Ashleigh and her group, members of Bear Creek, on their last day in Colorado, July 28

I believe that we drove straight through on our way home and were comfortably back at my house on Sunday the 6th. Christi and Creed came over to visit us and our incredible tans that day. It was back to work on August 7.

Briana, me, and Creed on our first day back after Myrtle Beach. Note the ridiculous tan on Sunday, August 6.

Christi on the August 6 visit tries on a derby hat. Creed and I would get our chance in the photo at top.

On Saturday, August 12, we held our annual Sons of the Desert tent picnic at my Mom’s house. We had a great cookout and started our films outdoors at 9pm when the sun went down. This was the third and final picnic at my Mom’s house. The turnout was pretty good with the Sorkins, Rosenfelds, Jenny & Larry, Linda and Carolyn, my boss Sue and her husband Bruce, Bruce’s brother Les and his wife, Ron, my Dad, Aaron & Denise (who was bulging with a little boy inside her belly, who would be breaking forth a month later), and of course Mom & Bob all present. Conspicuously absent (at least from the photos) was George. Bob built one of hit patented bonfires to go along with food and film fun. Among the 16mm movies we featured that evening were Our Gang in Fly My Kite, and Laurel and Hardy in Perfect Day and Pardon Us. We would only hold two more meetings of our tent after this.

Tent members chat by the bonfire

Denise is clearly in her last stages of pregnancy as she looks into Ellen’s fire-eyes

Gene and Dad in some after-dinner conversation

Ron, Jenny, and Anita chat while they wait for the films to roll

Bruce and Sue get comfortable under the stars

Larry Smith, our Keeper of the Celluloid

Aaron entertains Irwin’s granddaughter while Irwin looks on

It seemed as though Ashleigh had been on almost constant vacation since early July, but she had one more to take: with her Mom, Nana, and Briana on a trip to Michigan. She was gone again from Saturday, August 25, through the following week.

Ashleigh, who had now had her license for nearly three months, drives Briana to Joy’s house on Friday, August 24

The next day Christi, Ash, and Briana are on their way to Michigan

While Ashleigh was gone, we celebrated my Dad’s 59th birthday two day early with a dinner at Red Lobster on Sunday, August 20th. Later that week, we had our very last co-manager outing on Wednesday, August 23 – an overnighter in a hotel with a Reds game the next day. I had a good time partying it up with the co’s, but the next morning after a quick breakfast, I reported to work instead of going to the Reds game. Since Sue was unavailable that day, I worked and got a bonus day off at another time.

My Dad wasn’t the only one to have a birthday in August. Bob was celebrating his 50th on August 28th. My Mom threw him a surprise birthday bash on Saturday, August 26. It was a great party that lasted pretty late into the evening. There were lots of friends and family bringing him gifts. I made him a set of 3 CD’s entitled “Bob Is Fifty” – featuring lots of his favorite rock songs, along with some recommendations from me. For the time being, I cannot locate photos from this suaree, although I’m certain some exist. When I come across them, I will add them in.

Labor Day was on September 4. I have no photos or record of what we did on this holiday, but I have a fleeting memory that Mom hosted this again – just a little over a week after the party for Bob. I also recall that this was the last of the Labor Day events that actually took place on Monday rather than the Sunday before.

I had been keeping so busy with my vacations, walking and dieting, soaking up the sun, and being with family that I was comfortably easing my way back into the single life – for the first time since 1994. I was also keeping in close touch with my friend Jimmy. We had decided to move forward with a Laurel & Hardy publication called The Wax Apple. We then decided to put the magazine on hold and start out with a website. We designed this together, but Jimmy was doing most of the leg-work and ‘tweaking’ of the site until it looked right. I began assembling articles for to put up once it went live. In the meantime, I asked Jimmy if he would set up a personal blog for me, so that I might have something to occupy my time and keep me from spending money on eBay and Half.com.

I chose the theme of the blog, and he helped me with some of the odds and ends in its design. I named it The Terrible Catsafterme. I made my first posting on September 13, 2006 – the same day my first nephew was born.

