This is a very belated post. But the birthday was right on time!
On June 30th, Alex and I helped Mama McLynn celebrate her birthday. (I won't tell you which birthday, not because she is in any way resistant to people knowing her age, but because she looks young enough to be my sister, which means I can get away with telling people that I am in my 20's. Late 20's. Veeeeeeery late 20's.) Mama had never before been to Las Vegas, but after seeing a mailer that I received offering some free tix to see Celine Dion in Sin City on her birthay, Mama felt it was about time she ventured to the desert to party.
And boy, does that woman know how to party!! She was there for less than 48 hours, and we covered the town. Walked all over the Strip, headed downtown to see a little seediness (and witness rock bands, both rad and sad), ate at a couple of NYC restaurants that are tough to get into in NYC (Rao's and The Homestead), hung out with Caesar and Cleopatra in the Diamond Lounge, saw Celine from KILLER SEATS (thank you, Alex, for working your magic), ate coconut gelato and chocolate-covered strawberries while sipping champagne, rode the roller coaster at New York New York (as soon as she saw it, she said "I have to ride it!" though it had been decades since her last ride on a coaster--she challenged the quivering 40-something in line behind us who wondered if he was too old to ride by telling him her age and saying "If I can do it..."), had photos with a questionable Elmo, imbibed at the sports book at Wynn, lounged in jacuzzi tubs. Phew! And the cherry on top was watching the Bellagio water show as June 30th turned to July 1st (which meant Mama had only hours left till hopping her plane back to Jersey to party with the rest of the family and BOTH GRANDDAUGHTERS). What a way to celebrate!
I have learned much from my mom over the years, and the newest lesson: LIVE!!! Enjoy every second of every day, and don't ever let your age determine what you can and cannot do. Hell, my grandmother was 80 when she went to Vegas for the first time. And she loved it!! I've got good genes.
