Josephine turns 59 - again!

With a short 4 day trip to West Palm Beach from March 2nd to March 5th, Rob and I didn't want to waste any time. So, right after we landed at the Palm Beach International Airport at 6:09 pm, we headed straight to Cardello's Itialian Restaurant to have dinner with my Mom (Josephine), sister (Donna), and her husband (Eric), their daughter Tracy, Tracy's husband (Jay) and their two daughters Mariel and Ava.

Josephine's 60th birthday brunch. . . I mean 59th birthday (again) brunch. My brother, Thomas, was also able to take some time off from work and fly down from Hudson, NY for Mom's birthday celebration. The weather was quite warm and humid. But it made for a perfect time to spend outside enjoying mom's backyard garden. Some of the tomatoes are already ready to be harvested and it's only March!

Rob, Thomas and I went to the Lake Worth Beach for a walk along the beach and a very quick dip in the ocean. We saw a lot of these Man-O-War jellyfish washed up on shore and were very careful to avoid contact with their stingers.

Mom deals with the abundance of family and friends calling to wish her a happy birthday as we get ready to sing "Happy Birthday" at home.

Chuck (Josephine's husband of 8 years), Rob, myself, Thomas and Josephine getting ready to enjoy some birthday cake. Chuck was feeling quite ill in this photo as he had been battling with primary cancers of the colon, liver and lung as well as ephysema and congestive heart failure. A couple of weeks after we left West Palm Beach, he was placed in the Veteran's Hospital with pneumonia and then transferred to Hospice on Saturday the 15th. Sadly, he died this past Monday the 17th of March. Rob and I were thankful to have made this trip out to visit with Josephine and Chuck when we did.