Of Grandpas and Birthdays

I won't be blogging next week. Not just a little, but not at all. Why? A couple of things actually.

My wife and I will be in Laughlin for the weekend with friends as part of a season-ending celebration for our league. We'll spend a couple of nights at the Riverside, lighting money on fire and otherwise enjoying what Baby Vegas has to offer. We'll also likely shop a bit at the outlets on Casino Drive as our wardrobes could stand some supplementing. Sounds like fun, and it should be.

Later in the week comes the real party. My maternal grandfather celebrates his 94th birthday this week and as we've done for the last 5 years, as much of the family as can will meet in Pappy's favorite place for a few days of celebration.

My grandfather and his wife (not my grandmother; part of a really long, involved family history that while entertaining isn't really important to the post) moved to Kingman, Arizona in 1988. To hear them tell it they're not even sure how and why they ended up there. Prior to that they had been in Escondido, CA near my uncle and before that they had "retired" to Vegas; truly, my grandfather's favorite place on earth!.

Pappy gambles, and how! Ever since discovering the game of craps at the age of 15, he has loved the experience of playing the odds in a crowded casino. With Laughlin a short 30-minute drive from Kingman, it is no wonder that when asked for the first time about where he'd like to celebrate his birthday with family, there was no hesitation.

We've done this every year since 2001. While we sometimes must endure some of the same "family" stories from year-to-year, this is a gathering that I treasure and would not miss for the world. It's a first-hand-view of Americana; stories about Las Vegas in the '30s, stories about the building of Hoover dam, stories about LA's San Fernando Valley when it contained far more orange groves than houses and so on. Between my numerous aunts and uncles and my grandfather it's a living history lesson that covers the last century.