Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2012 01:06:43 -0500 (EST)
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: Castaway Hotel: Next Generation, chapter 59

The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation - by BW
Copyright 2011 by billwstories

Chapter 59 -- The Always Hectic Month of December.

The week before Christmas was extremely hectic for the
family.  It all began with Joshie's concert on Tuesday,
which we were eager to attend so we could cheer him on.
His fathers dressed him up again, just like they had the
previous year, and Joshie looked adorable as we got ready
to leave.  However, that's when we suddenly realized we
had a minor problem to solve first.

The boys were very vocal about wanting to ride together,
but there was no way we'd all fit in the Suburban.  In order
to rectify this situation, Dion and Trey offered to take
their car and Danny and Brandon opted to ride with them,
so the four boys could be together.  Satisfied, they rode in
the Suburban with Jake and me, but once we reached the
school parking lot, we all went inside together.

Joshie was brimming with excitement and eager to sing
with his classmates, and we were happy to be here for
him.  Before he went down to join his class, Dion advised
him he didn't have to wave at us this year while his group
was singing and Joshie agreed he wouldn't do that.  Then,
the rest of us watched as Dion and Trey followed him
down to his classroom.

We had to wait a while before the concert began, so Elliot
and Noah went off on their own to check out the school,
before they came back to sit with the rest of us.  Since he
hadn't attended school here when he was younger, Noah
was interested to see what the elementary school was like.
Elliot had conducted a similar investigation last year but
chose to go with his brother anyway, so he could look out
for him.  I guess the school must have passed Noah's
cursory inspection, because it wasn't long before they
returned to their seats.

Shelly and her parents arrived a short time later, eager to
see Joshie perform as well.  Joshie had asked his father to
call and tell his mother and grandparents about the
concert, because he wanted to make sure they would come
to see him sing too.  Once she learned about it, Shelly told
Joshie they wouldn't miss it for the world, so he was
pleased.

We had to sit through the Kindergarten performance
before the first graders came out to sing.  This year,
Joshie's group sang "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolf the Red-
nosed Reindeer" to the delight of the audience.  They did
remarkably well with these songs and enhanced their
performance by using a few props.  During the first
number, several of the students (including Joshie) shook
sleigh bells at the appropriate moments, and then during
the second number, a select group dragged out a paper
mache reindeer, complete with a lighted red Christmas
bulb nose.

Joshie kept his promise and didn't wave to us this year,
but once he located where we were sitting he flashed us
the biggest grin, which made us feel very special.  I guess
it was his way of thanking everyone for coming to support
him.  I could tell his grin had a very positive effect on
Shelly and her parents, because I saw them all coyly
waving back at Joshie while he was singing.

Once Joshie's grade finished and they returned to their
classrooms, we sat and listened to the second, third and
fourth graders perform too.  They all did very well and
watching their performances truly helped to lift us into
the Christmas spirit, even if we may have already been
leaning in that direction.

Once the concert ended, Dion and Trey led Shelly and her
parents down to Joshie's classroom, so they could say
goodbye and tell him how much they had enjoyed his
singing.  Once again, Joshie asked each of them if he did
okay and if they liked the songs his class had sung, and
they all assured him they had.  He did the same thing to
the rest of us on the way home, so Elliot and Noah spent
most of the ride telling him how fantastic he and his class
had been.  They also started singing the same two songs
with him until we reached the house, and I must admit
that it looks like Joshie will have a marvelous singing
voice too, once it is fully developed, just like his mother
and father.

On Wednesday, it was Noah and Dion's turn to perform.  I
say this because Noah will be singing, and since Dion is
the vocal music instructor, he will be conducting the
chorus.  Dion was the one who talked Noah into joining
the group in the first place and he'd told us that Noah has
some vocal talent as well.  We hadn't really heard him sing
very often around the house, so we willingly accepted
Dion's professional assessment.

Once again, the fathers rode in one car, while the boys
piled into the Suburban with Jake and me, as we made our
way to the middle school to watch Noah perform.  I think
Joshie was more excited about this than Noah and he told
his slightly older cousin that he hoped he did as well as
his class had done, which put a lot of pressure on Noah.
Of course, Joshie was also anxious because his father was
going to be leading Noah's group too.

