jawnbc | Atlantic City trip

One of those great times, when it is apparent during the moment that the moment is incredible.

8 hours sleep out of 36. 10 hours of flying to get there, plus 6 hours local transport time from Rockaway to Atlantic City. While there were ratty moments, for the most part everyone's best shone through. But let me start before it starts.

Last month Nanny went into hospital, the day after I'd visited her. Apparent heart attack, but not a heart attack in turns out--she was over-medicated on sleeping pills. My brother Tommy went to visit her, and promised he'd "take her in a limo to Atlantic City for her 100th birthday." She's 96. He goes home, and mentions this offer to his wife Theresa.

"You're an idiot" she says.
"Waddya mean?"
"TAKE. HER. NOW!!!!!!"

A pause. "Oh. Yeah." So Tommy gets Nanny to pick a date, invites Ma and Da, and decides to rent a bigger vehicle and make it An Official Egan Family Function. He figures out who's coming, ensures a couple of spaces for surprise show-ups, and organizes it all. My sister Kathi mentions this to me on the phone last week, and I think "Hmmmm." Within hours I've booked a ticket on points, forward my details to Tommy and re-arrange my work schedule.

I arrived at JFK at 22h50, and quickly shifted and shimmied my way to the front of the queue--first off AC 320 to make it curbside. As is family tradition, the pick-up was stuffed, but Tommy and I arranged to rendez-vous at the Jamaica (Queens, not Caribbean) Long Island RailRoad station. I jumped on the 23h59 and we arrived in Massapequa Park around 00h35. I was hungry, we were both wired (big day tomorrow) so we repaired to a genuine NY dinah. A cheeseburger deluxe later and we arrived chez lui around 01h30. Bed by 02h00.

Awake at 06h00, and the stretch....Hummer arrived. About 15m long, white with blue neon lighting inside. Hello hugs to Theresa (she was asleep when we arrived) then goodbyes to 2 of 3 nieces, then we were off at 06h15. Picked up Kathi in Long Beach around 07h00, then Ma and Da on 127th Street in Rockaway--sorry Belle Harbor--around 07h30. Everyone one else was to be chez Nanny/Brenda/Ethna for 08h00. All but 3 were, but it takes a while to load folks with mobility issues (one amputee, 3 others with diabetes-related pain and numbness problems, a 96 year old person) into a Hummer. On the road by 08h15, though I was pretty stoopid/tired at that point. Atlantic City (vai Brooklyn and Staten Island) ho!

The trip down was fun and uneventful. We made one pit stop at a Garden State Parkway rest area, and while it took a while to get some of the less mobile back in the Hummer, we arrived in AC for 11h00. While the immobile were demobilizing, Nanny and Ma "went to the bathroom upstairs." When they'd not re-appeared in 10 minutes I asked if there were slot machines on the 2nd floor. "Yeah." OK, no point in waiting then, so we scattered. Tommy and Da went to another casino to play cards (Taj Mahal, we arrived at Sands)--until recently Da spent his time in AC watching over Ma and Nanny, so Tommy made sure he didn't have to do it this time. I wandered around upstairs, crossing paths with Nanny, Ma, the various Aunts and Kathi.

The perkiness of both Nanny and Ma was incredible, and a joy to behold. This trip was a great thing for both of them. Already.

Kathi and wandered out for a lunch break, and strolled up to the Boardwalk. AC has this general cloudy/fuzzy energy over it--methinks too much negative, desperate energy from folks gambling money they don't have in the hopes of never having to worry about money again. I needed some air, both from the cigarette smoke (the main casino was worse) and the malhumour of the dragonladyslotqueens. We ended up in the Taj, didn't see anyone else en route, and had a great talk about Kath's future work and educational goals. She's gearing up to go back and get her BA--rock on Kath-a-leen-a! Oh, and I got a kewl pair of sunglasses for a buck. Mmmm, retail therapy. Then back to the Sands for the rest of the afternoon.