2006 will continue…

As our family wound down March, we had just gone through some very trying times which actually made us pull together somewhat. Ashleigh was involved in her Beaverettes heavily and Carolyn got the brunt of most of the taking to and picking up from practices, although I contributed whenever possible. Our perception of Ashleigh’s alleged bad behavior was somewhat improving as well. I had started to drop a few pounds for lent and was interested in getting in a bit better shape. We were doing some things together, hosting an “April Fools” Laurel and Hardy meeting at our house, and attending the showing of Annie Get Your Gun at La Comedia later in April.

On Saturday, April 8, Ashleigh and the Beaverettes team attended the state competition in Columbus. Denise went to watch some of her performances, and apparently Briana did too. Back in the Dayton area, I attended a surprise party thrown by my cousin Cathy for Diana & Tom’s 40th wedding anniversary and Diana’s 60th birthday. The actual anniversary date was April 16, while Diana’s birthday was on April 11. It was a great party, mostly held in Cathy’s basement. They grilled up some burgers and hot dogs and everyone brought a carry-in dish. The kids and some of the adults even participated in some karaoke singing. Not me though.

Briana on April 8, probably at Denise’s house getting ready to go the Ashleigh’s state competition

Denise at Ashleigh’s state competition in Columbus on April 8, which was also Denise’s 30th birthday

Creed in Ashleigh’s room on April 13

But somehow, while all of these things sound positive, we still ended up regressing back to our old ways. The silence between Carolyn and me was deafening. The tension was so thick in the house that neither of us wanted to be there and if we were, we didn’t want the other there. Small arguments spun wildly out of control. There was nothing healthy about our situation whatsoever.

I think deep down, it was because I knew that our life together was failing that I had better start making some other changes in my lifestyle. So after we spent that Easter at Carolyn’s sister Melanie’s house (on April 16), I started a real diet the next day. Just before Easter, Carolyn had left to stay at her sister Janette’s for a couple of weeks. This was only a trial separation. In the midst of her absence, I attended a welcome-home party for her brother-in-law Dustin, who had come back from the military. After the party I asked Carolyn to come home, but she wasn’t ready yet. I doubled up on my dieting efforts, eating an apple in the morning, a somewhat normal lunch with water, and only a can of tuna, or at times nothing at all for dinner. I would take an hour-long walk around the neighborhood pretty much everyday.

I’m not sure how much weight I actually lost because in the midst of all of this, I got a new digital scale that showed a different weight than the other. By the time Carolyn came back, I had dropped to 190, having lost at least 40 pounds, perhaps more.

Ashleigh on April 19

Tiny snoozes in Ashleigh’s room on April 19

I decided in mid-April to finally upgrade and get a new Dell computer and scanner, along with getting digital  phone, internet, and cable. I moved my computer work station from the spare room down to the dining room. Carolyn didn’t like it, but made no effort to stop me… because she knew what was coming. In the hours that I wasn’t walking, I spent time with the new computer scanning in old slides, playing with Jukebox feature that my co-worker Garry had loaded onto my PC, looking for songs on LimeWire, and creating CDs of all of the number one Billboard hits.

A bit out of sequence, this photo is actually from July 28, but shows the new computer setup

When Carolyn came back home, it was short-lived and after the first week or so, she slept in the guest room. Although she was still attending some of Ashleigh’s events and competitions, I think her breaking point came as a result of one of Ash’s practices. On Saturday, April 29,while I was at work. Ashleigh had neglected to tell her that she needed to be taken to school for practice. She thought that since she was irresponsible, she should miss the practice. I told her that she should take her. It wasn’t a matter of right and wrong; we just had different opinions. But after that day, she was done.

Ashleigh and her friend Hillary on April 26

We managed to live under the same roof for another month. She had her water aerobics in the evening. I walked and continued to lose weight.