This concert was slightly different, in that it wasn't all
singing.  The middle school orchestra and band performed
first, under the direction of the instrumental music
teacher.  They were then followed by the fifth/sixth grade
chorus and after they finished the seventh/eighth grade
chorus took the stage.  Dion directed both of these final
two groups, so he would be on stage for half of the
concert.

The wait proved to be frustrating for Joshie, because he
first kept asking when his daddy was going to be on stage
and when Noah was going to sing.  With each query, we
kept telling Joshie he just had to be patient, which is a
quality he has yet to master.

After listening to the instrumental groups do their thing,
Dion came out with the younger group first.  Joshie was
excited to see his daddy up there and even yelled out to
him.

"Hi, Daddy," he shouted, so Dion could hear him -- much
to the amusement of those in attendance.

Before they began to sing, Joshie scrutinized the chorus
and realized Noah wasn't there.  This bothered him.

"Where's Noah?" he wanted to know.

"This isn't his class," I heard Elliot advise him.  "He'll be
in the next group."

Although Joshie wasn't happy about this, he accepted
Elliot's answer.  Once that group finished performing,
Noah's choral group finally came out and the students
moved to their assigned places.  Joshie was thrilled that
Noah was about to perform.

The seventh/eighth grade chorus sang three selections:
"Have a Holly Jolly Christmas," "The Little Drummer Boy"
and then they ended with "The Rose."   This is a pop song
that had been made famous by Bette Midler in the late
1970's, but the lyrics are very beautiful.  I think the
message in the lyrics was what Dion was trying to impart
to his students and the audience when he selected it.
After all, Christmas is the time to spread peace and love.

Just in case you aren't familiar with the lyrics, I will give
them to you now.  Not only are they beautiful, but I also
think they impart a very special, and appropriate,
message.


Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger
An endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower
And you, its only seed

It's the heart, afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It's the dream, afraid of waking
That never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul, afraid of dying
That never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snow
Lies the seed
That with the sun's love, in the spring
Becomes the rose.


Once they finished singing this song, the concert ended.  I
thought it had gone very well and felt Noah's group had
performed brilliantly.  I had also noticed that Noah was
smiling throughout the entire time he was on stage, but
I'm not sure if it was because he enjoyed singing, liked
showing off for the rest of us or if he was pleased that we
had all come to watch him.  Whatever the reason, it was
good to see he was happy and truly enjoying himself.

During the ride home, Joshie kept pestering the other
boys to sing Christmas songs with him again.  Seeing it
was easier to give in than to argue the point, the others
agree.  Therefore, Jake and I were serenaded during the
entire ride home.

Once we got to the house, Noah asked what we thought of
the concert, but I think Dion was just as interested to hear
what we had to say.  Noah carefully avoided asking what
we thought about how he had done, because he realized we
couldn't single his voice out of that large group, but he did
want to know if we'd enjoyed being there.  We assured him
we had, and Elliot and Joshie raved about how well his
group had done, so it seemed to be enough to satisfy him.

After the boys had finished with Noah, Joshie decided that
he didn't want to leave his daddy out of this assessment
and eagerly evaluated his contribution.

"You did really good too, Daddy," Joshie told him.  "But
why didn't you sing?"

"Thank you," Dion responded, "but this concert was for
the kids to sing, not me."

Dion's answer seemed to answer his son's question, so
Joshie raced off with the other boys.

The following evening was Elliot's turn to shine.  Just as
he had done last year, he was going to play with the
orchestra and then accompany the chorus, but he hadn't
divulged any further information about his involvement
than that.  This made us curious about why he was being
so secretive this time around, but it's possible he merely
concluded we already knew what he'd be doing, since we'd
seen him perform with these groups the previous year.

After finishing another rushed dinner, Danny and Brandon
offered to drive tonight and asked Dion and Trey to ride
with them.  The boys still wanted to be together, so they'd
be going with Jake and me again, but we'd have to leave
before the others, because Elliot wanted to be able to go to
the music room first, so he could limber up on the piano
there.