Ma and Nanny were still having a grand time. None of us are big gamblers, save Aunt Ethna: we do quarter or nickel slots. My biggest bet of the day was a dollar I think. As fate would have it Brenda--my Aunt who has Down's Syndrome and whom no one expected to live past her teens (she's now 51 or 52 I think--bet 75 cents and won $475.00. The big winner of the trip. Since one of her hobbies is being a magpie (ooh, that looks nice I think I"ll take it), my reaction was "restitution for crimes committed." I'm all about victims rights you know. Half the family seemed to appreciate this clever, quick analysis. The other half looked at me like I was the Divil Incarnate. Ah bejaysus! She kept the money.

By 4pm I was confident that this would probably be my only trip to AC ever--I enjoy slots for an hour on a cruise ship, but 5 or10 hours of it???--and was counting down til the Closing Ceremonies, also known as the dinner buffet. $15.00 all-you-can-scarf/shovel/masticate, and there was serious trough action happening. Not us of course, no that would crass and rude and we're...oh right. Yeah, some of us were shovelling. What-evah. Eating wasn't at issue--getting the crew organized and into the resto was when it got a bit ugly. Frequent gamblers earn comps for things like hotel rooms and buffets and so sorting out who paid, where they paid, why did you pay--I have a comp??? Several opted out of the buffet entirely, including Ma. She's clever, I should follow her lead more often. At one point the spectre of my diabetic relatives scarfing down plateloads of carbs and sugary desserts lowered my guard and I blurted out "how's your blood sugar (diabetic) Dad?" as he shuffled towards things sucré. "Oh I don't even test it anymore. Oh.

The Hummer was scheduled to depart at 18h30, but I convinced Tommy to tell everyone 18h15, leaving plenty of time for a group photo. 5 cameras, 3 shots each, all at the pace of someone who obviously got paid by the hour, and we were ready to roll. Aunt Ethna insisted on getting in first, even though she's the least mobile--and then she plotzes right in the chair by the door. Meh. Next come 2 of her almost equally immobile sisters (Brenda and Una), who plotzed not too far from Ethna. For a moment it seemed it was all gonna unravel, but calmer heads did prevail. Ethna did get a bit snarky with Ma, and I half expected Ma to shove one of her empty oxygen tanks up Ethna's arse, but no. At our end of the Hummer were The Young People: me, Kathi, Tommy, Theresa, Michelle, Jimmy, Desi and Patty. Brenda was in the middle--she naturally seeks the centre of attention, like all of us Egans. But really she is da bomb. At the far end were Nanny, Ethna, Eileen and Ma. The rest were in between.

Brenda often takes on celebrity personalities, and for the ride home we experienced the song stylings of Patsy Cline and "Beretta Lynn," the coal miner's daughter. She'd start the song, invariably off-key and with the wrong words (or just gibberish), but when we joined in she snapped right into the melody and lyrics. So we sang for most of the drive home: old pop songs, old Irish songs. Nanny's almost entirely deaf, but she clearly heard her family singing together, and grinned the whole way. Ma couldn't sing too much, but mouthed along and was thrilled. When someone (except Brenda) got the words wrong, we were merciless. When someone surprised everyone by getting the 3rd or 5th or 12th verse bang-on, we cheered.

Before we knew it we were back in Rockaway, dropping off the bulk of our posse at Nanny's. "I'll see you at Christmas John" Nanny cheerfully said when I kissed her goodbye: in the last couple of years, she cried when I said goodbye, suspecting it might be the last time we see each other. Then Ma, Da and I got out at their place, and said goodbye to Tom, Theresa and Kathi. Ma and I chatted as she got ready for bed, and she was glowing with excitement. "This was a great day, and you all will remember it for a long time."

Yeah. We will. It was a gift, Nanny and Ma both resurrected, most probably briefly I'll take it.

Thank you Tommy and Theresa...

[More photos can be found here.]