It was clear that we were living separate lives on the weekend of May 13. The night before, she and Ashleigh went up to Columbus to stay the night with her sister Rosemarie and they had a family get-together the next day that was presumbably celebrating the May birthdays in her family (Kedric on the 4th, Brett on the 21st, Bretton on the 27th, and Emma’s on the 30th).

Ashleigh and Emma with Christy (Carolyn’s brother Michael’s girlfriend) in the background  taken on May 13 in Columbus

That same Saturday, I went to my Mom’s for a picnic and family reunion that centered around members of the Heywood family. Most if not all of my Mom’s siblings were there along with Grandpa Murphy. The Heywoods were the family of my Great Grandma Edith Heywood Murphy, my Grandpa Murphy’s Mom.  There had recently been a memorial service for Grandpa’s aunt Helen and some of the relatives had reunited. Helen was the wife of Ted, the brother of my Great Grandma Murphy.

Helen and Ted’s daughter Virginia, who was my Grandpa’s first cousin, came to the picnic. In addition to our own family, Virginia brought two or three of her daughters that included Marcia and Beverly, and perhaps Cynthia or Sharon – along with their families. These sisters would be the second cousin’s of the Murphy sibs, and their kids would be my third cousins.

Virginia and Grandpa are in the middle. Marcia and her husband are to the right of Grandpa. On the far left is Cindy.

Marcia and one of the family babies

Ash and her Mom on May 14

During one of these weeks we were at least getting along well enough to go to another one of our La Comedia shows that we had season passes for: A Chorus Line on May 17. We also saw the Beavercreek High School presentation of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I liked this one so well that I took the girls back to see it later on.

As May came to a close, so did we. On May 24, the same day that I found out my friend Jimmy had been diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer which appeared to be spreading, I was sitting at my new computer, scanning in old slides, when Carolyn told me that we needed to talk. It came as no surprise that she wanted a divorce or dissolution of our marriage. I nearly cried all night, thinking about what we had had, and what we had lost. This made opening a new store in St. Mary’s, Ohio the next morning quite unbearable.

She stayed around for a week or so as she packed up, but did not go to the Memorial Day picnic at Denise’s house. Hoping for a reconciliation, I didn’t tell anyone about this for two weeks. After she left, we exchanged several notes regarding the chance – or lack of one – of trying to work on our marriage any further. When it became fruitless, I sent notes to my parents, sister, and just a few select friends telling them that we were splitting up, and that at that point I had no desire to talk about it with anyone.

The week of June 11, Ashleigh went off to Youth Camp at Woodland Altars. Carolyn and I had naturally agreed on who would get what from our house, but I was somewhat taken aback when I came home from driving Ashleigh to camp and found all of our new purple furniture gone. I went to the Kroger Bag-Off at The Beach waterpark that Tuesday the 13th, downtrodden and disillusioned, even though Carolyn came and brought her nieces Alex and Madi. As I made my way out, I greeted my old co-worker Jamie Judge and her family who had come to the event to swim.

Ashleigh surrounded by her friends Jessica and Amy at Camp Woodland Altars on June 14, the day I started my vacation

The next day, I asked my boss if I could go ahead and take a mid-week to mid-week vacation to try and regroup. I did not want Ashleigh coming home to find no furniture in the house. My Mom and I went shopping at Value City and I purchased a large green sectional couch that filled my family room. The weekend after I returned to work, Ashleigh and I went to the Ascension festival on June 24. I recall that I was wearing one of my Styx t-shirts, size medium, that I hadn’t fit in since the early 1990′s. Most of Carolyn’s family was there and hadn’t seen me in a while. Jeanette remarked that I looked really good.

Ashleigh, Briana, and Creed on the new green couch – June 23. I always loved the expression on Creed’s face.

Briana leaping in my family room like an insane person

I believe it was on June 30 that Ashleigh was scheduled to work a booth in a festival with the Bear Creek Youth. The location was out beyond Brookville, so we swung by to see my Dad. He and Vicki were both surprised and shocked to see me as my weight had dropped to the low 180′s. I listened to my new iPod as I walked around the festival while Ashleigh worked. We rode a ride or two after her shift. I noticed at that time that I had completely morphed into a different person.

