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Cleveland Wrap-up

I got back Saturday night from my trip to Ohio for my aunt’s funeral. Nobody likes funerals of course, nor the deaths of loved ones. But one of the things you learn while mourning a relative who has died is how many of them have not.

So after a few days I was happy. Happy that I got to visit with Sarah and Don’s other kids Didi, Donna and Brian again. Happy that I saw Shari, Rey and their family. I learned that Shari’s daughter reads this blog regularly but doesn’t post. Don’t lurk; your opinions can’t be any more biased and ill-informed than my own!

Happy of course to see my mom and dad and brother Tim. Happy to see my cousin Patty again. We used to be really close as kids, but I’d never met her husband Hank or her daughter. Happy to see my other uncle, Bill, who I see something like once every ten years.

Happy to meet my cousin John, whom I have to admit I wasn’t even aware of. Great guy, and his lovely wife Denise, too. He’s exactly my age but has exactly eight more grandchildren than I do (which is zero).

Shari and I had planned to step in at Andy’s joint, the Literary Cafe, on Friday night, and I was very happy that she invited everyone to come along. Also there were Vern Morrison along with Carol Kerslake. Earlier in the week I was happy to meet up with Anthony Cartouche and Greg Finn.

Around midnight Saturday all the people I knew cleared out, but I hung around and was happy to make some new friends. So a shout out to Evelyn, who managed to get a rare dance out of me (and learned in the process why I don’t go dancing); and to Tom, owner of Le Petit Triangle Cafe, a small triangular restaurant on Fulton Rd. in Ohio City. On his invitation I went there for brunch before hitting the highway on Saturday, and it gets a lot of stars in my own personal rating book.

You guys are making me miss Cleveland!

3 Responses to "Cleveland Wrap-up"

shari says:

May 30, 2008 at 6:56 am

It was very cool that night at the Literary Cafe. I enjoyed meeting Vern and Carol. (shot out to both you guys!) They were so nice. I appreciated everyones expression of sympathy. And i really needed that night out and you guys were all so much fun to talk to. Maybe Andy shoulda cut me off after awhile. Glad to the place hoppin’ that night. I kept looking at that picture on the door trying to figure out who it was (my eyesight wasn’t good enough to see the name: FRANK SINATRA). Dude was hot back in the day, mugshot or no mugshot. It wasn’t until the end that i saw what was going on in the back. Rey probably had a few too many too because it appeared he was giving one of the artists some pointers. That’s Rey! But he enjoyed himself.OK, maybe he shouldn’t have asked Andy’s wife (also a doll) to switch to the Lakers game in the bottom of the ninth with the Indians game tied. That mighta been a tad outta line. But Andy or his wife accommodated him even tho i was trying to tell Rey it wasn’t a good idea. When the blonde dude saw the game was off he about flipped and so Andy’s wife saved the day and my husbands life by changing the channel back right away. (Shot out to Andy’s wife. She was a real sweetheart.) Thanks for the hospitality you guys! Your place is very cool.

Our cousin John looked very familiar to me at the wake but i just wasn’t sure i knew who he was. I tried to say hello to everyone but with him we just passed each other a few times and looked at each other. He may have known who i was but didn’t say anything. Later Patty told me who he was and I went over and re-introduced myself to him after not seeing him for, oh, at least 35 years. He’s a real cool guy and his wife is just so sweet and lovely. I’m really glad they joined us on their way to see their grandkids in Kentucky. And so happy that the McGee cousins were able to get together and talk and it turns out we’re all doing pretty well in life and are good people. Toms definitely the funny one!
tom says:

May 30, 2008 at 9:54 am

I need to find a place like that out here in Jersey. With all the artsy types in this town you’d think there’d be a place that caters, I’ll have to look around.

You see that Sinatra poster all over the place here, mostly because he’s a native son. And sure, he was hot; he was the guy that girls ran screaming through the streets for back in the ’40s. The “bobbysoxers” they called them. One of a long line stretching from before Franz Liszt through Ricky Martin and beyond of musicians that girls threw their underwear at.

I missed that whole Rey/Indians/Lakers dynamic. Pretty amusing, but if anyone can handle it and make everybody feel good it’s Linda. She’s the hostess with the mostest.

Patty has aged well, eh? I was hoping to see her, since I hadn’t in 20+ years. I had a picture in my mind of “Original Patty,” and then mentally added 30 lbs, grey hair, age spots, lines etc. so I’d recognize “Patty 4.7″ if she showed up. Imagine my surprise when in walks Original Patty. I’ll have what she’s having!
shari says:

May 30, 2008 at 3:59 pm

Yes, Linda was great. Saved Reys life and if this were Frank Sinatra’s day he would have to give up our first born to her or something of that magnitude.

And Patty looks better every time i see her. She isn’t THAT old in the first place, OK, but she has aged so well that if i didn’t love her, i’d have to hate her.

It’s a chick thing.

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