The Piano vs. The Thunderstorm
As usual, Collette had forgotten that it was Super Bowl Sunday, mostly, this time, because they were celebrating Dad’s 50th birthday two days early, and because they were attending Annamaria’s senior piano recital that afternoon.
Around the lunch table, they brought out the ice cream cake. Rose and Frances had driven up to Dairy Queen after church to order a special cake which read:
“Happy Birthday Dad!”
This was accompanied with a chunky candle shaped into a question mark. Dad thought this was rather amusing.
“So, Dad,” Joe said, “time for remembering stories. What was it like, again, that one time you were being chased by the dinosaur?”
“Yeah, Dad, tell us how you invented fire,” said Carrie.
Dad’s smile lines began to show.
“What I really want to know, Dad,” Joe laughed, “was what inspired you to create the wheel.”
“Yeah, Dad,” Carrie grinned. “how to God really create the world?”
Dad laughed.
Not long later, Mom took off to help Mrs. English decorate for Annamaria’s reception. Collette, Carrie-Bri, Rose and Linnea cleaned the kitchen. Not longer, they also took off for the church. Just as she began the ominous Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”, the rain began to fall and thunder cracked in the distance. Perfect background. It was a good performance. Diana had put it well:
“Man, she’s as cool as a cucumber up there.”
The English family and Mrs. South, in particular, were very proud. Annamaria received a large bundle of yellow roses from Mrs. South and an also-large bundle of pink roses from her family. The reception followed with all kinds of good cookies and lemonade. Puck made his usual rounds among everyone, including Diana.
“Does it feel good having a kid that you can discipline?” Diana laughed, almost maniacally, as she held the beaming chubby. “What power! Ha ha! That’s why I’m not married with kids yet.”
In other news of the weekend, Joe had built four bikes on his first day of work. The Super Bowl was being played between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. As usual, Collette never thought about who she hoped would win until about half way through the game. OLeif naturally decided that he would route for whoever won. Collette thought there was something too pompous about the name “Giants”, although it seemed like the Patriots had been in the Super Bowl too many times. Maybe it was someone else’s turn to win. And the Patriots had beaten the Rams in the 2002 Super Bowl. That cinched it for Collette, and she decided to not route for the Patriots.
In the end, the Giants took it, and Collette was happy.