However, before we were ready to leave the house, Elliot
surprised us with an additional announcement.  He
informed us he had invited Ian to come to the concert
with us this evening, rather than Hayden, and wanted to
know if I'd mind swinging by Ian's house to pick him up.
If not, he said he could call and let Ian know he should
have his parents drop him off at the school instead.  Since
Ian's place isn't very far out of our way and we were
leaving with plenty of time to spare, I readily agreed to do
this for Elliot.  After hearing my response, he gave Ian a
quick call to let him know we were on our way.

Even after picking Ian up, we still arrived at the school
well ahead of the scheduled time for the concert to begin.
When Elliot left us to go to the music room, I led the boys
to the auditorium.  We selected seats in the front, on the
left side, where we would have the best view of the piano.
Then we got comfortable and waited.

Joshie and Noah talked the entire time and continually
asked Jake and me questions, such as how long it would
be before Elliot came out, if we knew what songs he'd be
playing or if he would have a solo.  We answered them as
best we could, but seeing Elliot hadn't shared this
information with us, there wasn't a great deal we could
say.

Jesse and Ian chose to sit at the end of the aisle, so we
could save the seats in between for the two sets of parents
who hadn't arrived yet.  Over the times he's been with us,
I've noticed that Ian is a very polite and charming boy, so
I can easily see why Elliot and he have become friends.
Although I'm glad that Elliot asked him to join us, I hope
it didn't prevent him from also inviting Hayden.

When the concert started, the orchestra was up first.
When they came out to play, Elliot walked out and took
his seat at the piano.  Once he got comfortable, he looked
around and located us.  As soon as Joshie and Noah saw
him looking in our direction they began waving at him,
which caused Elliot to smile.  Joshie, however, didn't yell
'hi' to him this time, as he had last year or as he had also
done with his daddy.

As we expected, Elliot still had to perform on an upright
piano, but he didn't appear to be as put out about doing it
this time.  We still understood he would have preferred to
play on a baby grand, like the one he had at home, but he
willingly made this adjustment.  A few moments later, his
instrumental music teacher/conductor lifted his baton
and gave the orchestra the signal to begin.

The orchestra played four pieces in total, which consisted
of two Christmas songs and two traditional selections.
Once again, they played very well and we didn't hear the
typical squeaky strings or catch any serious miscues from
the other instruments.  We did detect a couple of sour
notes, but those missteps were spread out over the various
numbers and didn't have a major negative impact on any
single piece or their overall performance.

Once again, we thought Elliot had done a masterful job at
the keyboard and Noah and Joshie clapped very loudly to
show their appreciation when each song ended.  None of
us had detected any errors Elliot might have made
throughout the four selections and he looked very pleased
when the audience gave them a heartfelt round of
applause following each number.

After those playing in the orchestra took their final bow
and began to leave the stage, I was surprised to notice
that Elliot was staying put.  Then he began to play a
medley of Christmas songs as the band members came out
and took their places.  They used the same seating
arrangement as the orchestra and were ready to play after
a very brief transition.  Elliot wasn't part of this group,
but we all remained patient and politely listened to their
musical program, as Elliot sat quietly at the piano, waiting
to perform with the chorus.  The band also played four
selections and did fairly well, but once they received their
final ovation and left the stage, the chorus strode out on
the stage to take their turn.

As the choral members assumed their positions on the
risers, which were located behind the area where the
orchestra and band had been seated, Elliot played a
version of "The Holly and The Ivy" that I had never heard
before.  This made me wonder if this was a professional
arrangement I was unaware of or if Elliot had tweaked it
himself.

Once the last of the singers were in place, Elliot watched
the vocal music teacher and began to play on cue.  The
chorus also performed four selections, beginning with two
Christmas songs.  First, they sang "Silver Bells" and then
followed up with the "Carol of the Bells."  After they
finished those two pieces, they switched to two secular
selections.

The first of these was "Seasons of Love," from the musical
"Rent."  You may not recognize the title of this song, but
I'm sure you will recognize the first stanza.  It goes like
this:

"Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?"

