The Condo BBQ

The summer residents of our condo complex had an impromptu post-4th of July get-together last night. Well, it was sort of impromptu. Actually on the real 4th of July my husband Buddy was outside grilling some chicken when one of the neighbors cruised by and jokingly said "what time is dinner?" My husband made some casual remark that it was too bad we hadn't planned a little party among the few residents left here for the summer. Oh well, too late now. After which he jokingly said, "Let's just celebrate the 7th of July instead." Ha ha. To which the neighbor replied, "The 7th. What's that, Saturday? Okay!" Ha ha. And he drove off.

So yesterday morning the phone rang and it was the neighbor. The very same one. Now he's one of the few original owners in the complex and he's kind of the go-to guy for little repairs and various other favors anyone might ask. Not that it's his responsibility, he's just a good neighbor, and he gets things done. So he said, "5 o' clock barbeque at the clubhouse. Tonight. I've got hamburgs, hot dogs, there'll be a pan of beans and some pasta salad and chips. Okay?" Buddy said "Okay!" And of course, yesterday was indeed the 7th of July. I guess there was no "ha ha" for neighbor Curt.

There are only 44 units in our Florida complex and during the summer most of them are vacant because the snow bird owners have gone North. There are only about 10 units left occupied, so it was easy to call the remaining few and get the party together. It was a good turnout - 18 people - and a great time. The burgers were grilled perfectly, and there were TWO pans of baked beans, plus a three bean salad so of course there were a few jokes that after all these beans, there would be some "entertainment" later on. (If this goes over your head, then you're probably way more refined than the rest of us.) Among the merry bunch was our 92 year old neighbor, Marguerite, who I have mentioned before. She's not only the resident "cookie lady", she also tells great stories, and remembers every detail. Some stories are poems she has memorized, but more often than not, the stories are real. You know, things that have happened to her. We all know she goes to "the center" (the Senior Center) every day and that she takes cookies to share, and that she takes a turn on the dance floor when her arthritic legs allow. She loves to talk about "the center" and its cast of characters, so we weren't surprised when she loudly started to tell a little story about it yesterday. It went like this:

"I was at the center the other day and I was settin' there listening to the band and watching everybody dancing when a fella I know real well came over to ask me to dance. So he stood there in front of me and said, 'Well Marguerite, how are your knees today?' And I answered him, 'Well Bert, if you were as stiff as my knees, we could have a lot of fun.!'"

WELL, Buddy just about choked on his hamburger, and our other table mate, a nurse friend of ours, almost spewed her three bean salad. She got so red in the face I thought she was going to pass out she was laughing so hard. Several others at nearby tables heard the story too and I thought there'd be no recovering. And Marguerite sat there grinning away looking like the cat that ate the canary. She got us, but good.

Well after that there was watermelon and ice cream with strawberries and of course Marguerite's cookies, but that's all just a blur. Marguerite's punch line echoed in all our heads for the rest of the day. In fact later on last night while Buddy and I were watching a movie, which was not a comedy, I started to laugh all over again.

Marguerite will soon be moving to an assisted living community, and that's a good thing for her. She wants to do it, so it's not a sad thing, at least not for her. But what are we going to do without her? At 92 she's still the life of the party, and her cookies will be missed too. But we're already planning on visiting her there. I can't wait to find out what kind of stories she'll have about this whole new cast of characters. I just hope they're ready.