A friend of ours left the job he has had for quite a while and Jay went to breakfast with him on Sunday, then to his office to help him collect his things.

It was a sad morning.

But in the afternoon, we had some fun; Jay and a buddy had been planning a surprise birthday party for another high school friend for weeks. 

Craig is a brilliant musician.  He played the piano at our wedding.  Not too long after that, he was diagnosed with MS.  Now he is confined to a wheel chair and lives in a nursing home.  His buddies visit him as often as they can.   

There's a bar and grill across the street, where they frequently all go for lunch.  Plan A was for someone to bring Craig down for a cheeseburger and "Surprise!" there'd be about twenty of us with cake.
When the weather turned snowy, Craig bailed.  Understandably, he didn't want to try to navigate the streets and sidewalks in his chair. 

He didn't know we were all going to be there.  Or that there was cake.  Chocolate cake, with a piano and a guitar on it.

Plan B was for T. to bring C. his burger and then the rest of us to follow with the cake, singing Happy Birthday.

Craig's room was a tight fit but we managed.  He was surprised.

It was really fun.

When the birthday boy had had enough of us, we trooped back down to the bar and had a round of bloody Mary's until it was time for Jay and Me to leave.

We had to pick up Josie from a friend's house where she was doing homework and get her downtown to Confirmation Class.  Then we had an hour to kill before Mass.

Fortunately, there was still coffee and donuts in the undercroft and some kind of sales bazaar going on.  We ran into Father G., who used to be at Basilica, but is now at St. Albert the Great.  We have run into him at St. A when we've gone with friend's to one of their lenten Friday night fish fries.  We told him we'd see him upstairs for the late Mass and he said he'd look for us.

He didn't have to look far; the moment we went up stairs, we were asked to bring up the gifts.

We'd never done that at Basilica before.

Mass was beautiful.  Josie met us there after her class.

We were all home by 8, but I felt like I'd been out and about for weeks.

It was all good and fun.

Today I'm starting the Christmas Calligraphy job.

I haven't even gotten my own cards ready yet.  Oops.  I'll get at them.

Eventually.

 

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