The new me in my office at work. If my planner is opened up to the current month, then this was taken in June 2006. The flower border is courtesy of co-worker Garry who took the photo.

I have discussed the occurances in my life and the physical changes I was going through, but what was going on inside my head was something new and revolutionary as well. It was a strange feeling of hopelessness combined with optimism. Although I had suffered a great loss and wouldn’t have cared if I had died at that very second, I also saw the world as something to conquer in the days that I had left. I saw time as being an hourglass with the sands gradually and irreversible running out. Other than raising Ashleigh, I didn’t have a care in the world. I could do whatever I wanted and there was nothing or no one to stop me. I had literally nothing to lose. And if my world did end unexpectedly, I wanted to be able to say that I had accomplished as much as I possibly could. It’s hard to describe the combined effect of depression and elation at the same time. But that’s what I had – and it has carried me through many years since then.

Mom had an Independence Day picnic at her place on Saturday, July 1st and we all returned to Carolyn’s work at Howell Rescue on the holiday itself to watch the fireworks under Delco park as we had the year before.

Just four days later, Ashleigh and I would be setting out on our road trip to the Sons of the Desert convention in Augusta. Carolyn had originally planned on going on this trip with us, but considering all that had happened, we had to get her registration fee refunded. This trip was the first one of my new life – and the first in a long succession of trips where I would be grabbing every ounce of excitement out of life that I could…snapping lots of pictures along the way.

2006 will continue on our trip to Georgia (which was in fact my 2nd posting ever created for the Terrible Catsafterme)…

Carolyn and I began 2006 harmlessly enough. Ashleigh had gone with Billy & Jill and Briana to Naples, Florida immediately following Christmas, and so the two of us spent New Years Eve alone at home, engorging ourselves with a gargantuan variety of junk food snacks. I was at the heaviest I had ever been at this point, weighing in at about 240 pounds. Although Carolyn and I had been struggling with our marriage, we put much of our quarreling on hold during the holidays, but resumed with our marriage counselor Steven early in the year. We had decided to switch from Liz, whom Carolyn felt wasn’t making any progress with us.

January 21. In the midst of our misery, Tiny was enjoying herself and this rose on Ashleigh’s bed.

The New Years day gathering was at Darlene’s house. This was only memorable in retrospect because it was really the last time that I ever saw my Grandma Murphy. Two weeks later, she went into the hospital for surgery on a cracked ball joint in her hip. It was repaired, but the cement used in the procedure got into her bloodstream and sent her into a coma. After a few days in the hospital, it became apparent that she was not going to recover. Initially, I had decided that I didn’t want to see her in the hospital like this, but eventually decided to see her, which immediately caused me to burst into tears. Our family then had to make the toughest decision of our lives to remove the oxygen that was allowing her to breathe.

Her breathing tubes were removed on the morning of Thursday, January 18, 2006. Many members of the family gathered to be with her in her final moments. I held her hand as she passed away. Unfortunately Bev couldn’t be there because she was up in Bowling Greene where Karen had just given birth to Abigail Elizabeth on January 12.

There were three interesting things that happened to me that morning that gave me some faith in her after-life. The first was that I randomly opened the Bible that morning to search for a random passage of comfort and came  directly to this passage from Psalm 24: Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart. If there is such a thing as a saint, my Grandma Murphy was one.

We ate at Wendy’s that morning on the way to the hospital and it occurred to me that this would be the last meal that I have while my Grandma was still among us. As I pulled into the parking garage at Kettering Hospital, I curiously noted the last music that I would hear while she was still alive – the song City Soleil by the Afghan Whigs. Before I shut off the engine, they belted out the lyrics: Ooh child, I’ll meet you child, on the sunny side. It’s alright.

