Saturday, Mazie had a t-ball game in the morning. There were only 6 kids that showed-up and only 8 from the other team, so it was a quick game! I also went to Costco - fearing the crowds that are normally a Saturday occurrence, but also throw in Mother's Day and I thought it might be a recipe for disaster. Thankfully, there were few cars in the parking lot and many cashiers, so it was an easy, breezy trip! Yay!
Saturday evening, my sister arranged, for those who wanted to go, a birthday celebration for Brian's 30th birthday. The meager email she sent out the week before grew into a word-of-mouth mass gathering of around 50ish people. She decided on the perfect location, the Bonney Lake Tavern, affectionately known as the BLT. This dive of a joint was one of Brian's favorites as it was dingy, cramped and the food is insanely greasy, messy and really tasty. He loved to go there for breakfast on the weekends. The BLT did not disappoint and accommodated us with table reservations and patience.
I'll admit, it was an eventful night. Seeing faces that hadn't been seen in a long time, lots of loud talking over the music and lots of people setting up shop inside your personal bubble. I had many drinks, something I relished after the hellish week I had, and I sang the song, 'Desperado' by the Eagles to honor Brian as he had sang the same song at my 30th birthday, completely sober. The difference between Brian's rendition and mine was I had already consumed a lot of alcohol and my voice was on the verge of disappearing from the cold I've been fighting this week. The sound quality of our melodic key was equally bad. Our family has brought up his performance 5 years ago many times and it always gives us a good laugh. I was so excited to be able to sing it for him.
The evening wore on with many laughs, more alcohol, an eventful car ride home (of which we had a passenger that didn't know Kelby had an older sister) and lots of memories. My sister looked beautiful (she got her hair did earlier in the afternoon) and she was the consummate hostess. It was so much fun and I think Brian would have loved that people packed the BLT for his big 30th birthday.
Today was mother's day but more importantly, Brian's actual birthday.
For the first time, I took my kids to the cemetery to visit Brian. His beautiful headstone was recently installed and I wanted to wait for this moment to take my kids there so they could see it and not the small papery one that was on the ground. We stopped at the dollar store first to get some birthday balloons to take with us. I think the kids were markedly nervous and there were a lot of questions surrounding the visit. When we arrived, the kids quietly got out of the car, held my hands and we stoically walked to Brian. We sang him happy birthday, put the balloon down and had some conversation and more questions. I couldn't help myself and spent a good part of the time silently sobbing, but the kids were more than a comfort to have there. They patiently patted me on the back and waited for the moment to pass. It was apparent there were many visitors there before us because the bench that is Brian's headstone was adorned with plants, flowers and many balloons. My kids were completely silent in the car on the way to my parents' house. I think they were processing the visit. They handled themselves so well...
After that, we went to my mom's for mother's day dinner. My mom went and purchased all the goods and my brother barbecued the meat. We had hamburgers and salad and it was a nice, relaxed dinner.
There were, however, three things missing; my voice (which got lost sometime in the wee hours of last night), my husband (who was STILL in bed nursing a hangover) and most importantly, Brian.
Happy Birthday, Bri-guy...we love you so much.
2 comments:
okay,so they were sort of dark days and I feel like an ass.
That is a treasure of a picture. Every time you write about Brian, I wish I had known him.
Happy Mother's day.
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