Party ushered in spring

Spring is finally here. It is still chilly outside but the flowers are pushing through the cold soil, the pussy willow is sporting silvery catkins that almost glow in the sunlight and I wake up to the sound of birds singing. I have faith that the below zero temperatures won’t be felt again until next winter. The next hurdle is for the temperatures to stay above freezing for more than a day at a time. That may take awhile.
I finally made it to my mother’s house for the February birthdays. This is the latest we have ever celebrated them. I was glad to see everybody and to reassure myself that they were doing much better than my mom told me they were.
Mom’s self-diagnosed sprained ankle was not red or swollen and she walked with nary a limp of the offending limb. I think she was just a little sore from the exercises the physical therapist persuaded her to do. She says she is much better now. I was under the impression that she was done with physical therapy, but I guess not. Her therapist has promised to take her outdoors next week. That should be an adventure because she is afraid of falling if she steps outside the safety of the house.
My brother, Michael, had successfully passed the kidney stone that landed him in the emergency room the week before. His wife has since convinced him to replace most of the soft drinks he loves with plain water and has amended his diet somewhat. We are hopeful that will help prevent future problems. Even if it doesn’t help the kidney stones, avoiding pop has caused him to lose 10 unwanted pounds.
My other brother, David, still looks like a demon child. It seems that last week when he had a stomach virus, he threw up so violently that he broke several blood vessels in his eye. The result is that some parts of his eye that are supposed to be white are now bright red. It is quite disconcerting. Thankfully it doesn’t hurt.
I told them I had been tinkering with our genealogy again. Apparently one of our ancestors is Johann Rudolph Waymire who was born in Germany or Prussia, depending which source you believe. So maybe that guy who does the coffee commercials for a cup of Johann is a distant relative.
Our Johann was a big guy who was well thought of by the king. Or at least he was until he spoke out about some of the king’s polices and was tossed into jail. Like a fool, he voiced his displeasure vehemently when he was released, causing him to once again inhabit a jail cell.
My brother commented that sounds like he belongs to us as none of us ever seem to be able to keep our mouths shut when we should.
Once he was released Johann took his family and emigrated to America. It was not a good journey. His mother died during the voyage and according to one report, “Her body was bound to a board and shoved off the ship into the ocean without any polite act or expression.” Upon arrival in the land of the free, two of his sisters were sold to pay for the trip.
This bit of information caused David to stare at me and wonder if he could sell me to help pay for his upcoming vacation to the Caribbean later this year. Thankfully, he didn’t think I would bring a very high price.
The conversation turned to David’s son, Jadyn, who is in an upcoming production of, “The Little Mermaid.” He is playing the part of the prince. Jadyn enjoys acting and I offered to introduce him to my niece, Sara, the movie producer. I didn’t mention that it has been several years since we have seen her.
We had a good visit, ate cake and made plans for our next get together. It was a refreshing way to say goodbye to winter and hello to spring.

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