Retirement Luncheon

Anna’s retirement luncheon was yesterday at the Olive Garden. About 40 people came. Most of the people were from her previous work places, within the Defense Contracts complex. And also our immediate family.

People kept coming in that I haven’t seen in years. I told Anna, “all these people look older than the last time I saw them.”

One of the ladies that came was D. D. worked with Anna when she first started. Back then D. drove a VW Bug, named something, and a Boston bulldog named Dixie. D. worked with Anna and in the evenings she and I carpooled to college.

Once we skipped class and went to her apartment complex where a beer party was going on. I met D’s friend, an ex-nun, who was talented in guzzling beer. She had some profound statements to make about this and that and I fooled her in thinking I was a profound thinker myself…. You don’t have to be smart to be profound, yuk yuk.

This past year D. went out west to see her family and somehow got caught up in a flashflood. She had to be rescued from the top of her car.

Yesterday when I tried to talk to her I could tell she had no idea what I was saying. When we carpooled she had a hearing aid…. Now, she has implants and can’t hear a sound…. I even tried to communicate mime style only for her to try to keep from giggling. However, Anna did a good job communicating with her because she used her mouth and lips to deeply pronounce words…. Since I mostly mumble I was lost.

It was enjoyable watching people – like two men there, I knew did not get along at all. You would think they were the best of buddies.

Another lady was the wife of Anna’s ex-boss. I met her at a DoD work related seminar in Jacksonville. At one time we worked at the same post office and we both had the same type of arm injury. We both had our rotator cuff jerked out of the socket. We both remembered and compared our present pains. We both can’t sleep through the night.

One single male retiree is a staunch Democrat and his ex-coworker is a single female retiree staunched Republican. We get emails from both of them forwarding their point of views. It was good to see that face to face they just kidded each other for the party each belonged to and not the point they wanted to make.

I got to match faces with many of the names I have heard about in the past couple of years. I think I pretty much guessed who was who before being introduced.

Anna's mother Marie came. Marie worked in the same DoD office Anna started, only Marie retired several years before. Several of the older heads who worked with Anna also worked with Marie - so, in a way it was a homecoming for her.

The food was good, or pretty good, and the company was good. I think they gave Anna a nice send-off.

Overall, I think people came to see each other. Anna was the focal point. They hugged her and/or gave her a card then started mingling with their old or current co-workers.

Funerals sometime serve the same purpose.

As far as Anna’s work – she is OUTTA THERE!