Memories are Keepsakes

It must have been at least two years ago when Daryl and Velma said they want to give me a weekend at a cabin for my 70th birthday. I was supposed to think who I would want to invite and give them plenty of notice so they don't plan anything else for the first weekend in December. So I started thinking who I would invite to fill the seven bedrooms in the cabin. 

Of course, I can't do anything like that without my sisters so that was a given. Who else? My three friends from our teen years. We four girls hung out together every weekend and did all kinds of crazy stuff together until we got married. I am the last of the four to turn 70 this year. I told them way back in February this year to reserve the first weekend in December for my birthday party. There was still some room so I invited the sister-in-law who is closest to my age. That was a winning combination!

We went to the cabin Friday evening and people started trickling in about 6. I only had to pack our clothes and bedding because Daryl and Velma brought all the food and did the cooking and dish washing all weekend. We had the whole weekend to visit with our friends. We talked, ate, played games, put puzzles together, etc. What a party! Velma loves to cook and we were very well fed.

This picture has too much glare but it's the only one I have of us putting puzzle together.

This was our "gang" of four girls and still going strong more than fifty years later. Some friends come and go in our lives but we have stuck together through it all. We're all a couple months apart and lined up by age. Dolores was the first to turn 70 this year, then Anna Mary, Laverne, and me. You can see I'm both last and least.

We scattered to attend various nearby churches Sunday morning and then came back to the cabin for lunch. During the week before, two couples said they would go home Saturday night so Velma said I can invite four more for Sunday lunch. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have company without having to cook! I had a little trouble finding people on short notice but three more came, another old friend from teen years and a cousin and her husband. Sunday was the official birthday dinner complete with a cake. Velma avoided a starting a forest fire by putting only 6 candles on the cake.

These are the ladies who were there on Sunday. 

Lidyan (cousin) Betty Ann and Carol (sisters), me, Millie, Anna Mary, Laverne

We sisters dressed alike on Sunday. Carol got the fabric in Mexico this summer. 

We looked forward to this weekend for a long time. We had a lot of fun reminiscing about the good old days and catching up with each other's lives. All too soon, the weekend was over and passed into the memory category. Weekends only last a short time but memories are keepsakes forever.