OMG — My Precious Baby Girl Has Grown Up !!

Another of those memorable milestones in your life… on December 23^rd, 2010, our youngest daughter (who prefers to remain nameless in cyberspace) turned 21. Yup. With complete disregard for all of my better wishes, my little baby girl had the audacity to reach the age of majority and there was nothing I could do but celebrate with her.
The celebration included a roll-playing “mystery evening” which kept “Tiny Bubbles”, “Ralph Rottingrape”, “Marilyn Merlot ”, “Otto Von Schnapps”, “Papa Vito” and “Hedy Shablee” all guessing for the entire evening — part of which included a sumptuous dinner (menu) that was so creatively beyond Pomegranate-inspired. On the left check out my daughter's radiant face as she prepares to blow out the candles on her 21^st birthday cake. Last but not least, and keeping to a longstanding family tradition… we had snow on my daughter's birthday, as we do every year — even during the years we lived in the South.
Just like we did for Jillian Gaye (except that I couldn't find the invitation)… we had a "Bonding Celebration" for our new baby girl in our home and invited all of our extended family to come and "bless" us all — very much like many people do in a Church and call it a Christening. In addition to all the blessings, we invited each person to bring something suitable for her that we would keep in a time capsule and present to her on her 21^st birthday …

… And even though it seems like a miracle to me, that 21st birthday did indeed arrive, and if you click the "Play" Icon in the YouTube player on the right, you can watch the first few minutes of my daughter opening her time capsule. The box contained all sorts of memorabilia from people in our extended family — typically little items that were very significant to the giver, accompanied by a hand-written letter from that person to be read 21 years hence — such as Aunt Nanci's letter and European puzzle ring. In way too many cases, these letters were written by loved ones who are no longer with us, making them all the more priceless. OTOH, if you are reading this… chances are that you put something into that box. Do you remember what it was?

What an amazing trip down memory lane it has been going back thru this album of pictures (or Flickr slide show) where you'll see amazing 21-year old pictures of many (but unfortunately not all) people in my extended family — my sister Nanci and Art Phelan + their kids: Aaron, Miranda, and Amber; my Mom (Jean Audrey Pammett) and Lynn's Dad (Ian Alexander) and sister (Heather); Roy and Dale; and the newborn's big sister Jillian Gaye — all taken during the actual day of our last "Bonding Celebration" — Sunday, March 4^th, 1990.