THE BIG EVENT

 Saturday, April 6, 2024

The big day had arrived.

Toshi got home in time to change his clothes and help load the car with everything we needed to take to the church by ten a.m.

We had gone with a surfer theme. Our goddaughter, Tracy, had created the invitations, and her mother, Pat, created all the table decorations.

There were two cakes—one chocolate and one vanilla. Woodies and vans were in evidence.

Heather Taylor arrived shortly after we did. She created a photo booth with an ocean background that looked a lot like Doheny. She had also brought a printer, and her son, Eric, made prints for everyone who wanted them. (These were the “party favors” for our guests.)

Our caterer (Chef Freddie) arrived with his team to finish preparation of the lunch. And Pat and Bruce brought the centerpieces and helped arrange everything. (The church sexton had set up all the tables the evening before.)

Thank goodness Toshi was with us. We had brought a video of Larry through the years to show. There was a TV, but we didn’t know how to set it up. Thankfully, Toshi figured it out.

Silvia and Kim helped me pass out the colorful leis we had brought for everyone.

Chef Freddie set out a lovely salad bar, and at noon, everyone who had arrived was encouraged to help themselves. Freddie had assured us there would be plenty of food with some left over afterward. He was right!

Our guests entered, were greeted with leis,  and found seats.

Meanwhile, we plugged in the PA system, so we could make announcements.

By about twelve-thirty, most of the guests had arrived. Chef Freddie announced the menu, and his servers brought the food to the tables.  Lunch consisted of chicken breast (stuffed and non-), roasted vegetables, rice pilaf, mushroom gravy, and delicious fresh rolls and whipped butter. Yummy!

A few more people showed up during food service, and we had more than enough food for everyone plus large containers to take home. (We are still finishing off some of the chicken we had frozen.)

Next, we showed the video we had prepared. https://youtu.be/4cop9YkI8nE

Everyone enjoyed looking at all the old photos and Larry narrated part of it.

His oldest friend, Scott Campbell, had planned to surprise him by attending. However, a business trip interfered. He sent a letter, and Lorna read it. His account of a couple of incidents was slightly different than Larry’s recollection, so he had to clarify.

Several times during the party, we requested that people have their photos taken, and most did. Everyone seemed to have fun with the idea, and Eric made lots of prints for our guests to take home with them. (IF you were a guest and did not get yours, please let us know.)

I put some of the photos on a video for you to see: https://youtu.be/MHG-wE44mBU

I had asked Larry’s brother, Casey and his best friend, Bob Schwenck, to speak about Larry, and they both did a wonderful job. https://youtu.be/oFXkolkDCKQ

Cake was served, followed by a toast (with sparkling apple juice).

Most everyone had a picture taken with Larry. All our kids took great pictures with him and each other. These will provide great memories of a terrific event.

Too soon, it was time to call it a day, and we bid our guests goodbye.

The whole day was a fitting tribute to a wonderful man, husband, father, and friend.

BUSY DAYS

 

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

We woke early on Tuesday after not sleeping well the night before, despite being exhausted. This was our only day to finish the laundry, put the clothes away, empty the luggage and store it, straighten the house, open a week’s worth of mail, pay bills, visit the bank and post office, shop for food, and prepare for the following week.

We managed to get most everything done, but by early evening, we were worn out. To bed early.

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 – Larry’s Birthday

We would be celebrating Larry’s birthday with a party on Saturday, but his actual birthday on Wednesday was spent on trips to the airport.

Kim had not been able to visit during the holidays, so we flew her out for this occasion. She would be staying for two weeks. It sounded like a long time when we made her reservations, but we had a lot planned.

She arrived at noon at John Wayne (Orange County). Since it was lunch time, we stopped at a restaurant to eat.

We’d just placed our orders, and Kim asked, “What time will Silvia arrive?”

OOPS!

Our Spanish daughter, Silvia, was arriving in the afternoon to surprise Larry. She was our first foreign student, who had come to us right after we moved into our house in Dana Point 1987. She was fourteen years old. She arrived with a Spanish high school group, although she was actually from Tenerife in the Canary Islands. We had stayed in contact with her through snail mail, email, and Facebook.

Lorna, Silvia, Kim, Larry 1987

She had gone on to a career as a model, completed her university degree in Public Relations, was named Miss International in 1990, and worked in Spain.