The third thing to happen had more to do with my mental state than any other outside factor. I had been a basket case all morning and in fact the days preceding this moment, but as she lay there in the bed, dying before my eyes, I was overtaken by a tremendous sense of calm that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Grandma’s viewing was on Sunday, January 22, at the Newcomer-Farley funeral home. Many family members gathered whom I hadn’t seen in quite a while. Grandpa’s brother Duane, Mom’s cousin Bobbie, Jim’s ex-wife Becky and her daughter Megan, and Frank and Mary Rosati stand out as faces I enjoyed seeing again. Over the weekend I had written something that occurred to me after Grandma’s passing and I gave it to my Mom at the viewing. You can see what I wrote here.  

Memorial card from Grandma’s funeral service

The funeral was held on Monday the 23rd at the Church of the Ascension where she and Grandpa attended. Carolyn bought me a suit jacket to wear and my boss Sue came to show support from work. It was a nice service and we followed it up with a family gathering at Fricker’s. Ashleigh had her camera but only took the one picture and video seen below, both featuring 15-month old Tori. As a result of her interest in the bubbles, Dan and Natalie went home and bought her more bubbles.

Briana and Tori at the lunch at Fricker’s after the funeral

Tori and I enjoy the bubbles

That night as Carolyn and I hit the sack, she got a phone call that her Grandpa Raymond O’Connor had been taken to the hospital and was not doing well. We got out of bed and headed there immediately, where we joined his other family members. Janette sang to him to comfort him. He passed away the next morning. On Friday, January 27, we were back at Ascension for another funeral. And as death usually comes in threes, her Grandpa’s cousin Nedra, whom Carolyn was realtively close to, passed away shortly thereafter.

During the week of the funerals, our cat Baby had apparently eating something toxic - which we assumed was a Peace Lily in our living room  - and was deathly ill. She had developed sores in her mouth and couldn’t eat, couldn’t clean herself, and was in constant pain. We had to administer oral injections of medicine into her mouth, which obviously wasn’t a pleasant experience. (The photo at the top shows Baby when she was sick). Also during that week, I had discovered a deep, dry gash on the Tiny’s back. Again, I have no idea what caused this, but it appears she had roamed into a tight spot and had scraped her back against a nail. She had to be stitched up at the vet. Once the dust had settled, I got a speeding ticket on Beaver Valley Road whilst picking up Ashleigh from one of her Beaverettes practices in February.

Tiny with stitches on February 6th

Ashleigh finds beauty in our own front yard on February 6th

We did have one nice diversion on Friday evening, February 10, the day after Mom’s birthday. We had a nice dinner at Jay’s in Dayton and we were also joined by Aaron’s immediate family. The birthday itself was somewhat overshadowed by Denise’s announcement that she and Aaron were expecting their first baby in September.

Briana, Mom, Denise, Barbara, Melissa, Jenny, Jason, Joe, Maura, Micah, Aaron, Bob, and just a smidgeon of Carolyn at the dinner table at Jay’s

Ashleigh and her friends Hillary and Jessica at a Beaverettes competition on Sunday, February 12

A few other enjoyable aspects of this time period included the La Comedia show Smoke on the Mountain on February 15, which was one of the most enjoyable that I had ever seen. We also saw the Beavercreek High School drama club put on the play The Desperate Hours. The Laurel and Hardy tent meeting was held on February 4th at the home at home of Charles Sexton. And Carolyn hosted a couple of dinner/movie parties at our house. On one occasion we had her sister Melanie, Brett, and Brennan over for dinner. There was also a family gathering at Marion’s on Sunday, February 19, likely for Charles’ birthday which had been on the 13th.

Emma and Ashleigh at Marion’s

Brittney with Karen’s new baby Abby at Marion’s

Carolyn and I had pulled together during the bad times we were facing. In fact at our counseling sections, we ended up talking more about our squabbles with other family members at the time. But soon it was back to reality and our problems. We could not agree on how best to raise Ashleigh as she went through her teenage years. She was a good kid, but was prone to getting in some trouble with friends, doing things like sneaking out or sneaking boys in. We continued with our marriage counseling, but our attention was once again diverted with a medical emergency on Saturday, February 25th.

