What is that old saying, if I knew I was gonna live this long I'd have taken better care of my body?
The reason I say this I usually have a few BBQs a summer for family and freinds. Well my friend "Granny Trucker" (Ellen V.) has a 60th birthday party coming up Sunday. So I invited my family and a bunch of Facebook Friends over.
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Usually I try and do any BBQ up right! I just got back from Save A Lot with 7 bags of groceries (and am now broke, lol). Comes Thursday night and Friday Morning I start winding up "my machine" in the kitchen doing pre-cooking and making things I can stuff in the fridge until the day. Call it beating the heat so I don't have to stand all day over a hot BBQ machine (I don't take the heat and extended standing as well as when I ws younger).
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I guess the reason this BBQ is so important to me is the fact when I had my 60th birthday; I had none. I had just got back from Texas after a bad divorce, being homeless, unemployed and was either living on the streets or borrowing someones couch.
In the last 6 years "Granny" had become a widow, had some serious health issues, lost her job and was almsot homeless too. I remember things like that. A friend in the past had helped me in my "bad times" but when I tried to repay them they said don't worry about, PAY IT FORWARD! So for the last 3 years I've lent a helping hand to "Granny" and this 60th birthday party is kind of one more way I can pay it forward.
My kids and some friends will come together to make this birthday a day to remember and put some sunshine in her life. Therefore my labors of love, cooking, BBQing (lets not forget the "beer pong" (kids, lol), we shall par-tay on Sunday!
I'll do the cooking, skirting having a heat stroke; grinning all the way. Trust me, my kids already know I will have my "diggie cam" going to remember the day. It's nice to do things for friends.
It's not a "hand out" it's a HAND UP helping people. More people need to remember that, especially in these days over the last few years with the way the economy has been going.
HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY "Granny" and many more to come!
