3rd of July

I always wax nostalgic as July 4th approaches. Maybe it's because it's too hot out to wax my car... I think of childhood, and my friends, and fireworks at Salisbury (later Eisenhower) park on LI. Later, I think of kick ass parties at my friend Vince's house when his parents were in the Keys. By 1982, it was a rough time. Dad had a heart attack, which would take him 10 days later, and I remember July 4 1983 as a sad one where I took my mother to see the fireworks at FAU in Boca, but neither of us was feeling very festive. By the next year, 1984, things were looking up. Wifey and I had gotten together, and that date we headed to Miami Beach the night before, to stay at strange friend Yvonne's South Beach condo. The city hosted the Beach Boys and Moody Blues at an ocean front concert, and we spent the whole day swimming and drinking. Wifey's old friend Jeannette was down from NY, and when Ringo Starr appeared as a guest of Justin Hayward's, she flew towards the stage. Meanwhile, I was, to put it nicely, incapable of walking anywhere once the show ended. Wifey gently led me back home. We joked last night that was the last time she needed to assist me physically... After the Ds came, we started a family tradition of getting a room at the Biltmore Hotel in the Gables. We'd swim in the enormous pool (my friend Jeff once observed it was the size of the Gulf of Mexico) and drank daquiris. Many years my friend Mike rented a cabana, so we'd relax there, and then head to the rooms to cool off before the night's fireworks. Alas, after the 2006 show, the City re sodded the golf course, and announced there would be no more parties, lest the candy ass golfers trip on divots... But this year it's coming back! There was much popular clammoring, and Bacardi Corp put up some serious money to sponsor it. I booked a junior suite, and the Ds are very excited. Joel and possibly a friend or two of D2's will come, and Wifey and I will join them. I plan to properly thank Bacardi by drinking SEVERAL rum drinks poolside... I visited ancient Mom today. She was in excellent spirits. I took her to a gorgeous gazebo in the garden of MCH, and we sat and chatted. Actually, she chatted her aged platitudes while I listened. We then went for some cokes, and then she got that look on her face that says "bathroom time." I got her back to her floor in the nick of time, and the nurse's aid took her to the bathroom without incident. These days, that counts as a succesful visit. We then left the room again, this time for the aviary. We sat and watched the love birds and cockatiels gaily chirping. She told me about how much her mother loved birds. I reminded her my mother in law does, too --hence Wifey's Hebrew name. So it's July 3rd. After the 4th, there's the All Star break in baseball, and as I'm following the Marlins closely this year, that has meaning for me. Then I turn 51 2 weeks after the 4th. The Ds and Wifey and I plan to hit the Palm for some steaks and martinis. Summer in Miami. It's not so bad.