As we always go to Jazz fest in Montego Bay every year, my brother Bernie's family (wife Judi, kids Stephanie and Whitney and son-in -law Sean) organised to throw him a 70th birthday party to celebrate the event that had taken place in December and honour him for being a great husband and dad.
They had been planning it for around five months and the wonder is he never suspected a thing until they hit him with the news on Sunday morning as he was preparing to depart to the airport.
What a bangerang!
First he was adamant that he had to go back to North Carolina as he had deliveries to do. But wife Judy informed him that arrangements had been made for two other doctors to do his deliveries.
Then he insisted that he could not stay another day as his office had to be opened but again she countered that it would, as all was arranged with the staff.
Then he insisted that he could only travel on a Sunday (lol) and it was too late to change his flight. That had already been done he discovered.
Still in disbelief, he declared that we must all have the party and enjoy ourselves as the driver was on the way to take him to the airport, only to hear that the driver would not be coming until Monday!
Only then did it seem to start dawning on him that there was indeed a party and they were not jiving him. That entire process took some 30 minutes!
So now he wanted to know where the food and liquor was.
You see he thought it was going to be at the house but in fact a huge tent had been set up closer to the beach but he did not know it was for him. He had seen it the day before but had been told by someone that a wedding was being held there.
Then it was finally time to get him down to the venue which was easy as he had been told they wanted a family photo by the beach.
Getting into the mood finally and being an ardent fan of Fab 5, Jamaica's best dance band, on the way down he commented that when he returned home he would select some of their cd's. Imagine his shock when he reached the tent, saw some of
his friends already gathered there and Fab 5 on the bandstand!
He became more and more amazed as the moments slipped by he realised that most of his
friends from Cornwall College and Howard University were all there .
Fab 5 was absolutely wonderful and Gem Myers who sang with them was just amazing.
She should have been the one to sing at Jazz Fest instead of the imported Maria Carey who was a flop. I hear it looked like she is losing her voice as every-time she had to take a challenging note, she would start talking to the audience. As a result of her lousy performance, many persons missed Morgan Heritage who came on after her and who I hear was really good but people just could not sit through Maria Carey to wait to hear them.
I had not gone on the Friday night for it was raining all day and breezy to boot so I was not about to sit in the cold to hear her or anyone else. Great decision it turns out as I stayed home with Michelle Wright and Delroy came around and entertained us. I did go on Saturday night though and Charlie Wilson was absolutely awesome and Peter Cetera really good. We left after the Pointer sisters had done about three songs but I hear we left too early for they really turned out to be quite good.
Anyway back to the party.
The entire function was seamless, the food great, the liquor plentiful and everyone had a wonderful time thanks to Judi and the kids.
Bernie was absolutely overwhelmed too as his friend Dr. Mulvaney (Jerry) who we all know as a keen photographer who is always moving around with his camera and equipment, joined the band and did a special number for him.
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| Getting ready to head to the airport |
What a bangerang!
First he was adamant that he had to go back to North Carolina as he had deliveries to do. But wife Judy informed him that arrangements had been made for two other doctors to do his deliveries.
Then he insisted that he could not stay another day as his office had to be opened but again she countered that it would, as all was arranged with the staff.
Then he insisted that he could only travel on a Sunday (lol) and it was too late to change his flight. That had already been done he discovered.
Still in disbelief, he declared that we must all have the party and enjoy ourselves as the driver was on the way to take him to the airport, only to hear that the driver would not be coming until Monday!
Only then did it seem to start dawning on him that there was indeed a party and they were not jiving him. That entire process took some 30 minutes!
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| Convincing the guest of honour to attend the party! |
You see he thought it was going to be at the house but in fact a huge tent had been set up closer to the beach but he did not know it was for him. He had seen it the day before but had been told by someone that a wedding was being held there.
Then it was finally time to get him down to the venue which was easy as he had been told they wanted a family photo by the beach.
Getting into the mood finally and being an ardent fan of Fab 5, Jamaica's best dance band, on the way down he commented that when he returned home he would select some of their cd's. Imagine his shock when he reached the tent, saw some of
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| He had to stop to take it all in when he saw his friends already there |
He became more and more amazed as the moments slipped by he realised that most of his
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| The "old boys" gather around the honouree |
Fab 5 was absolutely wonderful and Gem Myers who sang with them was just amazing.
She should have been the one to sing at Jazz Fest instead of the imported Maria Carey who was a flop. I hear it looked like she is losing her voice as every-time she had to take a challenging note, she would start talking to the audience. As a result of her lousy performance, many persons missed Morgan Heritage who came on after her and who I hear was really good but people just could not sit through Maria Carey to wait to hear them.
I had not gone on the Friday night for it was raining all day and breezy to boot so I was not about to sit in the cold to hear her or anyone else. Great decision it turns out as I stayed home with Michelle Wright and Delroy came around and entertained us. I did go on Saturday night though and Charlie Wilson was absolutely awesome and Peter Cetera really good. We left after the Pointer sisters had done about three songs but I hear we left too early for they really turned out to be quite good.
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| Songbird Gem Myers with Fab 5 |
The entire function was seamless, the food great, the liquor plentiful and everyone had a wonderful time thanks to Judi and the kids.
Bernie was absolutely overwhelmed too as his friend Dr. Mulvaney (Jerry) who we all know as a keen photographer who is always moving around with his camera and equipment, joined the band and did a special number for him.
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| Jerry has a great voice I had no idea Jerry had such a lovely voice although I did know he had a band in North Carolina.
What amazes me even now is how Bernie never had a clue that something was afoot even when my daughter Michele, my daughter in law Michelle Wright and cousin Barry all came from abroad and were gathered in the same place for a couple of days for the first time in our lifetime.
Anyway, he was pleasantly surprised, overwhelmed and had a great time as did everyone else.
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I am posting these comments for Barry who had a difficulty accessing the comment section.
ReplyDeleteI had tears of joys while reading this and can imagine each of those wonderful surprises unfolding to Bernie. This will be yet another thrilling memory for the rest of his life. Barry