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Thursday, June 23. 2011
Forever Young
Someone said he wanted to laugh this weekend when we all got together to pay tribute and remember Our Dear Elaine. A loving daughter, wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend. I couldn’t agree more. Our Dear Elaine gave us much to smile for and more than enough laughs!What can we say about Our Dear Elaine? She’s been called an angel, and I wouldn’t disagree, although, like many an angel, Lainey has had to shake a little grit and dust off those wings from time-to-time, put’em through the rinse and dry, since angels often go where mere mortals fear to tread — she had a bit of a wild streak.
Not speaking out of school here, as Our Dear Elaine herself often spoke of our fun times that were less than Catholic School approved. There was Summerfest in Milwaukee, when we were just high school students. This past January when I visited Colorado she reminded me of the Summerfest shows we attended. Glad she could remember them! Barely, in some cases.
And then there was that time around 1976-77 when I was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Arizona and she was living in Houston, Texas. We decided she should come to Arizona — in the summer — to visit. So, one weekend she did.
The “International Airport” at Yuma shares the facility with the air station so I got a friend to drive us over to the civilian side to pick up Elaine and her friend. Can’t remember the friend’s name, sadly. I had a motorcycle and couldn’t (legally) ride with Elaine and her friend.Anyway, back in the day the civilian side was mainly a commuter airport so most of the planes that used it were turboprops and about the only airline that stopped in Yuma was Hughes Air West. And, the terminal didn’t have those telegraphing entryways we use now. To get on and off the plane you had to use those steps we see presidents use with Air Force One.
So, Our Dear Elaine’s plane taxis up to the gate, such as it was, the ground crew rolled out that stairway thing and the door opened. Passengers started debarking the plane and then came Elaine and her friend. She got a little more than half way down that stair-thing and then stumbled and rolled down to the tarmac!Oh my god that was hilarious! Had I not been as drunk as Elaine, I would have been concerned for her safety. Fortunately, she had only a few bruises and was ready for three days of fun in the desert — in the middle of summer; from oppressively hot and muggy to oppressively hot and dry.
Wish I could remember more details from that weekend. Elaine remembered a few. I don’t recall if we took a ride on my bike, but if I did, it would send a shiver up my spine. Eh, we probably did. We survived though, mostly intact.
Moms are crazy and Our Dear Elaine was no different. Sorry to all you Moms out there, but you are crazy. We love you dearly and wouldn’t want you to change (very much), but you’re all crazy! Elaine was a shining example! This is a true story, with only a little embellishment.In 2000 Our Dear Elaine decided to send her son, Young Dan, out to San Diego to visit. Among the activities on the agenda was teaching Dan how to surf. Did that, been there, ain’t gonna do it again!
Also on the proposed agenda: I wanted to take Dan swimming with the sharks and to Tijuana, B.C., Mexico. O Dear! I wrote about this in my blog some years ago, I think the topic was crazy moms, don’t recall, but anyway, the phone call, with Dan standing there listening, went something like this:
“Oh yeah, take Dan swimming with sharks! Try to get pictures! But no way! NO WAY am I letting you take my son to Mexico without adult supervision!”
Now, I should be embarrassed by that, after all I was in my mid-40’s, but to be honest, it’s sort of like a merit badge! But here’s the crazy part, Elaine, a mother, was okay with her son being out in the open ocean with flesh-eating sea creatures — without a shark cage — but she had a problem with her son visiting Mexico in the middle of the day. Crazy!
What did she think was going to happen? In Mexico that is. I told her we were just going to go buy some souvenirs, Cuban cigars and brush up on our Spanish. If anyone watches Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, you know full well what can happen with sharks. Crazy!Anyway, as I found out, she had a very good idea what was planned for our trip to Mexico, the details of which I’ll … leave to your imaginations.
Anyone who knew Our Dear Elaine for more than ten minutes can tell a fun or funny story or two about Our Dear Elaine. She was a lot of fun. We had fun, despite her condition, this past January when I visited. She and I never made it to the mountains, but I got to spend eight days with her, all too short.
One night we went to see Tony’s band, Blinker Fluid, out in the middle of … somewhere … a little altercation erupted and there she was! And then on the way home she got pulled over! Actually, I don’t remember who was driving.
Funny, in an ironic way; Our Dear Elaine was concerned about my welfare. There’s something I do nearly every day and Elaine made sure I was able to do it while I visited in January. I go to these meetings every day. Well, one day Elaine just wasn’t feeling all that well, so I told her I didn’t need to go, that I would be fine and all of a sudden, she got this burst of energy, this mountain of fortitude and said, “No! You’re going!” And off we went. After that though, she gave me directions so I could drive myself.
That as much as any other moment with Our Dear Elaine, will stick with me forever. See, that’s who she was. She didn’t need anyone to tell her to be concerned for others, she just was. She didn’t need to be prodded into action, she just did it. Three years ago she attended our family reunion in Wisconsin and decided she would host it this year.
Unfortunately for us, her mortal being didn’t make it to July 15, but rest assured, Our Dear Elaine is hosting the Family Reunion this year. Her spirit will be present at every moment, in every room. And she’ll want us to laugh and have a good time. Yeah, I’m sure we’ll have moments of sadness and shed some tears remembering who can’t be with us, but to really honor Our Dear Elaine, we have to laugh and love one another and have a good time.And that’s what she wants us to do today: smile, laugh, have a good time telling our stories about her, outlandish and otherwise, and above all, love one another because she loved every one of us, Our Dear Elaine.
Love you Lainey!
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