I just got off the phone with my Grandma and although this has nothing to do with Egypt I just don't want to forget. My Grandma turned 74 yesterday. I called her today because I'm messed up with the days and thought it was her birthday today. She informed me that "Yesterday sucked. So it's better you called today because today was a good day." Yesterday she was on the phone with Medicare forever arguing about medical supplies she's used for ages that they now require a prescription for. Today, for her birthday, she hired a limo to take her and her 9 other friends of 56 years to my Uncle's pub. This is the part I don't want to forget. My grandma met these friends of hers when she was 18 years old and they formed a card club. They meet once a month to play cards, and once a month to go to lunch for birthdays that month. They've got 43 children between the 10 of them, goodness knows how many grandkids. Through the years they've only missed the monthly card club get-togethers for unavoidable distractions like travel or childbirth. My grandma says the first time she missed card club was when she was giving birth to my mom, her firstborn. The ladies have begun to lose their husbands, my grandma included. There've been a few local newspaper articles here and there about this card club, after they hit their 55 year anniversary mark, but this is the first time I've talked to my Grandma about the group (rather than the individual ladies and news about them) in a while.

Today was my Grandma's birthday month. My grandma was giddy just talking about it. The birthday girl gets to choose the location and my grandma really wanted to go to the Irish Pub that my aunt and uncle (her youngest daughter and husband) run, but it's 45 minutes away in another town. The ladies have now aged to the point where they really shouldn't be driving those distances, and they know it. So my grandma hired a limo. She hired the same car service she uses to get to the airport once every few months, but this time she requested a large 10 person limousine. She also requested a driver she's used in the past, who happens to be the son of someone she knows. His name is Dale. She and her nine other friends, all also in their 70s/80s had never ever been in a limousine before. It sounds like they were all giddy, too. Apparently getting into the limousine was challenging for these elderly women, so they took quite a bit of time getting in and out, and Dale the driver kindly took any walkers or wheelchairs from the women and placed them in the trunk. My grandma also had Dale the driver stop at a Walgreens and sent him in with money to pick up a disposable camera since the ladies all forgot their cameras. Then my grandma asked Dale the driver take pictures of these 10 ladies in their 70s/80s inside the limo, in front of the limo, in front of the pub, in the pub, in front of the limo, in front of my grandmas house.... My grandma bought Dale the driver lunch at my Uncle's pub, and he had the Reuben Sandwich (which Justin swears is the best Reuben Sandwich he's ever had). Apparently each of the ladies in the limo had their own vent for the AC which they couild control themselves, and when they were confused by how to control these, Dale called my grandma on the little limousine phone and talked her through it. My grandma said these ladies just had so much fun, their first time in a limo ever, with a great lunch to boot. She also said she got more hugs and kisses today then she has in years. I bet Dale the driver had a great afternoon: good food, 10 funny elderly ladies laughing and hugging and kissing each other, and a disposable camera they had him running around with to capture it all. I can just imagine it.

To sum it all up my grandma sighed and said, "We have a good time, that's all there is to it". 56 years of friendship. It's so cool. I just don't want to forget this conversation with my grandma. Here is an article (click the photo):