Company Visits!

Today would have been me and Bill's 62nd anniversary.

Bill and I met for the first time July 3rd, 1964 at the Westbury Bar in Philadelphia, PA.

Forty-nine years later on this day, we were married on the exact day of our meeting which just happened to be the first day same sex marriage was allowed in Delaware.

Me and Bill and Jack and Judy at our wedding July 3, 2013

My good friends Jack and Judy were our witnesses. I've known Judy since high school, we graduated together. They were in town to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary. Jack and Judy used to live here in Delaware for many years. A few years ago they decided to move back to Pennsylvania, where we are all from, to be closer to their children. They have seven children and multiple grandchildren. Judy had asked if she and Jack could stop by for a visit before they checked into their two week rental in nearby Lewes, where they used to live. When I was building Casa Tipton-Kelly twenty years ago, Jack and Judy let me stay at their home in Lewes while they spent the winter months at their home in Florida.

Now their children are scattered across the United States. From Boston to Los Angeles. The next two weeks is to be a gathering of their extended family. The video at the beginning of this post is of their daughter and son who arrived from Boston. I was gathering them for a group family photo. You know me and photos. I love to take photos and videos.

Their visit on this sweltering heat (99 degrees 110 degrees heat index with the humidity) was two fold. First to visit me and secondly because they needed a place to stay until they could check in to their house rentals later today.

I have to say this is the most guests I've ever had at Casa Tipton-Kelly. Bill and I were very private people and I continue to be private. Same with Pat. Today's visit was quite a departure for me. While I enjoyed seeing Jack and Judy again, and meeting some of their children for the first time, the whole experience left me a little discombobulated. That's not a bad thing, just something I'm not used to. From asking them all to remove their shoes before setting foot into Casa Tipton-Kelly to taking her children on a tour, something I'm not used to doing and I doubt if I ever will again in this lifetime. Bill and I used to joke about our home in Pennsylvania, that when we moved that beautiful home would probably be the site of many a family gathering and parties galore.

All told, today's visit was very nice. We all went to lunch at the Zava Cafe in nearby Milton. 

I preferred going to one of our many fine Mexican restaurants (any excuse for me to get a frozen Margarita on a hot day like today) but the patriarch of the clan doesn't like Mexican food. Zava Cafe was fine. Also, since I was one of the drivers (I drove Judy in my new car, "The Princess") I could only have an iced tea.

So that was my day. How was yours?