We were enjoying our first night with some friends that Carolyn had just made at the water aerobics class she was teaching at the YMCA, playing games at one of their houses when we got a call from Christi that Ashleigh, while at a Beaverettes competition, had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance with severe stomach pains. This turned out to be her appendix and she had to have it removed at Children’s Hospital. This was her second stay at Children’s in two years. She stayed overnight and had her surgery on Sunday the 26th. Seeing your baby girl lying in hospital bed for two days, about to undergo surgery, is not a pleasant sight. Paying off the ridiculous bills was almost as unpleasant.

Jamey and Asheligh at the fateful competition on Saturday

Post-surgery on Sunday

Ashleigh and her new monkey, a gift she got while in the hospital

Back at home, Tiny cuddles with Ashleigh’s new gifts – the Fluffy Lion and Curious Joe Ridge – on our living room sofa

The beginning of Lent was on March 1st, and being miserable in almost every aspect of life, I decided to begin to try to drop some pounds. I gave up soda and sweets for the duration of the two months pre-Easter. This helped me to drop about 10-15 pounds, before the real diet would begin.

Fire-eyes Tiny on March 3rd

Creed and Ash on March 16th

No one can say that Carolyn and I didn’t try to mend our differences. We pulled together during these emergencies. We tried to do things together, attending Ashleigh’s events, even volunteering at the concession stand on March 4 at an all-day jazz festival, and participating in helping during the Invitational that was hosted by the Beaverettes at the high school. We were just never able to make much sense out of the advice we were given by our counselor and our disagreements over Ashleigh’s behavior and responsibilities were eroding our chances.

We’d do well at hosting a nice party for Ashleigh’s 16th birthday, but after that, we’d only last a couple more months.

2006 will continue…

P.S. If you think Carolyn and I were the only ones fighting during this time period, check out the two bonus videos below…

Something happened to this photo, our only proof of the Sons of the Desert snowman that we built that winter

But for these problems, I seemed extremely jovial – and fat – for the Christmas gathering at our house on Christmas Eve. I know this because Carolyn used our video recorder to tape a good portion of the evening centering  around the gift opening. From the video, I can tell what many of the gifts included, which I never would have known otherwise.

Before the holiday actually arrived, I was busy at home in my basement putting up autographed photos on the walls. Carolyn had recently painted it red and the collection of primarily black and white photos contrasted nicely with the walls. The intention was to cover the entire basement, but I only finished two walls and five years later, that is still all that is complete. I bought $1 black frames from Dollar Generals around the Dayton and Cincinnati areas, stopping often as I did holiday visits to many of my stores.

Speaking of work, we had a few Christmas gatherings of our own. I actually opted to skip the division party this year, but our operations department had a nice gathering at a fancy restaurant called the White House on Tuesday, December 13. The next week, we had another dinner at TGI Fridays, where we invited former members of our department on December 20.

My cousin Rob and his wife Amber also returned home from Germany (where Rob was stationed before going to Iraq) before the holidays and Bill & Dottie hosted a nice gathering for them at their apartment clubhouse. Carolyn & I would also go out to dinner with them at the Olive Garden and then come back to my house to watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Christmas Eve fell on a Saturday this year, so I was off work once again. The gathering took place at our home and and we had a packed house. In addition to Carolyn, Ashleigh, and me, we had Mom & Bob, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa Murphy, Bill & Dottie, Denise & Aaron, Arline, and Briana. Arline came sporting a black eye from some surgery she had had. Naturally, I gave everyone a tour of the basement I had been working hard to make fascinating.

Ashleigh, Denise, and Briana are nearly swallowed up by the array of gifts

Bill and Dad in the basement, amidst my new autograph decor

Ash and Briana looking prettied up for Christmas

We had a great dinner which probably included the standard ham and turkey sandwiches, potatoes, green beans, and dessert fare – plus the spinach dip appetizer. We arranged the couches and chairs in somewhat of a circle formation, in the areas that the ridiculous amount of gifts didn’t consume. As we ate, the calming music of Vince Guaraldi played on the stereo. After we finished the meal, Ashleigh and Briana began to dispense the gifts. Mostly out of earshot, different music was playing upstairs in the computer/massage room.

