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Two weekends ago, on Sunday, April 21, 2002,
a bunch of Big
Bear Buds gathered together for a prelude celebration of Linda's
surprise birthday party.
Of course, Linda didn't
have the slightest clue that it was
a prelude to today's festivities. Earlier, it was her idea to cheerily invite us all over
for lunch after we'd run into each other on our dog walk around North Estates.
On their walk...
Top: Bob, Linda, Sue and Steve
Bottom: Riley, Sugar, Chloe and Bear
Sweetheart Bob amiably went along with Linda's idea, knowing full well
we'd be seeing them again in two weeks, but Sue and Steve would be
missing from today's party. Unfortunately, they'd already made previous
plans to be at their Nāpili condo on Maui when the invitation arrived.
Sue and Steve are Bob's and
Linda's best Big Bear Buds. They spent three weeks together in July,
2002, in France, taking in "lots of history, lots of good food, and
lots of great wine."
So, at their Big Bear cabin
in the Moonridge area, we basked in the late spring sunshine on their expansive deck with a view of the
Bear Mountain ski slopes
to the left and the lake on the right.
Without Linda even knowing
it, we were celebrating her birthday ahead of time with mile-high sandwiches,
fresh salads, chips, a relish plate, and a fresh fruit torte and fine wine, enjoying each other's
company as we caught up on our busy lives.
There was even a birthday
cake that was home-baked by Sue and Chloe, a grandmother-and-granddaughter duo,
who cleverly disguised it as a plain white cake. Little did Linda know
that it was a harbinger -- a prelude -- of things to come.
As we waved goodbye to Bob
and Linda, we winked conspiratorially to Bob, while exhorting Linda, "Don't be
a stranger," knowing full well we'd be
seeing her in two weeks.
Ahh, what a sneaky bunch of
conspirators we are. Not a one spilled the party beans... and
Linda had no way of knowing that we were purposefully snapping photos to bring to
today's
party for her memory scrapbook.
"Birthdays
are good for you.
Statistics show that the people who have
the most live the longest."
~ Reverend Larry Lorenzoni
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