So many friends

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Update on the cake, since so many people have asked it. I slept very little last night, worrying about what I was going to do about the awful cake I made. Should I just take it and hope for kindness? Would the birthday person feel so disrespected? Where should I go to buy a cake? Would the bakery write on it for me? I came up with a really good plan that Keith didn’t go for. He would take the cake to the party and tell them I just died and I would never go back to the book club. I thought it had real promise, but he insisted it was an adorable (obviously he can’t be trusted) cake. He was willing to drop it off, because I just could not fathom having to be there while people looked at it.

It turns out that the birthday person was delighted with her surprise party, and she thought it may well have been her first birthday party ever. She liked the cake, because there was a cake. There is no picture, because augh.

Tonight was a great night. Metro Brass played at the Hudson bandshell.

We got there and I chatted with Jenny and Bruce from the band and waved at other members of the band. It is so nice to know people when you go places. I had three friends from school there and I went to visit them. Louise organized two other mathies to join her and Tom. Kaycee left teaching about 5 years ago, so she has had a whole lot of time to do a whole lot of things, like get married, get step kids, and do some big traveling. Kellie brought 2/3 of her kids and we caught up on the essentials. SO great.

When Metro Brass was about to play, I scurried back to my chair. Jenny’s chair was next to mine, empty because she was on stage. I was looking the other way when someone sat down in it. I literally did a double take, then did a huge gasp. Sally (from Mississippi River band and Illinois) was there. Talk about a surprise!! I can’t even say how great it was. We chatted between tunes and I loved it.

The concert was good. Keith did good talking. He is really getting pretty good at it. I briefly hugged and chatted up Becky, Sally’s wife, then I had to dash (and remember, I do not dash) to the car to return some borrowed item to Carla and Mark, because they were there too.

There were other random music friends who came out in support of the band and I zipped from one place to another. I feel like I can never spend enough time with anyone at concerts, because so many people come. What an amazing problem to have.

[Addition here by the editor (Keith)…]

There is a picture of the cake. I took it before I drove it to the party. I think it’s adorable (and it is).