to dance! She was amazed to see the process of sight-reading new music in a large orchestra. She now wants to fly up to see the finished pieces at the concert in May.

The final piece to be played in the concert will be a Strauss waltz. People will be planted in the audience to rise and begin to waltz then they will invite others, by gestures, to join them. The goal is to have the entire audience waltzing together at the end of the waltz and the concert. Sounds like such fun.

Thursday, my mom hosted a fancy lunch for us. They had not seen each other in many years and there was never a pause in the conversation. We stayed for over 2 hours until the waiters began to set up for dinner!

That evening, we went to our friend’s house. Michael wanted them to spend a bit of time with his mom. We played a fun word game, which was right up Mary’s alley as she is an avid crossword puzzle player. Our friends have two really great kids who also joined us. Mary wanted to take them home with her but I told her I had first dibs. We had such fun and so many laughs.

We recovered on Friday with more cocktails and lunch at the Ritz before Michael drove her to the twin’s home that evening. She flies home on Sunday.

The most fun was to hear all the stories about long-dead family members. I especially like to hear about Mary’s maternal grandmother. She was Madam of a “house” in Decauter, Illinois run by the mob. The Chicago and St. Louis mobsters would meet in Decatuer as it was a neutral location. They told her that she could keep all the money from the upstairs activities but they were going to be bootlegging in the basement. It was the 1920’s, after all.

One day, the police raided the place. Her two young sons were in the basement and continued shining shoes while she sat on the stairs watching the police search the basement for the liquor. They found nothing. She was sitting on it! The booze was hidden under the stair treads. How else could poorly educated women make a living in those days?! She turned out to be a sharp cookie and a good business manager.

One of her young teenaged daughters even danced with the notorious “Legs Diamond” who was a very famous mobster. Mary asked her years later what he was like. She said he had pimples.

Michael had many questions about certain times during his life and we sat for hours listening to her stories. She filled in many blanks for him. So interesting.

I am totally exhausted, am staying home and going to sleep for the next few days. My goal is to not get sick. I want to be able to have her here again. This was a test to see if I am well enough for company. I know Michael’s sister wants to come for a visit. We’ll see.

Next: Relaxation Class