December 17, 2008. Chevy Chase, Md. Birthdays.

This is the week of Birthdays in my Brother's home. There are so many birthdays this week that I have trouble keeping track of who all have birthdays. I am sure I should know, but one thing I do know is that they all celebrate all together, which seems like a good idea to me. One year soon Ken and I will go up to Hamilton and celebrate with them. They are all good friends. I have always wondered how this happens, how in one family the birthdays are predominantly clustered around one week. My brother will be 77 this year and a very active 77 he is. Both David and Irene work out at the Y three times a month, and they walk several times through the week. They both keep thin. Trombone playing runs in our family. My Father was a good trombone player, but stopped playing when he was 50. In those years, almost everyone quit playing when they were "old". My nephews Norman and Ben both play trombone, in fact Ben played professionally for several years. My brother is still a good trombone player and I have listening him practice all my life. Now that he is retired, he plays in three different groups, and he practices most days. He thinks that he is playing as well as he ever has, although he does not play solo pieces, but he still enjoys playing the best music in the world. We wish all those birthday people in the Buckley Family a very Happy Birthday.

One Christmas of fifteen years ago, Ken and I and David drove up to Hamilton to spend the season with my Brother's family. Andrew was living in Japan, and he could not come home for Christmas, so we were all feeling a bit blue about it, so we headed north. Also David had been accepted at Skidmore College, as an earlier admission student, and he wanted to see the campus for the first time. We three had a wonderful time in Hamilton. We ate the whole time. Friends and relatives invited us over to see us and to visit, and of course every one served us a cup of tea and lots and lots of Christmas goodies. This happened every day the four days we were in Hamilton. We would devour all the goodies and drink the tea, then we would drive to the next relative or friend for another round of goodies. Boxing Day, Norman and Sara invited us over for tea, for a mid morning visit. Norm is my nephew. Now we had just spent three days eating, and we had just eaten breakfast, but when we arrived at Norm's, we all sat around the big dining room table and ate. One big tea pot was at each end of the table, and covering the table were all the cheeses and pates that Sara had brought home from her gourmet deli. It was wonderful, but we wondered how on earth we could eat so much food. It was a wonderful Christmas and we three still talk about the Christmas we ate all day long for four days straight!!

David caught a cold and on the way home and he was feeling miserable, but we still had to visit the college of his choice, Skidmore College. The weather was miserable, with snow everywhere and the temperature close to zero. David hated the place. He was confronted with the task of telling the college and his own school that he would not attend Skidmore. The College was gracious but unhappy, while the school was really upset. We all weather the storm. David decided that he was going to live in the south, perhaps south of Highway 10. And that he has done.