December 23-25, 2001: Christmas
	November 16-18, 2001: A Visit to San Antonio and Leakey, TX
	Return to the Index for 2001

This short page will cover two events- my 55th birthday and my Mom's 90th.

My 55th Birthday Party

My 55th was a calm affair at my house. We went out to Celebration Restaurant, and then had cake at home.

Fred, Chip and I, Jeffie, Larry French, my Mom and another friend (whose image has been temporarily removed at his request)

Prior to the actual gathering, Fred helped me get the house ready- a task that got him so tuckered out that he had to take an afternoon nap on the couch. Unbeknownst to him, I snapped a couple of pictures of him asleep, and you can click on the thumbnails below to have a look at them:

You might remember than when Lowery Evans, Ron Drew's partner, passed away last December, I got custody of Countess, their cat. It was kind of complicated, but Ron couldn't deal with her and their other cat as well, so I volunteered to bring her to my house until such time as Ron could take her back. While I was taking the candid shots of Fred, I got one of Countess as well.

When everyone arrived (and I had gone to pick up my Mother), we went out to dinner (even though the fridge was chocked full of the leftovers from Thanksgiving) and then came back for cake. In addition to the group picture above, we took two more, and they are below:

My Mom's 90th Birthday Party and Activities

For my Mom's milestone birthday, we had a party for her at my house on the day after her actual birthday (Pearl Harbor Day), and her friends at the Bentley helped her celebrate on the Sunday following.

My Mom's party was a much larger affair than mine; after all, hers was a real milestone. Also, enough time had passed since Thanksgiving that most folks were ready to go out again.

Everyone who attended is in the group picture at left, and I'll tell you who they all are. Kneeling in front we have, from left, Bob Maitland, Tom Harris and, seated at the table, my Mom. I have known Bob for about twelve years; Grant and I met him through our friend Justin back in 1989 or so. He was in Dallas for a while, then in Amarillo for quite some time, and is now back in town. Fred and I met Tom Harris through Mike Racke about two years ago, and have kept him as a friend up through Mike's death in September. He lives down in Oak Cliff.

In the back row, left to right, we begin with Barbara Reynolds. Barbara was a friend of Lowery Evans's, and he introduced us in 1989 or so. She has done a lot in her life, and is full of interesting stories about her, her husbands, her jobs and her children. At the moment, she lives over near Swiss Avenue. Next to her is Ron Mathis, whom I met in the early 1990s when I was out playing pool. He has become someone I can meet out on a weekend and either play pool or just hang out with. He lives over east of US 75 here in town. Next to him is another friend that I met through Lowery who lives out in Grand Prairie, near where Lowery and Ron Drew used to live.

Then there's me, of course, and then our friend Lynne Richardson, yet another person we met through Lowery and Ron. She's English, but has been a citizen here for quite a few years now. Next to Lynne is her friend, Carol, a massage therapist. The last three people are Nancy Lucas (Prudence Ruckman's sister), the fellow she is currently seeing, Karl Gleim, and one of their friends who'd been visiting them.

We only took a couple of other pictures. One was a group shot in the living room, and Fred took one of me helping my Mom cut the cake.

My Mom has been at the Bentley, a retirement home, for a while now, and I think she really enjoys it. There is always something going on, and there are plenty of people around all the time. She doesn't have to worry about taking care of an apartment, nor does she have to deal with shopping and preparing meals.

Every Sunday, anyone who's had a birthday during the previous week gets a balloon tied to their chair, and so since Mom's 90th was the day before yesterday, she got one today. (Birthdays are also announced on the day they occur during the regular noontime meal.)

Mom has a number of friends who stopped by during the meal to speak to and congratulate her, including the ladies that appear in some of the pictures I took today. You can click on the little thumbnails below to see some of the pictures I took here today:

Well, that's it for this year's birthdays. Each year, either on their own pages or on the "Miscellaneous" page, you'll be seeing pictures taken at the birthdays for Fred and Ron Mathis in August, me in November and my Mom in November.

You can use the links below to continue to another album page.

	December 23-25, 2001: Christmas
	November 16-18, 2001: A Visit to San Antonio and Leakey, TX
	Return to the Index for 2001