SEPTA Girls are BINGO QUEENS

Almost six years ago I received a phone call from this girl in our town. Joyce. A real go getter who was the new President of SEPTA (Special Education PTA…same as P&C). She was organizing the SEPTA Fundraiser - a wild night of thousands of Tricky Trays* (new word that I learnt this year), raffles, silent auctions etc.


Three fundraisers in six years, lots of meetings and a great deal of red wine has led to a unique friendship that many people never get the chance to experience and yet, I have been blessed to enjoy. My friend gives her heart and soul to everything that she touches. She is loyal and trustworthy. She is phenomenally gifted in the written word and she touches the lives of so many through her work within SEPTA. Ask her anything and she will have the answer and if she doesn’t, she finds out.

This friendship blessing came with some wonderful baggage. The rest of the SEPTA Board! Can I tell you that when you have to spend time with a Board, for meetings and such - how fantastic it is that you all get on so well that you would actively choose to spend time with these people because we have become dear to each other’s hearts. We are hugely busy with our own lives - work, children, house and home but together we form this formidable team of women who can achieve anything that we set our minds to.

In our first year of fundraising we had an obscene amount of Tricky Trays* - something like 300 donated prizes! (Do you know how many high heels and push up bras that took to gather?) It took 4 hours to draw the tickets - I had no voice by the end but what we did have, because of the generosity of our town and community, was a great end result to use for teacher grants and scholarships.

We decided there had to be an easier way….and we had two years to come up with it! Bingo and Brownies!! Oh what a night. Complete with Bingo light up board, dobbers, cards and the like, our school community enjoyed a fabulous night of friendship, laughter, games and prizes - again resulting in a great bottom line for our kids and teachers.

This year we all seemed busier with life than we could remember (maybe a three year old helps in my department), yet somehow we managed to pull it off again. The enjoyment of those who attended showed on their faces, the laughter infectious and the prizes were awesome (good Yanky word which I have come to love)! The Mayor of our town - we now call him The Major, stayed to the bitter end and our husbands even melted enough to say how impressive the evening was….boxes of cookies in their hands probably helped with these statements.

The sights and sounds of Bingo and Brownies are memorable.

crisp purple grab bags that contained a treasure or two


a tower of mouthwatering brownies and cookies



vintage style cake platters decorated with napkins, coffee stirrers and dobbers


bulging baskets of wonderful prizes, too many to choose from



crinkling cellophane and large indulgent ribbon bows

silence as the numbers are called

intermittent sighs when players start to get close



the gleeful cry of BINGO followed by the low bellied groans of other players
cheerful clapping replaces the groans as players share in the joy of the “lucky one"

….and then it is on to the next game


Our SEPTA Bingo and Brownies night has truly become a community event and we revel not only in its fundraising success but in its success to bring a town of busy people together for a short moment in time, to take pleasure in each other’s company, while ensuring that our kids receive the best that the world can offer.


We truly proved we are the Bingo Queens.


*Tricky Trays - Themed baskets wrapped with loving care by women who have nothing better to do than drink good Italian wine, eat fabulous Italian biscotti (orange/cranberry is to die for) and spend hours in an attic (which has been beautifully “Country Living” decorated) cello-ing and ribbon-ing baskets for the enjoyment of others and for the benefit of our kids

I love my SEPTA Girls and I am grateful to call them my friends.

Karenne


It is a bit sad when your mother has to skype in singing happy birthday to herself to remind you what the date is….and then have to request her own Birthday Blog Entry!! Oh well….at least I can argue the time difference....Well I could have a few days ago but it is now three days later so I have not a leg to stand on!


Mum, Kari, Renny, Granny, Gaga, Gran….she will answer to most things and knowing which side his bread is buttered on, her favorite engineeriing son in law calls her T.U.B (The Ultimate Boss) or is it because she buys him really cool Bonds undies and cooks so he can eat for six months after she has gone home again?


As I grow up (yes I still think I have a lot of growing up to do and I am sure my siblings would agree), and I do things for my own children….like cakes for birthdays at school, sewing costumes for the school play, covering text books for the library….I think of mum. I only do these things because I was shown how, taught by the best.
You know this statement is true.


And we all milk it as much as we can…



Her grandchildren from a very early age worked out that if they wanted a book covered, or present wrapped…they would just say “Gran will do it“.

There is my brother who subtly leaves the eggs, tins of tuna, milk, butter etc out on the kitchen bench...knowing that she can't resist making a Tuna Mornay.

My sister will leave the ground beef, tomatoes, onions on the bench for the same reason....the assurity of coming home to find a pot of wonderful mince prepared and ready for consumption.



She is the queen of pancakes. NO ONE makes pancakes like Gran and they are inhaled as fast as she turns them out.


She is loved by her family.



She is surrounded by a wonderful clan of friends.


Whatever she ever does, is done ONCE and done WELL ...(actually magnificently)

She consistently gives never expecting to receive.

She remembers everyone's birthdays and celebrates our achievements proudly.

We have been blessed that while living in NYC, Dad has made it possible for her to come every year to share in our experiences here, meet our friends and to just BE a mum and granny. No museums for this girl - take her to Super Stop n Shop, Costco, Woodbury Common, Quilt/Yarn Shops and she is one very very happy lady.....as Neil says a cheap date...But don't take her to the pumpkin farm in the fall because her hands will turn blue rendering her productivity at an all time low. Not good when dinner is required the same night.

I distinctly remember a significant bonding experience that Neil and Mum had when I was in hospital awaiting Max's arrival. He took her to Costco and then down to visit me. She proudly announced that they had spent only $600 and proceeded to show me Neil's new shoes amongst other things....the two of them were so genuinely excited at their "success", I didn't have the heart to to exclaim that in three years I had never had an achievement such as theirs!

So whether you are genetically related to her....a friend of many years or a friend of more recent years, you know that Karenne is someone you can always count on and will never let you down.

Happy Birthday Gran. We love you!

P.S. How's that Gran?

The day we said goodbye to Grammie

You know you are part of a family when you are included in one of life’s special moments.

Grammie was a fireman’s wife, a mother, a volunteer and a friend to many. She was my friend’s Mum.


As well as her formal protestant send off Grammie was given a wonderful blessing by the freemasons.

They lay these flowers at her graveside and explained the symbolism behind each color:

“Universally, blue denotes immortality, eternity, chastity, and fidelity. Pale or light blue in particular represents prudence and goodness. Blue is symbolic for the vault of heaven, which embraces and covers the globe, and this reminds us that in the breast of every one, love and friendship should be equally as extensive. Universally, red is the emblem of faith, fortitude and divine love. Green has always been regarded as the symbol of gladness and abundance. Yellow or gold symbolizes the sun and therefore constancy.”

I was touched by the meaning behind these flowers.

We sent pink balloons off to her and we celebrated her life with laughter and tears.



I love the rituals of life.
They keep us grounded.
They make us stop.
They allow us to breathe.
They keep us whole.