Celebrations

My how the time flies in this world of "retirement." Life continues to move at a rapid pace with yet a somewhat busy calendar along the way. But that calendar has included some wonderful times of celebrations over this last month.

Me, Sisters Catherine, Janie and Bernadette - Daddy and Brothers Donnie and Bill

Jonathan, Luisa, Granny Moody and Eddy

We had three fun-filled (and I might add, food-filled) baby showers for the Cabrera and Moody families (and extended family and friends) honoring Jonathan and Luisa and the upcoming arrival of our little Sofia. There is nothing like family time and I enjoyed seeing so many of Luisa's family members from Guatemala and others from out of town, especially her siblings and their families. I'm including a family photo of Luisa's family (below) and also one of me and my siblings/Daddy as well as three generations of Moodys. Other photos can be found here (two different albums - Cabrera family shower here and the Moody/Schober party here). Thanks also to Mrs. Lucrecia DuBois and her daughters for hosting a very relaxed and enjoyable shower for Luisa as well. Lots of pix shown as a slideshow here. We are so blessed and I can't wait to meet my first granddaughter somewhere on or about June 12th.

Dr. and Mrs. Cabrera, Jonathan/Luisa, Allison/Juan/Diego, Sarah/Martin, Jose/Susie and Lucas Cabrera

Proud Mom Catherine and Bert

I just returned from a memorable trip to New York City where I witnessed the graduation of my nephew, Bert Forsythe. Bert attended Boston University for his first year of law school but decided to transfer to New York University and finished there. The graduation was held at the Beacon Theatre and I think there were nearly 500 graduates! It was a beautiful theatre and after we dined on some great New York pizza and calzone, Bert took us on a tour of his school in the "village." Although it was very rainy during our first three days there, we finally got to see the sun (and a little more warmth) and "did New York." That included going to the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center), walking down Fifth Avenue, eating at a very fancy restaurant in the Trump Hotel, strolling through Times Square (well, actually, trying to get through the massive crowds!), taking in a Broadway show (Chicago), and walking through Central Park to name a few. I suppose my highlight of the trip (outside of Bert's graduation) was attending Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral which was just a walk away from our hotel. Despite the scaffolding inside and outside the church toward the multi-million dollar renovations, it was still a very moving experience. It was a special time altogether and I enjoyed spending time with my sister, Catherine, over those few days. I will publish pix of this trip soon.

On May 12, my oldest son Matt and his beautiful wife Sarah celebrated their first wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's been a year! We saved a bottle of wine from their wedding festivities and visited with them in their home to toast to many more years of wedded bliss. It's wonderful to see my children so happy and I am very gratified that two of them have found their soul mates for life.

More celebrations to come.....

As you may recall, we had an unfortunate shooting incident across the street at the pastor's house. At that time I vowed to organize a block party so that we as neighbors could get together to get more acquainted with each other and to put this incident behind us. So we are having that block party next week. And Jim 'n Nicks in Gardendale has been kind enough to facilitate food for our gathering. Invitations are out and I'm excited to meet and learn more about the community of family around us here at Moody Manor!

I look forward also to three additional celebrations at St. Patrick's.

• Our young adults will be receiving the sacrament of Confirmation today inferred by Bishop Robert Baker.
• The even younger children will be receiving their First Communion in a couple of weeks.
• And, Father Vernon Huguley will be celebrating 20 years as a priest with a large party in our Family Life Center at church.

A Special Celebration

Celebrations are special and I'm glad that this post includes so many of those. There is one more celebration that I have just now decided to share with you. And that was an amazing party last October in Perdido Beach to "Celebrate Doris." This is a night that I will never forget when co-workers, customers, family, friends and even non-customers of SCHOOLinSITES came together to celebrate my upcoming retirement. I was both shocked and humbled as the evening went on. You can re-live that moment with me in this photo album. A special thanks to Shannon Whitt and Jim Cox and their peeps for organizing this event and for keeping such a huge secret. Thanks to my family and friends for taking time out of their busy schedules to be with me on this special night. And I will always be grateful for the support of Gabi Constantine and his family for finding the perfect time to make this happen, and for funding the most phenomenal retirement celebration I could have ever imagined.

Even in times of sadness and despair, we can still hope to experience cause for celebration. I came across this video of a gal named Amy reuniting with her dog, Bambi in Oklahoma. It literally made me cry. Just goes to show you that with a little effort and hope, reunions can happen. And what a celebration! (Video courtesy of CBS News.)



So I suppose my next post will most likely be the announcement of our new addition. Stay tuned.....