Bob and Aaron are waiting for the word go

Ashleigh and Denise join Grandma and Grandpa in the kitchen

Carolyn sleeps through her meal

Dad and Mom chat in the kitchen. Apparently the chairs were too good for them.

Aaron and Briana are two happy souls

Bill, Dottie, and Arline enjoy the pull-up coffee table

Ashleigh and Briana have finished their meal and are calmly waiting to begin tearing into the gifts

There was a good reason for all of this noise. As I said, Carolyn and I were getting along pretty well for the holiday, but there was one point that we were not in agreement about: one of Ashleigh’s gifts. Since the Fall, she had been asking for a kitten. I was not adverse to the idea, but Carolyn wholeheartedly did not want another cat. But since, I felt as if Ashleigh was going through a lot and felt depressed much of the time, I figured I’d go ahead and do it anyway.

Picking out the kitten at SICSA was a story in itself, and so was the hiding of her, and the concealing her constant mewing on Christmas Eve night – which explains the music emanating from everywhere in the house. You can read more about this kitten – who was eventually named Clementine, and almost immediately shortened to Tiny – here.

From the video and some scant remembrances, I could tell that I got the following things: From Grandma & Grandpa – Esther Price candy. From Bill & Dottie: gift card to Red Lobster (“for the seafood lover in us”). From Dad: Leaver It To Beaver Season 1 DVD, Rio Bravo DVD, From Mom: Portable DVD player, purple beach painting, Friends art print and frame. From Denise: dress shirt, Paul McCartney Chaos and Creation in the Backyard CD. From Arline: the world’s worst bird coffee mug. From Carolyn: Of Mice and Magic book, The Disney Films book, poster frame. And I’m not sure who got me what of these, but I received the four Disney Treasure sets of that year – Disney Treasures, The Chronological Donald Volume Two, The Adventures of Spin and Marty, and Elfego Baca and The Swamp Fox. And someone got me sweat pants.

Denise struggles to get through this impenetrable wrapping paper

Briana shows off her new sweater. Ashleigh is casual.

Ashleigh had originally gotten the film Identity for me, but I ruined it when I picked it up myself before Christmas. She then got me Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and I joked to her when I opened it that I had already bought that one as well.

It was hard to see what everyone else got because Carolyn was filming right behind me, but I saw that I got Denise a season of Friends, and an I Love Lucy book (she acted like Mom for a second and said she ‘didn’t know’ if she already had that one). I gave Briana several DVDs that included Honeymoon in Vegas, Titanic, Funny Farm, and Spaceballs. Ashleigh got a new coat (from either Mom or Carolyn), a Friends book, and of course the kitten. Arline and the grandparents got a cookie tin from us. My Mom gave Aaron and table top beer keg, which he appeared to love. Not sure what I gave my Mom or Dad or even Carolyn.

I tried to get Carolyn to open her gifts, pulling a ‘Mom’ myself, by asking her “Do you want to take a break so you can open up some pictures?” Other than that, I was in a silly mood, overusing the word ‘fantastic’ over the course of the gift unwrapping. One of her gifts from me was a season ticket to all of the upcoming La Comedia shows in 2006.

The reveal of Tiny didn’t come until the end of the gift opening, at which time I asked Ashleigh and Briana to gather on the loveseat and surround themselves with their gifts. I then came up behind her and told her that she had ‘forgotten one’. Carolyn meant to record this, but unfortunately the camera accidentally remained on pause.

Ashleigh and Briana fawn over the new kitten, amidst their other  gifts

Mom purposely ruins this photo with her hand in Ashleigh’s mouth

Tiny, was of course, the center of attention after she made her appearance. Baby didn’t like her so well though, especially after Tiny tried to touch Baby’s nose with her paw. Carolyn was more concerned with how Baby was reacting, although she seemed to warm up quick to Tiny. We took turns operating the camera for a while, following Tiny around as she explored the basement. Ashleigh was concerned that Tiny would get bigger over the next week, at which time she would be in Florida with Briana. After Christmas they would depart on their own, fly to Naples, and meet up with Billy and Jill.

