This site is dedicated to sharing memories of Mark Garvey, a man who touched all of our lives. Please post anecdotes or stories of how Mark has made an impact on your life. If you have any problem using the site or see something that needs to be removed or fixed, contact Ben Garvey.
Holidays and fun
I just read Kelly Q's post on the web site. It got me thinking...
Mark loved the Holidays (any Holiday at all!!) and couldn't wait to see what was going to happen. If nothing happened, he would invent something. He was always one to be cooking up some fun. One Thanksgiving he invented a game of throwing acorns into the top of our chiminea. It might sound tame but it was hilarious. There were style points, 3 pointer throwing areas, and rules were added as the game went on.
He was even known to make up a Holiday if he was in the mood. If anyone has a story about a picnic, gathering, or holiday happening, you can post it here.
I have a couple I'm thinking about posting.
One that comes to mind was the first "make up holiday" I remember him creating:::
" THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE SPRING DRINKING SEASON "
In the mean time - what do you remember??
Mark loved the Holidays (any Holiday at all!!) and couldn't wait to see what was going to happen. If nothing happened, he would invent something. He was always one to be cooking up some fun. One Thanksgiving he invented a game of throwing acorns into the top of our chiminea. It might sound tame but it was hilarious. There were style points, 3 pointer throwing areas, and rules were added as the game went on.
He was even known to make up a Holiday if he was in the mood. If anyone has a story about a picnic, gathering, or holiday happening, you can post it here.
I have a couple I'm thinking about posting.
One that comes to mind was the first "make up holiday" I remember him creating:::
" THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE SPRING DRINKING SEASON "
In the mean time - what do you remember??
I vididly remember years ago when you and Mark with the very young Ben, Jake, and Sarah in tow came to visit to celebrate a combination Easter and Passover holiday. I would venture to say that it was a one of a kind celebration that actually combined both a Passover seder and Easter egg hunt in the same day. Leave it to the Garveys and Jacobsons to think out of the box.
How about outside the lox?
The Passover visit was a lot of fun.
I love this! I think I have been celebrating the official opening of the spring drinking season unknowingly for years! No big surprise that Uncle Mark was originator!
Dad always made the Holidays even more enjoyable than they already were. One funny thing that sticks out in my head is when I was about 15 or so, we had been in our new house for a couple of years and I was openly fed up with our stupid microwave (it was straight out of 1970something, the kind that you had to close the latch, it could also be an oven... all I knew was that it always burnt my popcorn.) So that Christmas, somewhat as a joke, I asked for a microwave for Christmas. Well, a day or two before Christmas, Dad and Jake were at the store, ready to check out, when my Dad told Jake he'd be right back... and returned with a huge, awesome, kick-ass microwave. It was probably one of the coolest presents ever- I mean honestly, what 15 year old girl gets a microwave for Christmas?? I think secretly he was fed up with the burnt popcorn too ;)
I never heard that microwave story before, Sarah. That's incredible. Your Dad always did make holidays special. I was just thinking about that the other day. All my favorite holiday memories are from holidays we spent with you family.
Sometimes I think that Uncle Mark didn't even realize all the ways he made holidays special. The Easter Bunny never hid my basket better than when I was spending Easter at the Garveys. Somehow he knew there were gamers in the house, and that Uncle Mark made everything into a game. It was a blast. Mom and Aunt Rita would be enjoying their coffee and Easter baskets together in the kitchen, while Uncle Mark and the kids would be running around the house trying to find their Easter baskets. The object of the game: Don't Be The Last One To Find His/Her Easter Basket. Of course I always found everyone else's baskets before I found mine, so even if I was last, I had gotten to tease everyone else about knowing where their baskets were already. I do remember being Last one year. I was the only one still looking, and it seemed that the chorus of, "Mmmm, this chocolate bunny is Soooo good. Oh and have you had the jelly beans yet?" always got just a little louder as I'd make another pass by the kitchen. That year my basket was inside a shirt hanging in a large walk-through closet. Not walk-in, walk-through. It was shared by two bedrooms, so it was very deep. The shirt was in in the closet but tucked back between the double rows of hanging clothes. Amazing. I must have looked in that closet four times before finally having to go through each item in it to find the basket.
I feel like there is a made up holiday that I'm forgetting. It's like having a word stuck on the tip of your tongue, so frustrating! I'll have to settle for my favorite trivia question. I think I might have been the first victim of this question, I'm not sure: "Who holds the land-speed record for a mentrual cycle?" I love pulling that one out. Always good for a laugh.