Today is Mama's birthday.  What a companion and friend she was to Papa,
her children, and her grandchildren.  Just yesterday I was at a friend's house
and she had Osage Oranges on display.  I told her the story of when dad
tricked mom by putting an Osage Orange in the toilet and then staying
in the bathroom moaning and groaning while mom was worrying like
crazy listening to him.  Finally he let her in and showed her the thing
he had "passed".  She about fainted.  Then she about killed him.  She
was so delightfully gullible!  I miss her every day.

My mother-in-law, Oma, had a birthday a few weeks ago.  At 87 she is still a
hoot.  She was dusting up high in the apartment she and Opa have at the Senior
Citizen Complex they live in.  Somehow either the dust she stirred up or the
duster itself set off the sprinkler in the kitchen area.  It didn't sprinkle.  It
absolutely poured out.  And it kept pouring for 18 minutes.  Opa was playing
volleyball in the pool downstairs and was blissfully unaware of what was
transpiring up in his apartment.  Maintenance raced up but couldn't figure out
how to shut off the sprinkler.  They finally had to call the fire department for help.

Now Opa and Oma have to stay in a little room in the assisted living section
while their apartment is repaired.  And...the lady downstairs had to be moved
out also while hers is repaired.

As my new friend Tatyana says, "You know, Laurie, life is life!"