My mom retired last November and finally decided to throw a party. She worked for Service Employees International Union for the last 20 or so years as a labor organizer for various schools, hospitals, and other service industry companies in the area. She even handled the guys training the EA-6 Prowler pilots at Whidbey Island NAS. Don’t ever try to sell her a car. She will talk you down so low that you’ll be paying her to take it from you. Anyway, it just so happened that the party was during my stay in Washington in the week leading up to Formula D. Cool huh?
She kept stressing that this was not her “retirement party” but instead a party to get all the people she’d worked with over the years together so she could thank them for their camaraderie and for all the things she’d learned from each of them.
My dad came along too. He has a lot of stories to tell.
And he had to show Reverend Dave his new iPhone app about constellations or something. They call him Reverend Dave because he became a reverend of some Internet church so he could perform weddings. He was even my wedding guy. He also plays the drums!
The party was at Kayak Point, which is a park a ways north of Seattle. There were plenty of seagulls hanging out at the beach. They like to pick up clams, fly up in the air, and drop the clams to break the shells open. Pretty smart.
It was pretty cloudy early on in the day. At least it wasn’t raining like the weatherman said it was going to do. That’s Camano Island across the water. I lived there til I was 21 and moved to the Bay Area.
Chet went celebrity on me. “No pictures, please.”
My mom spent the whole previous day squeezing lemons to make lemonade. I think life gave them to her.
My mom loves turtles so someone got her a turtle fountain thing. Isn’t it cool?
Out on the pier, people were crabbing. Some had big pots, some had small pots, but it seemed like everyone was getting plenty of crabs.
Even I got a crab. Chet found him under a rock on the beach. I threw him back because he was too small.
Back at our shelter, the food was ready.
Mmmm…ribs.
The cakes were delicious. They were also smart and had good personalities.
Pretty soon blue sky started to show through the clouds. It was going to be a nice day after all! I could have just watched the awesome clouds all day.
The guy in the hat is Ron. I don’t know what his real job is, but he sure knows how to smoke salmon on the BBQ!
Reverend Dave decided to make a speech about my mom, despite the fact that she didn’t want anyone to give speeches. It was her party for them, not the other way around! The speech was still good though. It started off with how he and my mom met. She worked at a home for developmentally disabled adults and wanted the workers there to organize. Dave already worked for the union and was part of the organizing crew. She was tough as nails at the bargaining table and Dave went back to his boss and told him he’d be an idiot not to hire my mom to work for the union. So that’s what he did.
Look at that expression! Don’t tell me she wasn’t moved by Dave’s eloquence and superb oratory skills. Not to mention the grossly lavish compliments.
Of course there were a few jokes too, and rad stories like the time she and Dave set up a union sign-up table in the cafeteria at the hospital in Monroe, and the hospital management called the cops, and she told the cops to get lost or she’d sue them. Then Dave pretended to call his lawyer and made it sound like his lawyer was going to shut down the hospital and sue the chief of police if the cops didn’t leave them alone. The shenanigans worked and they got to organize the hospital.
Yeah, it was good to hear stories like that. Everyone thought it was great.
Then it was time for my mom to give her speech. It was good but not hilarious like Reverend Dave’s.
Dave knew he had her beat. [What the hell are you talking about? -Mom]
Eventually it was time for people to take off. My mom thanked everyone for coming with big hugs.
So I wandered around and took more pictures. The tide had come up about 8 feet since we were there. Sheesh!
The seagulls were taking turns sitting on the pilings. Some had to move when other ones flew up. Some kind of hierarchy was at work.
There was a pretty saucy house at the north end of the beach. I wouldn’t mind having a place like that. Nope, not one bit.
After almost everyone was gone, a bald eagle decided it was time to fly around for a bit. AMERICA!
THE END
.:Bohan
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