i am trying to write as quickly as possible from my hotel room in port huron michigan.

not because i am short of time, but because i fear that if my fingers do not move briskly, i might lose circulation in my digits and acquire frostbite. it is very cold in port huron. to be fair, toronto was just as cold.

let’s see…i left thursday, and the next morning i was up early, moving magazines from coffee tops, moving chairs from the dining room tables, lifting rented flatware and china to the dining room, and making  appetisers for the party. then anne (who shall get her own special blog post very soon) came to collect me and we went to get stockings, and to see if doug’s present had come in for him.

charles and i had made doug a hardcover coffee table album  filled with photos of him over the past 80 years. because of delays waiting for photos to come in, we hadn’t been able to order the book when we wanted to, and had to go with the most expensive option, having it overnight shipped for $70. as of the day of the party, the book hadn’t arrived…tick tock! anne and i were worried! as well, i learned the morning before i flew out that the party was formal…i don’t have a lot of winter formal outfits! (at left the cover of the book that we finally picked up at the 11th hour in markham.)

that afternoon i also had to make another appetiser and a salad for the party, so there wasn’t a lot of time to accomplish all that i needed to. but amen, we had the book, and the second priority was the food, which got done, and then i got very hungry so we had lunch at this funky little place on bayview called riz (owned by the same people who own lemongrass down the road), and some stockings. but still, what to wear? there wasn’t enough time to buy something, so i borrowed an amazing dress of anne’s… pictures to follow.

i got back to doug’s at 4.30… the party started at 6pm… and forget hair and makeup, there were more salads that needed to be made, things that needed chopping, lots that needed to be done. for the next hour or so i worked away, and at 15 to six i went upstairs to change and was actually able to give magnificent charles a smooch! yes, he was in town! looking so handsome!

doug was very gracious, greeting his guests and making sure we were getting them drinks, and he was clearly in his element as everyone was thrilled to celebrate with him. there were a lot of people i would have liked to have talked to more, but the kids were the caterers, circulating, removing plates, getting more drinks, clearing up rubbish, fetching, all night long. at one point we ran out of drink, and poor charles had to run out in a building snow storm to buy 8 more bottles of white and i think 2 more bottles of red. penny’s girls, thank goodness they’re responsible because they got ice cream (for the cake) and extra ginger ale and were also so helpful. (with about 40 – 50 people at the party, half were family and half sailing friends – the two groups of people near and dear to charles’ dad. here is an extended family picture representing both charles’ mom [who passed away in 2002] & dad sides of the family and three generations.)

the party ended at around 11.30pm, after a few speeches, a song, a poem, but it didn’t become a roast, like those events so often become.

and then the serious cleaning started. the jetlag was serious, but seriously, could you have gone upstairs to bed knowing that two people (doug was not cleaning up thankfully) were cleaning up from an entire party all by themselves??? sorry, not me. so after a few more pics i changed into jammies. penny had a post mortem with her dad and they chatted and carolyn, charles and i cleaned. folded card tables, chairs, put dishes back in boxes, removed napkins from rooms, cleared, removed bottles from downstairs to upstairs, covered the cake and put it in the freezer, took the chicken pot pies and put them in the freezers. (at left charles with his dad, and sisters carolyn [l] and penny [r].)

(have to say, it was like a late night dinner after the prom, everyone in their finery, tucking into hot, comforting chicken pot pie, green (or spinach) salad, the last few drops of champagne, and cake and ice cream.)

at around 2am the only thing left to do was the dishes, and those could wait until morning. i was so tired. i slept for 3 hrs when charles left for the airprt to fly back to hk.

doug had a great night.