Indianapolis, IN

When your father's baby brother turns 90 and his brother and sister are there to help celebrate, it is an event you don't want to miss. We left home Christmas afternoon to get ahead of the predicted snow that my neighbor later told me never materialized. Sigh. We had been disappointed to miss a good storm (from our cozy home with our new extra-efficient fireplace), but we had hoped to return to a nice base for the winter. Not so far.

We went as far as Madison Christmas night and continued Saturday morning in heavy rain. Besides the Smith/Resch clan coming for the birthday party, we crowded in visits with Gail Bennett, Bannons, Scotts, Samples (still here from Christmas), my mom's little sister (also 90) and her two daughters, and both Solid Word Bible Church and Faith Missionary Church. Busy time!

The family gathered at the Holiday Inn on Penn a mile south of my dad's house. We dragged extra chairs into a common area and talked until bedtime both nights. The hotel even brought the birthday boy a slice of chocolate fudge cake which he divided in bite-sized pieces and passed around.

Charles, Marybeth and birthday-boy Bob

Bob and Peg have now moved to a retriement community near their daughter Barb in Detroit, but they spent many years in Indy, so they too had friends to visit while they were in town. Monday we went to a restaurant on the west side where Barb had reserved a party room. Problem: when we arrived we found the electricity had gone out in the whole strip mall. No doubt something related to the rain that had been falling for the last couple days. We stood near the front windows and gabbed while the owner called around and found an alternative place for us--a banquet room at an MCL cafeteria. Not ideal, but what can you expect when thirty-five people need a place at the last minute? We piled into cars and headed for Castleton. Just as we arrived the call came: the electricity was back on; they would love to have us back. We turned around and drove back to George's Neighborhood Grill.

The room was a perfect size for milling and sitting. The food was way better than a cafeteria. The service was excellent. The three siblings were there, all their children (although not all spouses), all but one of Bob's grandchildren, plus representatives of his cousins the Reschs. Barb gave the order that you shouldn't sit at a table with someone you lived with. The conversation was good as always, and the speeches and pictures made us laugh and cry.

Three and a half hours later we adjourned to Dad's house. Between Aunt Peg and us we had plenty of copies of the Hallelujah Chorus for our traditional sing. Dad sold the piano when they downsized, but Kelvin had come up with a karaoke version of the accompaniment that sounded much better than Steve trying to improvise on a keyboard. It came off pretty well despite Jill's laryngitis. Kent brought copies of a carol book they had used at their church, and we ended up singing through it almost cover to cover. There are enough serious musicians that I think next time we should send out music ahead of time to do some interesting choral arrangements.

The singing of the Hallelujah Chorus, a family tradition

More talk until bedtime at the hotel, wondering when we will next be all together. It's a close family despite being physically scattered. Although we don't see each other often, we enjoy each other when we do and support each other in crises.