Further Congratulations

Sunday, May 29, 2011
In which congratulations are given to Ben-Hur…

At church, Linnea-Irish and Cherry Pie had returned with the Ryes from North Carolina, watching Baby Hesed for the week, and climbing a fifty-foot rock wall.
“I died once,” said Cherry.
“I died once too,” said Linnea.
Baby Hesed, who was not feeling well, was happy to see Puck again, and reached out a finger to try to touch him. It was a little game.

With homemade lasagna for lunch…
They discussed Grandma’s ashes being one day placed underneath a floor tile at Gus’ Pretzel Parlor. This was always a subject of interest. And Rose once again mentioned that she wanted her cremated remains to be put into a diamond.
“And it’s going to be a yellow one,” she said.
That, or allowing herself to rigamortis into an Hallowe’en-worthy contortion.
And dessert: chocolate chip cookies, without baking soda. Sometimes the Snicketts girls got a little absent-minded when it came to baking…

Come afternoon…
It was the last chance to say goodbye to Ben-Hur, before he left for Albuquerque for the summer, and then to Stanford for his Masters. They would likely not see him again until Christmas. That was the way of it.
Mollie was there when they arrived, (who would be leaving for six months of missionary school in Costa Rica in September), and not long later the Popples girls, who were in town for the weekend. And before they left, Sinai and Rosie and the Toasts also arrived. And Ben-Hur looked well, considering his recent surgery following his bicycle crash.
Meanwhile, around salads, dips, sandwiches, cookies, etc., Puck was busy handing out drinks to the guests and playing frisbee and matchbox cars with the other kids he had just met. He made himself right at home, as usual.

For the evening, Mom, Rose, Cherry, Eleda, and Linnea visited Shakespeare on the Green: The Taming of the Shrew.
And OLeif, Collette, and Puck joined the rest of the Silverspoons for The Princess and the Frog, while Puck sat on Izzy’s shoulders on the couch, and dropped Oreo crumbs into his hair. He took a similar ride on Kitty’s shoulders after the movie, and with always the inevitable Minecraft. Izzy left shortly later for another graduation party. And Kitts and Curly encouraged OLeif to grow out his beard.
“Long enough so you can braid it,” said Kitts.
“And then let Magnus paint a portrait of you on marble,” Curly added.
Meanwhile, Puck was bundled into a t-shirt and piles of pillow, blankets, and stuffed animals for the night.
“He brushes his teeth better than any of you all did,” said Gloria.
There were immediate protests.
“But I didn’t have any cavities!” Kitts exclaimed.
“Neither did I!” OLeif declared.
They high-fived.
This was followed by Theodore, Gloria, the boys, and Kitts sitting on the deck with cigars well into the evening hours.