Eventually Briana commandeered the camera and filmed Tiny, then Denise, then Aaron. She commented that “Aaron’s a little calm tonight. I think he can’t wait to get home and try his new beer gizmo.” She went on to say, “And now we’re going back downstairs to see the action of the two cats: Clementine vs. Baby. Da da dum.”

Grandma and Grandpa relax after the gift opening

Bill, Dottie, Arline, and Grandma compose themselves after the melee

Christi came over to pick up the girls, bringing adorable 4-year-old Creed along with her. He opened a couple of gifts from us that included a xylophone and a toy helicopter. He referred to himself as Bubby, his nickname, making sure that the gifts were ‘Bubby’s’.

Creed aka Bubby shows up to claim his gifts

The only photo me from Christmas Eve was me with Grandpa and Grandma as they were heading out. My last picture with Grandma.

After the Christmas parties were over, Tiny becomes the apple of my eye

Irresistible

Baby is not sure about the new intruder

Unfortunately, I cannot be anywhere near as detailed about Christmas day itself, except to note that we went to Carolyn’s Mom’s house in the morning -as tradition dictated. No doubt we had the standard biscuits and gravy for breakfast and broccoli soup and cheese bread for lunch. All of Carolyn’s grandparents, parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, and sometimes aunts, uncles, and cousins (in this case, Jackie was there for sure) would pile into the living room for an afternoon of fun and camaraderie.

Christmas Day with the Gelm girls. Standing: Carolyn’s sister Rosemarie, sister-in-law Susan, sister Janette, cousin Jackie. Kneeling: her future sister-in-law Christy, her, and sister Mel.

Carolyn apparently gave up on this photo

Christy and Carolyn remain…and get funky…after the photo is done

Late that afternoon, we headed over to my Mom’s house for the Murphy Christmas gathering. Again I must mention that this was the last Christmas that we got to share with Grandma Murphy. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to track down any photos of this gathering, save the two below. Diana supplied these and says that the group photos was the last photo taken of Grandma. This was also the last year that we held our gift exchange whereby we would draw names from a hit to see who we were buying for, a practice we had been doing for as long as I can remember – at least as far back as the early 1980′s. After this, we would begin the White Elephant gift exchange only.

14-month old Tori checks out Mom’s Christmas tree

Christmas day at Mom’s house. Ed, Bev, Mom, Grandpa, Tom, and Grandma

And last but not least, I must note that this was the last pre-website Christmas that didn’t get the minute-by-minute details of successive Christmases beginning in 2006. This one just has to remain part of the memory landscape.

We will continue into 2006…

Although no roles either before or after Willy Wonka really lived up to this memorable role, she did have a recurring role in Dark Shadows, joined the cast of the Electric Company, and played Peter Brady’s girlfriend Pamela in an episode of The Brady Bunch. She was considered for the leading role in The Exorcist, but her parents pulled her out of contention due to the film’s subject matter.

Although her character was addicted to gum, the real Denise Nickerson wasn’t as addicted to money. Of all of the celebs at the Chicago show, she was the best deal. For $20, she was offering a signed photo, a signed golden ticket, and a picture with her. But the real kicker was that when I asked her handler how much it would be for her to sign my photo from Willy Wonka that  I had already gotten signed by her TV Dad Leonard Stone, she responded “I’ll sign it for free.” Okay, that’s just unheard of in today’s world of collector shows.

Of course, knowing how kind she must be, I took full advantage by having her pose for a picture with my sister Denise (as seen here). I was so impressed with her generosity that I forgot to tell her: “Violet, you’re wearing violet, Violet.” Kindhearted or not, I’m thinking she probably still wouldn’t have found it funny.

Celebs of the Fall 2010 Chicago collector show will continue…