Who could complain about the weather this summer? Beautiful blue skies, a hint of a breeze and bright sunshine. Hopefully fall will prove much of the same, although―Stop. Wait a minute. Just because it’s September, please don’t start speaking about the fall just yet. Let summer linger a few weeks more.
Still lingering on the Vineyard are Derrick Miller and family, son of former NBA star Vince Miller, a BFF of Walt Chamberlain back in the day. Derrick and crew are there to fish, and fish, and fish but also to attend Michigan State Spartans football reporter Brian Calloway’s two-day, 40-14 birthday bash; 40 because he is turning 40 and 14 because … Well, I don’t remember, but it has some significance to Brian, believe me. What I do remember is the party will start Saturday at South Beach and continue on until the break of dawn Monday morning. Hence, the dress code starts out as bikinis and Speedos and evolves into chic seaside attire. If you can’t make the party and love football, follow Brian on Facebook, Twitter and www.sportsmanias.com.
It is not all party, though, as condolences go out to Ralph Robinson, who lost his wife two months ago. Although he is still in mourning, he went to South Beach, the place she loved the best, to be close to friends and recount fond memories.
Hair Rules, an ethnic hair salon located on 8th Avenue between 54th and 55th streets, Manhattan, hosted a pop-up salon for four days on the Vineyard. And boy-oh-boy were all the women happy! And so were the men who look at them! Hair Rules features a cream-based cleaning shampoo that eliminates the suds, which do untold damage to hair that is already dry, over-treated and terribly over-colored. If only they would pop back up for the party.
Partying much closer to home was the West 118th Street Cultural Association, which hosted its 5th Annual Health Fair. Some of the local businesses supporting the fair that drew loads of people from the community were Best Yet Supermarket at 118th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard; C-Town on 116th Street; Fine Fair at 116th Street and Lenox Avenue; Harlem Tavern, whose owner just got married; and Stephina Bodega at 116th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. As you can tell, this community really supports its own, one block at a time.
Looking for a great read? Then you must run, not walk, to purchase of a copy of “Postcards From Cookie: A Memoir of Motherhood, Miracles and a Whole Lot of Mail,” by Caroline Clarke. This story is about adoption, eerie coincidences and finally, reuniting and reconciling between mother and daughter―a bond that was never broken, though stretched for 37 years. At age 37, Caroline Clarke discovers that her biological mother was Carole Cole, nicknamed Cookie, a daughter of the unforgettable singer, Nat King Cole. While Nat King Cole was a merry old soul, his wife Maria was perhaps not. Mother Cole forced Cookie, as Carole was known to family and friends, to move to the East Coast to live out her pregnancy at the Washington Square Home for Friendless Girls, so as not to “embarrass” the family. Nat King Cole was a Hollywood star and household name. How would it have looked to have a visibly pregnant, unmarried daughter, living at the family’s palatial Hollywood mansion? Maria wouldn’t hear of it!
Cookie pleaded to keep her baby, right up to minutes after her baby was born at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. In a twist of fate, as Cookie was giving birth, Nat King Cole was dying of lung cancer, and so she signed the adoption papers and flew back home to California to be by her father’s side.
The book is a nonstop read as Caroline recalls how she was adopted by Robert and Vera Clark and, as an only child, had a very happy childhood. Fate again stepped in during her undergraduate years at Smith College, when she became best friends with a young woman named Timoline Cole. Through the course of their friendship, Caroline learned that Timmie has a much older sister named Carol. Carol was an actress who had made several appearances on Sanford and Son and in movies such as “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three,” and she had also once given up a baby. I am not going to further reveal the story. I will leave you with bated breath and a need to find out what happens next, and how, if ever, mother and daughter finally meet. Well, of course they do, as we must believe in happy endings, mustn’t we?
Happy birthday Lennie Williams and Deloris Coombs as they kick off the month-long list of Virgos. Leading the pack is Shirley Scott, who will celebrate with a bash at Gran Piattro d’Oro Friday evening beginning at 6 p.m. Be there for the Bob Tate dinner special, which is always special. For me, it’s back to planning after-school and Saturday morning activities. We’ve bought the school supplies, as I refuse to get caught in Staples with lines wrapped around the display shelves at the last minute. Only thing left is the backpack and deciding who it will be this year, the Monster High Girls or something from the American Girl Store. How about whatever Target has on sale?
Until next week … kisses.