Oldies, but Goodies (Happy Birthday, Kerry!)

July 7.

It's Kerry's 22nd birthday today!!!

We already celebrated her birthday a few days ago with her longtime good friends.

We've gathered around this table so many times before.

We've listened to the details of each of their lives as they catch up with each other.

And we always look forward to the times they get together at our house.

These good times will be getting more difficult from now on, though.

They have all graduated from college this year and their lives are about to change.

Kerry, Mel, Taylor, Parker, and Kaylee

On this birthday get-together, each of them was feeling a little hesitant, nervous,  or uncertain about their futures.

What was Kerry wishing for this year?

What are they all wishing for?

Whatever those wishes are,  I am absolutely sure that being together

for Kerry's birthday gave them a respite from their worries.

For Vance and I, some of our happiest times are when our table is filled

with our children and their friends.

We've watched them grow up and we are proud of the people they have become.

But there was someone missing for the table this year.

Kaylee skyped into the party from Hawaii where she's working this summer.

It has become a tradition to take a group picture together, and we did it again this year even though Kaylee was not actually here in person!

Kerry, you are loved more than you know.

Happy 22nd Birthday!

Here are some pictures of times together from past years...

JT

This is a photo of me from the early 1970's.  I was standing in my bedroom which I shared with my two sisters.  I was wearing my signature Lee jeans.  The style wasn't quite as form fitting back then.  Sweater vests were "in".  This was before I wore makeup or took much time styling my hair.  I was holding two things that were important to me at the time:  my cat "Diddles and my Raggedy Ann doll that adorned my bed.

You can't see it in the picture, but to the right against the wall was a portable record player.  By portable, I me it was in a fold-up carrying case that you could take with you to another room. There were no personal devices like we have today to listen to music wherever you go.

So it was in my bedroom that I would play my records that I bought with the limited funds I had.  Most of the time I would buy "singles".  When I went to bed at night, I'd stack up a bunch of singles and they would play one by one as I was drifting off to sleep.  Sometimes the needle would hit a scratch in the surface of the record and it would either skip a part of the song, or worse it would keep repeating until I got up out of bed and moved the needle off the scratch.  That was very annoying.

Sometimes, if I really liked a lot of songs by one artist, I would splurge and buy an entire album.

I had a few of James Taylor's albums.

I have always been the kind of person who likes to spend time alone and contemplate life and all of it's complexities.  I would lay on my bed and listen to his songs over and over.  His songs were soothing to my young soul that felt things deeply and spent many hours trying to make sense of what I knew of life at that time.  He was like therapy for me.

His lyrics spoke to me.  His mellow voice was so easy to listen to and sing to.

Oh, and one other thing - he was cute.

One of my favorite songs of all time is  "You've Got a Friend".

I dug this up from the 1970's....





For our 30th wedding anniversary,  Vance bought tickets to see James Taylor perform at Tanglewood on July 3.  It was a fabulous concert!

I loved every minute of the the concert, which was close to 3 hours long.

  At 66 years old, his voice is just as clear and sweet and soothing as it was 40 years ago.

I bought another James Taylor album yesterday, only this time it was on itunes.

And I'd have to say, if anything, he's gotten even better with age.

#JTlove

Getting to Know You

   Question:  What's the first thing you do when you hear 

                  your son or daughter talk about a possible

                  new relationship?

Question:  What's the first thing you do when you are

                  interested in a relationship with someone new?

The answer to both questions is the same.

Stalk them on Facebook.

Adam told us in April that he was "thinking about" possibly starting a relationship with a girl in Boston that he met through his internship with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.  I had met her briefly last fall, but I didn't remember her last name - something necessary for FB stalking.

No need to worry, because I found out easily from my daughters who had already stalked Emily!

After a few minutes looking at whatever was "public" on Emily's wall, I think I got a pretty good idea of what she was like.  I learned she comes from a family with 5 kids (3 boys and 2 girls).  Her family loves dogs.  I also saw that she has a really nice smile and uses it frequently.

Well, Adam and Emily are officially dating now.  Emily stayed with us for 5 days last week and we got to know her much better (in real life).

I felt an instant kinship with her when she openly admitted to doing a lot of "online research" on our family members since she met Adam!  Not only did she stalk us on Facebook, but it seemed like she had read almost every blog post ever written!

They seem to get along really well 

and were very comfortable with each other.

She was very easy and fun to have around. 

Adam acted himself and didn't try 

to impress her with his badminton skills!

Sami and Halle were not impressed either.

Emily "friended" me on Facebook, 

so now when we look at each other's pictures 

it can't be called "stalking" anymore!