This particular selection gave Elliot a very nice solo on the
piano before the chorus joined in.  I thought he played it
brilliantly, as the melody flowed from the introduction to
the point where the vocals began.

Once this song ended, the chorus closed the evening with
"This is the Moment," from the musical "Jekyll and
Hyde."  This proved to be a very rousing finale and
brought the audience to its feet.  They were all clapping,
whistling and cheering loudly, as the chorus members,
Elliot and the vocal music teacher took their final bow.

Once the ovation ended and the vocal music teacher got
the audience to quiet down and retake their seats, she
began to speak.

"I wish to thank all of you for coming and showing your
appreciation of what your sons, daughters, friends and
neighbors have accomplished this evening.  However,
before I let you depart, I have one final announcement to
make.

"On behalf of all of those who performed this evening, we
wish to thank Elliot Currie, our pianist, for playing with
the orchestra and chorus again this year, as well as
providing the musical interludes while the groups were
changing.  Although we can't take credit for his talent,
since the school doesn't offer piano lessons, the orchestra
director, Mr. Burns, and I were able to persuade Elliot to
share his extraordinary ability with us.  It isn't often that
we come across such an accomplished pianist at the high
school level and I can only add that we hope he'll be
willing to perform with us in the years to come, since he is
just a sophomore.

"Please join me in expressing our sincerest appreciation
for sharing his skills this evening with a final round of
applause."

After she finished speaking, the auditorium filled with a
thunderous applause, as those in attendance showed their
approval of Elliot's performance.  As I shifted my gaze
from Elliot and glanced over at Noah, I could tell he was
absolutely blown away by the special recognition Elliot
had just received.  Ian also wore a huge smile on his face
and seemed to be involved in an animated conversation
with Brandon as they applauded.

When we met up with Elliot a few moments later, he had a
'Cheshire cat' grin plastered across his face and joked that
he wasn't prepared to sign autographs.  Even though we
knew he might end up with a swelled head from this, we
all congratulated him, but Noah went way beyond what the
rest of us had done.  He was finding it difficult to come up
with enough superlatives to describe how well he thought
Elliot had played and let him know he was proud to be his
brother, but apparently he wasn't the only one who'd been
impressed.

"That was spectacular, Elliot," Ian gushed, while also
flashing Elliot a broad smile.  "I knew you could play, but
wow, that was really great!"

As we made our way out of the auditorium, several other
people came up to Elliot to pat him on the back, shake his
hand or tell him 'great job.'  Since Elliot enjoys this kind
of attention, he was soaking it all in and happily accepted
these additional accolades.

Once we were outside and making our way to the car,
Joshie began talking a mile-a-minute to Elliot.  He not
only told his cousin what a great job he'd done, but he also
wanted to know why Elliot hadn't played the Peanuts
Theme for him.  Elliot laughed and assured Joshie he'd do
that for him when they got home, which seemed to make
Joshie happy.

Once we were in the Suburban, Noah continued expressing
his thoughts.

"You were amazing," he gushed.  "Nobody else got singled
out for what they did except you.  That was so awesome."

"Yeah, it was really nice," Elliot replied.  "I wasn't
surprised that she thanked me, but I didn't think she'd
say all that other stuff."

As soon as Elliot finished speaking, Joshie began to pester
the boys to sing more Christmas carols with him, as he
had after the previous two concerts.

"I'm all out of songs, Joshie," Elliot replied, "but why
don't you ask Ian if he knows any?"  Elliot then gave Ian a
wink.

"Will you sing something, Ian?  Pretty please," Joshie
begged.

"Hmmm, I think I remember a song," Ian answered, as he
smiled at Elliot.

Ian cleared his throat and then in a light, melodic voice
began to sing.

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
>From now on our troubles will be out of sight

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yuletide gay,
>From now on our troubles will be miles away

"Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

"Through the years
We all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough,
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now."

As he sang, Ian reached over and held Elliot hand in his.
Noah and Joshie didn't notice this, since they were sitting
in the seat in front of them, next to Jesse, but I happened
to spot what was going on when I glanced in the rearview
mirror.  When Jake noticed that I seemed to be intently
focused on something, he turned around to see what I was
staring at.  Once he discovered what had garnered my
attention, he turned forward again.  As he did, he glanced
in my direction and we traded knowing smiles.

We pulled up to Ian's house just as he was finishing the
song.  As he looked over at Elliot, both of them began to
blush and then he gave Elliot's hand a final squeeze before
saying goodnight.

As soon as he disappeared inside, we continued on to our
place.  When we arrived at the house the others were
already inside, so Noah and Joshie dashed off to be with
their fathers.  Jake and I held on to Elliot for a moment to
discuss what we saw on the ride home.

"You should have kissed him," Jake offered, as he smiled.

"Huh?" Elliot asked, confused.

"We noticed that Ian and you were holding hands while he
sang for Joshie," I explained.  "I think that might mean
someone has a boyfriend."

"Ummm, yeah," Elliot confirmed, with a blush.

"How long has this been going on?" I asked.

"Not long.  Only since Thanksgiving," Elliot confirmed.

"So this started when he stayed at the house?" Jake
wondered.  "Why didn't you say anything then?"

"I don't know," Elliot stated.  "I guess it might be that Ian
and I were still getting used to the idea."

"I won't ask for any details," I began, "but you boys are
being safe.  Right?"

"We haven't done anything like that yet," Elliot confessed.
"We've agreed to take things slowly, since this is the first
relationship for both of us.  When that time comes though,
I promise we'll be very careful."

"Then I'm glad you found each other," I assured him.
"Ian's a very nice boy and I think we all like him very
much, including your dads."

"I still think you should have kissed him," Jake teased, as
he winked at Elliot.

Now that this had been settled, we went inside to join the
rest of the family.  Almost as soon as the door shut, Elliot
went into the family room and kept his promise to Joshie
by playing the Peanuts Theme.  This made Joshie very
happy, but then Elliot discovered that some of the others
wanted to request that he play various other tunes as well.
Noah wanted him to play "Seasons of Love" next, but
Elliot said it wouldn't sound right without the vocals.
Hearing this, Dion quickly assured Elliot it wouldn't be a
problem, but asked him to wait a minute before he started.
After Elliot agreed, Dion exited the room and left the rest
of us wondering where he was going.

What none of us realized was that Dion had gone to his
computer, so he could look up the lyrics for that song.
Once he found them, he printed out several copies to
bring back with him.  He also did something else, but none
of us would know about that until later.  When he returned
to the family room, Dion passed the copies out and then
announced that he thought we had enough decent voices
in the family to do the vocals along with Elliot's
accompaniment.  Hearing this, Elliot spun around on the
bench and began to play.

Following Dion's lead, the rest of the family belted out the
lyrics to the song, while Jake and I chose to sit back and
enjoy their effort.  We thought they were doing very well
without us and didn't wish to diminish their effort by
adding our less than trained croaking.

Once that song ended, Dion asked Elliot if he would mind
playing "This is the Moment" again, so he could sing it
with him.  Dion said he'd been contemplating doing a
benefit to raise donations for the local food bank, so they
could better assist the families of the unemployed and
others who were finding it difficult to make ends meet in
the current economy.  Dion also stated that he thought
this might be a wonderful song to use for this occasion
and just wanted to test it out, to see how it sounded with
him as the soloist.

After Elliot agreed, Dion then asked me if I'd be willing to
record it for him, so he could play it back and analyze it
later.  I quickly agreed and then went to grab the
appropriate equipment from his room.  He had a fairly
sensitive recording device that he kept there, specifically
so he could playback various performances and evaluate
them for himself.

Once I had it set up, Elliot began to play and Dion began
to sing.  The rest of us settled in to listen, but we
remained very quiet so we wouldn't interfere with the
recording.  Dion was absolutely brilliant as he belted out
the song and I immediately realized this was obviously not
the first time he had sung it.  I don't think anyone could
master the lyrics and the phrasing so well on their first
attempt, so it was quite apparent that he had either been
practicing this in private or he'd been listening to a great
many recordings of this particular piece prior to this
evening.  Anyway, once he finished we all raved about his
brilliant rendition, but he merely stated that he'd listen to
it later and make that decision for himself.

As the rest of us were leaving the family room and heading
to our bedrooms, Dion asked Elliot to stay behind, so they
could talk.  Once the last of us had departed, Dion turned
to Elliot and asked him a question.

"I was wondering if you would agree to accompany me
when I do the benefit?" he began.  "I'm going to perform
locally first, probably at the high school, but I'm not sure
how much money we'll be able to drum up just doing it
there.  I mentioned the idea to a friend of mine and he
suggested I might want to do a second benefit at Penn
State.  He said he had contacts there and could arrange it
for me, so maybe we can collect even more for the food
bank by performing for the extended college community,
staff and faculty.  What do you think?"

Elliot was tongue tied for a few moments and didn't know
how to respond.  He was ready to agree to do it locally, but
the thought of going to Penn State and performing there
was a little overwhelming.  When Dion saw his reticence,
he assured Elliot he was confident he could do this and
explained that he really wanted them to do it together.
After a little more coaxing, Elliot agreed and Dion went off
to outline exactly what songs he wanted to perform and in
which order.

When I heard what the pair had agreed to, I was not only
pleased that they had decided to team up, but I was also
extremely confident their collaboration would be well
worth the price of admission for those who decided to
attend.  Over the years, Dion has built an outstanding
reputation as a soloist, so I am confident this will help
him attract a large enough audience to make a significant
and positive impact for the community food bank.

I also knew a collaboration of this magnitude wouldn't
happen until early next year, since there are numerous
arrangements that have to be made first.  They need to
design the advertising to publicize the event and print the
programs that will be distributed to the attendees.
Besides taking care of those details, they'll also have to
allow plenty of time for Elliot and Dion to practice
together first.  I can't wait to see how this works out, but
I'm certain many of our family and extended family will be
there for each performance.

Now that the school concerts were behind us, it was time
to turn our attention to a couple of other matters that
required our attention, beginning with the following
evening.  That's because Shannon's birthday is tomorrow
and he'll be turning twenty-seven.  We wanted to be with
him and help him celebrate, but it just isn't possible for all
of us to travel to Atlanta to be with him, because of the
time of year and the other things we have going on.  For
that reason, Jake and I at least wanted to call and relay
our best wishes to let him know we hadn't forgotten.

"Hi, son.  Happy Birthday!" Jake told him, when Shannon
answered the phone.  "I wish I was there with you, but we
just couldn't work it out this year.  Josh and I wanted to
call you though, so we could wish you our best personally
on this special day."

"Happy Birthday, Shannon," I yelled into the receiver,
once Jake finished talking.

"Thank you, both of you," he responded.  "I wish you were
here too, but I understand.  That's what happens
sometimes when your birthday is so close to Christmas"

"Speaking of that, I'll bring your birthday and other
presents with me when I come to celebrate Christmas with
you at the Lawrences," Jake assured him.  "Since that's
only a week away, I'll be seeing you real soon."

"I know and I'm looking forward to seeing you then too,"
Shannon assured his father.

"I'm sorry I won't be there with you," I added, "but we'll
have a houseful here as well."

"I know and I understand," Shannon replied.  "At least
next year we'll all be together for Christmas."

Jake and I agreed that will be wonderful and we're
definitely looking forward to it.  We then chatted with
Shannon a little longer before ending the call.  I know
Jake sincerely misses being with his son for his birthday,
but I do too.  The problem is, the distance, the number of
people we'd have to take with us and the other things we
have going on makes our being there for him impractical.

Immediately after we got off the phone with Shannon, I
called Steve Shay next.  I was working with Mary and him
to arrange a birthday party for Vinnie the following
evening, when he turns twenty-six.  We'd decided to do
this jointly, because we all think of Vinnie as our son.  I
had taken Vinnie in to live with us shortly after his
parents were killed on 9/11 and he lived with us until he
and Kevin got their own place.  Steve and Mary had
adopted him, instead of me, to help Vinnie address the
concerns he had that Kevin and he couldn't be brothers
and lovers too.  This way, with the Shays adopting him, it
meant he and Kevin weren't brothers, so his concerns
were no longer relevant.  Since we are all his parents in a
way, we decided to join forces when planning his party.