A few years later, she arrived to spend the summer with us.

Lorna, Larry, Silvia in San Francisco

She had worked as an actress in Miami for a few years before the pandemic. During that time, she had talked about coming to California for a visit, but her work schedule never allowed for a trip. It had been nearly twenty years since she had last been in California. However, she had some physical problems and returned to Tenerife, just in time to be quarantined. So, she still had not returned to Miami, although she expects to do so soon.

Kim, Silvia, and I had made plans for Kim to pick her up at LAX at four o’clock in the afternoon while Larry and I would be picking up our Japanese son, Toshi, at John Wayne at three. We had intended to surprise Larry when Silvia arrived at the house.

However, the surprise came a little earlier than planned. At least, he was surprised—and delighted

Toshi’s flight from Tokyo was on time, and we collected him.

Kim and Silvia arrived a little before six. They had picked up food on their way home, so we all sat down and ate dinner together.

This was the first time Silvia and Toshi had met, and they hit it off well. (They both knew about each other, as do most of our kids.)

While we had been out, the cleaners arrived. They had finished by the time everyone arrived home.

We were all tired. Silvia and Toshi both had a bit of jetlag, and Kim had been up early to catch her plane out of Plano, TX. We were all in agreement to go to bed early. I think most of us went to sleep early, although as he usually does, Toshi remained on Japanese time in order to conduct some business meetings on Zoom while he was here. (I have no idea when—or if—he sleeps.)

Having all three of them in our house was a terrific birthday gift for Larry.

Thursday, April 4, 2024

Silvia spent the morning enjoying the rock garden. She found it a restful and peaceful place to unwind.

Silvia relaxing

Kim got up early and started the coffee, but she went back to her bedroom to rest for a while longer. Toshi slept in a bit.

Once everyone emerged, Toshi suggested brunch at Bonjour Café, one of our favorite restaurants.

Toshi, Kim, Larry, Lorna, Silvia

In the afternoon, Larry’s niece, Carrie, and her family from Utah, along with his brother and sister-in-love, and their great-granddaughter all came to visit. Shaun’s son, Tyler, arrived with them. Shaun arrived a bit later.

Carrie and Loren and their family had to be back in Utah by the weekend, so they would be unable to stay for the party. They brought pie and ice cream to celebrate Larry’s birthday. Shaun’s birthday was that day, so we celebrated his, too. Larry was delighted!

Years ago, I had given Carrie’s older son, Eli, my electronic keyboard. Last year, I sent him my melodeon. He has become quite a musician, as he demonstrated for us.

The younger son, Asher, recently has been playing his dad’s guitar.

Larry had two Ovation guitars of his own. One had not been played for years. (He doesn’t really play either of them anymore, but he has a favorite.)

He brought down the one he had stopped playing for the boys to see.

Asher opened the case, removed the guitar, and started strumming. Then he took it into another room before his brother could get it. He never came back.

I started to laugh. It clearly was meant to be his. I told his mom, “Well, Eli got the keyboard and melodeon, so it’s only fair that Asher get the guitar.”

We really enjoyed seeing all of them. Larry especially enjoyed the pie and ice cream.

During their visit, Silvia went to the backyard near the waterfall to record her Thursday podcast. She interviewed Larry and me at the end of her broadcast.

The afternoon went quickly, and we had another busy day ahead on Friday with the party on Saturday.

Silvia and Toshi left for a short while to go to the beach to see the sunset. Kim took our other car to run some errands of her own.

Silvia at the beach at sunset (San Clemente)

We all agreed on another early night, and Toshi had more meetings scheduled.

Friday, April 5, 2024

Friday was the day to get all the pieces in place for the party on Saturday.

Toshi borrowed our car to meet friends in San Diego. When he is here, he tries to get together with his So. Cal. friends. Since they planned on a late night, he said he would stay in San Diego until Saturday morning, but he promised to be back in time.

Silvia’s friend, Stephanie, came down to pick her up, and they spent the day in Los Angeles. They had a great time.

We loaded some of the party items in the car. Then we went to Costco to pick up the cakes (one chocolate, and one white) for the party and flowers for Sunday.

We enjoyed spending the day with Kim and looked forward to the Big Event the next day!