Aunt Theresa's 100th

We made a trip to Thomas, West Virginia to celebrate Aunt Theresa's 100th birthday.  Theresa Cook is doing well in Cortland Acres Nursing Home.  Theresa's younger brother Arnold DePollo is Laura's maternal grandfather (Pop-pop).  In attendance were Theresa's son John, her favorite nurse, and a nursing home friend.  Additional family in attendance: Theresa's nieces (via Aunt Louise) Nancy (with husband  Bill, in from Ohio) and Natalie (with husband Jerry, in from Las Vegas); also (via Arnold) Jane Marie (with Ronny, and Laura and Rob and Corinne and Chris).

Theresa was diagnosed this year with Diabetes, and also this year developed Shingles.  Over the last two years she started having more trouble with retaining water.  Throughout the 2-hour mid-day party she stayed alert, albeit a little confused at times, loaded with unexpected zingers.  She seemed to get a little anxious when people got too close, I wondered if close-up vision was not great.  She was certainly lots of fun, even sang us a couple amusing songs.  For those who would remember, think Grandma Willard near detox peak, with a little more mouth.  Don't get me wrong, Theresa wasn't a potty mouth by any stretch, but well, here's some of the dialog.  I have to take some liberty with the dialog, but it's all approximately correct.

Nanny: Hi Theresa, Happy Birthday
TC: Who are you
Nanny: I'm Jane Marie, Arnold's daughter
TC: My brother Arnold?  He's dead.
Nanny: Yes, mother and dad have both passed.
TC: Oh, well, what the hell are you doing here?

TC: Jane Marie, I remember you when, you've changed
Nanny: I was much younger then
TC: You used to be so pretty.

Nancy: I like your flowers, they are very pretty
TC: Prettier than you!

None of this was at all as mean-spirited as it sounds, of course.

TC: What's that?
Resp: It's a bagel. (It was a quarter of  a sliced bagel top)
TC: Will it bite me?
Resp: Not a Beagle, a bagel, it's bread.

TC: Do you know how old I am?
Resp: How old?
TC: Too old!
Resp: You're 100!
Resp: OOOOOOOHHHHH  I am?  I was upside down 66!

Natalie (I think): We remember (your husband) Pete (Cook)...
TC: Pete? He's dead.
Natalie: We know he's here with us today.
TC: The hell he is! (clearly fixed on the more physical interpretation of the statement)

and in monologue:

TC: So I asked the priest, father, when you go to bed at night, do you lay down, or do you lie down?  And father thought about it for a moment and said, well, I lie. I said Oooooh,  you lie!  Father don't lie!  You shouldn't lie!  (We heard this story or the joke itself a few more times that afternoon, it didn't get old).

TC, about her nursing home friend, I think: She's Irish, I'm a dego.

and later

TC: She's Irish, I'm Italian, I'm a n***** (We were REALLY surprised to hear her refer to herself as the n-word.  Pretty sure she meant something else, but it was HI-larious!  She seemed to hear it and realize that wasn't right also, and thought it was as funny as the rest of us did.)

Prior to the party, we took a trip down Front Street and Memory Lane, in Thomas, West Virginia.  Found the Purple Fiddle, which  was wonderful eclectic sandwiches, coffee, beer, and bluegrass/mountain music/folk music all weekend every weekend, AND--if I got the story right--was formerly DePollo's store.  Corinne threatens to go back later for the bluegrass with friends.  I thought it was cool also.  Well, maybe even cold--you didn't have to take your coat off to eat if you didn't want to.  Technically, Jane lived in Thomas, but it was only in the 2 to 3 year old timeframe.  Other parts of Arnold's "De Pollo" family stayed in Thomas for years, including Theresa and Louise, and Joe came back to Thomas later to become mayor.

After the party, we stayed the night in Canaan Valley Lodge.  Enjoyed a fantastic Octoberfest German buffet (notably missing bratwurst and other sausages, I ate too much) and followed that up the next morning with a fabulous breakfast buffet (ate too much again).  It snowed, very pretty.  The deer didn't seem to shy to come up to the ground-floor doors and knock for apples or corn.  Nevermind that it was illegal to feed the animals.  I stuck with taking a few pictures.

Mustangs Spoil Cougar Homecoming

Nobody was sure what to expect after the previous week's stunning upset at the hands of the Havre de Grace Warriors.   The C Milton Wright Mustang Varsity Football team showed no signs of uncertainty however, spoiling the Fallston Cougar homecoming game with a dominating 42-7 performance.

Official Football Photos Are In

Official team pictures have arrived, so everyone who was promised a picture can expect it shortly. It will look a lot like this: