Tuesday, November 1, 1977

Papa (1937)
Psalm 5
Day 21

Got up medium. Dressed. Gave Pop his presents. He loved them. T+Pop went to Harlem. Me and Mom went to shop. Mr. Berry is gone. Started to cook. I made over 20 crepe. T+Pop came back. Watched TV. Ate supper. Put on pj's. Aunt Sinah came. Going to bed. Thank you, Mr. O.

Thirty years ago today, Poppy turned 40. He was still "Papa" then. It's the Diva that renamed him, and she didn't come along for another 10 years or so.

It's kind of strange when you think about it; Poppy was still younger back then, than I am today. But I still feel young... I haven't had half the experiences my parents had, haven't been half the places.

Today in 2007 ,Poppy turned 70. It's pretty amazing, because neither of his parents, or Aunt Sinah, lived past 64. His Nana Jessie, though, she lived to be 92, so I guess he took after her.

Poppy still goes to dialysis three times a week... has been going to dialysis for about 8 years. His stats are good. He's survived bladder cancer and several nasty staph infections. We almost lost him when they found the cancer. I was 7 months pregnant and I begged him to fight, not to give up. Cuz I told him I had no idea what was going to happen with the Sun's dad, and my kid would need a positive male in his life. I'm happy that Poppy fought.

Sometimes I worry about him... but always his mental state rather than his physical. Sometimes I worry that he thinks we could go on without him, but we couldn't just yet. He often says that Bigbear is the straw that stirs the drink, and she is... but he is the backbone of this operation.

Someone died in the chair next to him at the dialysis clinic the other day. He said he heard a muffled groan and the machine started beeping, and the nurses ran over and pounded on the guys chest and they took him away but that no one seemed optimistic. They were worried that Poppy was shaken, but in fact, it sort of kick-started him again...

The Sun and I went over there to the parent's apartment to sing "Happy Birthday". The Professor and MoodmagicBarbie, PerpetualMotion and the Diva (and the Diva's beau) were all there, too. Bigbear made curried chicken and green bananas and rice, and everybody ate... even my picky-ass Sun. Even the TinyOne (yet another name for PerpetualMotion). Then we sang over Mallomars... we'll have a small party on the weekend for Poppy and TinyOne. So today, we just ate Mallomars.

Happy Birthday, Poppy!

Comments

Job said…
happy birthday Poppy!!!! 70 is a milestone! May you have many, many more!
The Bear Maiden said…
I'll tell him my XPMs send him regards :)

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