For a few years now, we somehow got a few people around for a catch up dinner, at about the same time each year. I guess it’s because a few of us share September birthdays. So, as it has happened for several years, Uncle Marloney and Auntie Hooi, Jason and Mel and Tress and I caught up for dinner again last Friday. We went to the Red House Kitchen in Scoresby and had a wonderful time over dinner, talking and catching up.

Tress and I thought Jason was a bit quiet and disengaged at that dinner and shamefully, I found myself not really caring that much that he was. Several days before the dinner, he sent us an old photograph. It was an unflattering photo that he took of us, when we were at his place a few years ago. Why he still has that photo is anyone’s guess. He had circulated it after he first took it back then, and I had been cross with him and told him as much – back then. So it was a mystery to me why he kept it and sent it again. That photo had both Tress and I staring at our phone. Tress remembered we were searching for something he asked about. So for him to then take that photo, kept it, and sent it out repeatedly, is just incomprehensible. Especially since I had made it known to him that I didn’t like that at all. In any case, I simply deleted the message he sent me with that photo, and let it go “straight to the keeper”. I hope my complete non-reaction to that message said something but frankly, I care little about what he might think. It’s very disappointing but I have let it go.

On Saturday, we slept in a bit, took the little guy for a walk, and then I did a quick trimming of the hedges in the back eastern corner before we sent the boys to Heather’s. We then got ready for a wedding. Adeline, an old friend from Uni, will have her daughter married in an Anglican church in Camberwell that arvo. The dinner reception was at the NGV Art Centre in the city and we had planned to drive there. At the wedding, we met a couple who asked if they could hitch a ride with us. We obliged.

The wedding dinner was the first I was at that I stayed dry. Surprisingly, sipping sparkling water throughout the evening didn’t impair my enjoyment of the occasion and I didn’t find myself craving for a glass of red that was flowing freely everywhere. Through the dinner, I checked on the scores of the game between the Lions and the Blues. Winners get to the big dance next week – and it looked like the Lions would be the ones to meet the Pies.

We caught up with a bunch of old uni friends at the dinner and as always, that was a wonderful thing. One of them (Patsie) remarked that she first met me nearly 40 years ago. That really put things in perspective. Tress and I were the only ones to have become grandparents but all of our kids have grown up, finished uni, and became fully grown working adults. How we have survived the ravage of time – I particularly felt it as I have been under a coughing spell for 2-3 weeks now and the interrupted sleeps every night have meant I am feeling a touch weary.

We got back late after the wedding dinner, and only went to bed around midnight. The next morning, we had a quick coffee and toast, and I went for a quick walk before we headed to St Alf’s. It was a wonderful service, and when it was over, Tanya got a few people to come to Tress and I and offered to pray for my coughs. I had asked to swap with her for communion duties a couple of weeks back and I was meant to take her place in that service but as my coughs had persisted, she carried out the tasks so she did it two weeks in a row. So she thought I needed some prayers – the coughs didn’t go away anytime soon, but it sure made me feel loved and cared for. Amy, a nurse, was part of the praying group and she suggested I used an extra pillow for a higher propped up head position when I sleep. I guess it helped a bit but I remained interrupted through the night. The coughs abated a touch but I slept only marginally better, so when I went out for my run this morning, the weariness crashed on me and I found myself walking – briskly but so laboured.

I remain grateful however, that I am up and about. I have a wonderful family. Tress is always here with me, and always wonderful. Kiddo and Mic are doing really well with Abby in the Capital City. They were at a church camp where it looked like Abby had a great time, and it felt like they have completely settled into that “new” church. I continue to labour on at my work, and aches and pains notwithstanding, I find myself out there each day, running/jogging/walking and just enjoying the warmth and smell of Spring each morning. All I seek is to be more engaging at serving our Lord.