Life in a small town

Yesterday we got a message from our friend Scott. His cousin Vince will be turning 50 on May 19th. That also happens to be the day his son is graduating from high school up in Tennessee. Vince is an electrician and recently the company he works for went out of business...so money has been pretty tight lately. He has been stressed out worrying about not just how he's going to keep up with all the bills that keep coming, (even when work is not)...but also feeling bad that he wouldn't be able to make the trip up to see his son graduate.

(Amanda just graduated from Nursing school and Courtney graduates from Mel High next week...they were celebrating too) So, Scott came up with a plan. He asked all the guys who regularly get together at Longdoggers I think I spell this differently every time I write about it...haha to help make this a special birthday for Vinnie. He asked anyone who was interested in helping out to donate whatever amount they were comfortable with...meanwhile he looked on line and found an airline ticket and car rental and figured anything above and beyond would/could go for extras. The response was as expected...everyone wanted to help. Vinnie is a kind-hearted guy; he's always willing to lend a hand and do what he can for friends or family. Right now he's having a tough time and even though he would NEVER want to ask anyone for anything...he definitely needs a "little help from his friends" (as the song says).

Vince, Scott, Mark and Mike

Of course Al was more than happy to be in on the surprise. We all got together as usual at Longdoggers. Mark made sure Vinnie came...he met up with him earlier in the evening, then casually suggested they should stop by LD as everyone was going to be there. Since these guys stop by almost every afternoon,... (though not necessarily the whole group) it was not anything for Vinnie to get suspicious about.(that and the fact that his actual birthday isn't until the 19th) Vinnie made his way around, then sat down to talk to me. He and John had worked together this week...so we were talking about that. Meanwhile I'm thinking...that at some point Al is supposed to come out and surprise Vinnie with a pie in the face, so I don't want to get too close...hahah. (Scott and John were both thinking..."Perfect...he's talking to Anne, that will keep him busy"...they know we are both talkers...haha)

Well...Al came up behind him and put a handful of whipped cream in his face. (as you can see...I managed to duck out of the way safely! haha) Everyone whipped out a camera or cell photo or whatever...it was funny. Wish I had a picture of everyone taking pictures! Everyone shouted "Happy Birthday!!!"...and Vinnie laughed. Scott handed him the card...but didn't have his glasses with him...so he didn't open it at first. Everyone was waiting...so I told him...you need to read the card...Les loaned him his glasses. When he opened the card...He was completely overwhelmed....he broke down...and there were more than a few teary eyes in the group.After a minute or two I leaned in and said "So this will be a good 50th birthday don't you think?" He looked at me and said.."The best ever." He really couldn't even talk for a few minutes because he was so overcome with emotion.There were lots of cheers, lots of hugs and LOTS and LOTS of smiles! At one point later in the evning, he said to me "I swear in all my 50 years, this is the best birthday ever!" It was so much fun to be a part of it! Earlier this week...actually last week, on Saturday it was Melbourne Beach's annual Founder's Day celebration. There were all the usual activities going on...races...(on land and in the river), Arts and Crafts, a "Talent" show for the kids (I use that term loosely...hahah, something about cute little 9 yr old girls "singing" "I got got my bottle of Jack...I ain't coming back..." that just doesn't do it for me...hahha), a hot dog eating contest, skateboarding demonstration. etc. Everyone in town comes out and it's always a fun time. I walked around for a bit...got a t-shirt, chatted with friends...and tried to keep cool. It was HOT!

Donated some $ to Indialantic Elementary School Odyssey of the Mind team...who are going to Nationals in Ames,Iowa. (a friend has a daughter on the team)

And just enjoyed the day...until I had to go home and cool off! haha

That's what I like about living in a place like Indialantic or Melbourne Beach...it's a small town...and it's like an episode of Cheers on any given day!