When we started doing this a few weeks ago, Steve first
wanted to hold the party at his place.  After thinking it
over, I explained that I felt it would be too crowded to
hold it there.  As an alternative, I suggested we should just
reserve one of the private dining rooms at the restaurant
and have everyone meet us there.  After agreeing to this
arrangement, Steve insisted that he was going to pay for
everything, even though I offered to split the tab with
him.  Although he thanked me for my offer, he said I'd
already done more than my share, so Mary and he were
going to foot this bill.  Mary also drew up the guest list
and then sent out the invitations, so now I was merely
checking with Steve to make certain everything was set.

We met at the restaurant at 7:00 on Saturday evening and
Vinnie was a bit surprised when he saw everyone there.
He thought this was just going to be a small gathering and
he was only having dinner with Kevin, Jeff, Steve and
Mary.  For that reason, he was shocked when he walked in
and realized the rest of us were here too.  Not only were
all of the boys who lived locally and their partners here,
but so were Sally, Susan and Alice.  It was a very nice
turnout.

After enjoying a couple of drinks and sharing some
appetizers, we ordered our meals and then waited for them
to be delivered.  In the interim, we talked to Vinnie and
asked how things were going at school.  He told us he was
thoroughly enjoying his students this year and thrilled
that so many of them were making significant progress.
He commented that one particular boy, who had been very
withdrawn and aloof last year, was finally beginning to
accept that he was handicapped and willing to learn to
cope with his physical disability.  In this case, his
condition was the result of an accident, not a birth defect,
so it had been much more difficult for him to accept and
cope with his new limitations.

We told Vinnie we were glad the boy was adjusting, but we
were also confident that he must have made a significant
impact in getting this boy to accept what had happened to
him and then adapt to it.  Vinnie didn't agree entirely, but
he did admit he felt he'd helped in minor ways.  He then
went on to tell us that the boy finally realized he could
either make the best of a bad situation or he could hide in
his room and be miserable for the rest of his life.  Vinnie
said he wanted to believe he'd played at least a small role
in helping the boy come to this conclusion, but he thought
it was more likely that the boy's parents and some of his
peers had been the ones that had provided the required
motivation.

Once this discussion ended, we then talked to Kevin and
asked how he was making out at the pharmacy.  Kevin
responded by telling us that things were going well at the
store and business had remained steady.  He added that
they haven't had a downturn in volume after the initial
'Frankie' effect, even though I thought they might.

I also asked how Vinnie and he were getting along with
Jeff and how he was working out at the store.  Kevin said
they were both enjoying Jeff's company and that Jeff was
a tremendous help at the pharmacy.  Kevin told us that
Jeff had removed a great deal of the pressure off of him,
since Jeff was there to fill the prescriptions, and this gave
Kevin a chance to do other things.  Kevin now had more
time to get around the store and check things out, as well
as being able to make certain supplies were ordered, but it
has also allowed him time to double-check the books.  I
think we were all glad to learn Jeff's addition was working
out so well and everyone made sure to tell him so.

Jeff then told us that he liked being here too and he
couldn't wait to move his mother to the area as well.  He
said he enjoyed spending time with Kevin and Vinnie, and
he was glad that Kevin trusted him and gave him so much
responsibility at the pharmacy, but there were still a few
drawbacks.  Jeff said one of those was that he missed his
mother and was worried about her being alone, but he
thought she'd do well once she got here, since this is such
a nice community.  I was pleased that things were working
out so well for each of them.

After our meals were delivered and we'd finished eating, a
birthday cake was brought out and set in front of Vinnie.
After we sang to him and he blew out the candles, the
cake was cut and a slice was given to each person there.
Once we finished our cake, we gave Vinnie his presents
and watched as he opened them.

It turned out to be a lovely evening and I think we all had
a good time.  As we were leaving, I reminded everyone
that we were expecting to see them again on Christmas
Eve and mentioned the time we'd be sitting down to eat.
Then we all said our goodbyes and returned to our homes.
I know I was happily thinking ahead to the next time we
would be together again and I hoped the others were too.