Day Ten: When in Florida, Visit Grandmas
Sunday, January 23, 2011 
The top comes down for the first timeToday is a family day.
I have a deadline. I need to make it to Fort Lauderdale in time for Shoshanna’s Bat Mitzvah. I don’t want to disappoint my family, especially my aunts Carolyn and Gail. For them, family and being together is the most important thing.
We hit the road at 8am. When we get to Okeechobee two hours later, I pull off of the Florida Turnpike to walk Lyla. It’s the first time I’ve been outside since leaving Gainesville. It’s a crisp 68. The top comes down. Lyla sticks her head out of the window and smells the air. As we pull back onto the highway, Play that Funky Music comes on the radio. The sun kisses my skin. I provoke Lyla to dance.
I pull into my grandma Maggie’s house in Lighthouse Point, about fifteen minutes north of Fort Lauderdale. I am going to leave Lyla here while I am at the Bat Mitzvah. It’s 
He was hollering at Lyla1:45pm so I don’t have much time. I rummage through my bag to find something appropriate to wear to an orthodox Bat Mitzvah. I find a long turquoise dress. With a sweater, this will do.
My Uncle Dick lives with my grandma. He understands that I need to go. I tell him I will be back to catch up more thoroughly after the party.
I plug the address of the synagogue into navigation and I hit the road. I ignore my car when it tells me I need to get gas. It tells me I have 64 miles of fuel left. I don’t like to let it get so low, but I don’t have time to fill it. The Bat Mitzvah is 23 miles away. I will fill it after.
I pull into the synagogue and my aunts and grandma Gloria are waiting for me outside. I just made it for the end of the party. I come in, say hi to everyone and Mazel Tov to Shoshanna and my cousin Seth, Shoshanna’s father.
Ronnie and Ellen at Shoshanna's Bat Mitzvah
After the party, I head back to Lighthouse Point. I am watching the Packers play the Bears and catching up with Uncle Dick and grandma Maggie. I ask about the internet. “We don’t have the internet,” Uncle Dick replies. “We’re behind the times, but Maggie is on facebook, aren’t you Maggie?” He turns to my grandma. She looks at him baffled. No response.
Uncle Dick has a cat name Tuxie. Lyla has never met a cat before and she is intrigued. Tuxie is terrified of Lyla. After the cat runs from her, Lyla begins an endless mission to find Tuxie. In my grandma’s room, Lyla is under the bed with her bum sticking up in the air. A dark black shadow is behind the window shade. Tuxie is hiding. This dog and cat chase goes on all day.
Me, Grandma Gloria, Carolyn and GailAfter meeting Carolyn, Gail and grandma Gloria for dinner, I come back to my grandma Maggie’s house and take Lyla for a walk around the neighborhood.
After wandering around for half an hour, its time to head back. I have no idea how to get home. All of the streets look the same. I am lost and I don’t have my phone to pull up a map. I try to retrace my steps but I just get more lost. I let Lyla lead the way, but she has no idea.
I notice the moon. It is very low on the horizon and its huge. Then I imagine how this neighborhood would look from an airplane; Carefully cut rows of houses with a maze of water flowing around the streets.
When I was a little girl, I rode my bike around this neighborhood many times. I knew these streets and the houses. As I walk around now, I don’t recognize any of the houses because they have all changed. Modest ranch houses were replaced with monster mansions that occupy entire plots. Many of the houses have "for sale" signs with real estate brokers' contact information in front of them. This neighborhood was surely hit by the boom in south Florida. My grandmother’s house is one of two on the street built before 1980.
At grandma Maggie's houseWe find our way home eventually and Lyla is ready for sleep. I am sitting in the living room catching up with Uncle Dick. Lyla makes her way into the room I put my stuff in. She knows that my stuff = where I sleep.
Thinking back on the past few days, I suddenly realize how deprived I've been of human interaction as I sat behind a desk for hours each day and only spoke with the people I worked with. Whatever I do next, I don’t want to be behind a computer all day.
Reader Comments (1)
Thanx for sending me your blog. After reading day 10 I had to go back and start at the beginning. Since I hear about you much more than I/we have gotten to see you for so many years, reading this was a real delight. You are one neat young woman!! Have a great trip and keep on blogging. I hope Mom came around and blessed your decision. I am sharing with the rest of my gang. Great to see u. Keep us posted.