Nyel and Michelle

Yes! It was The Annual Don(McQuarrie) and Laura(Creekman) at the Bridgewater Bistro Gathering last night.  Almost all of us were there.  We almost always have been there for the last fourteen years — or so.  We really can’t remember.

Last night, besides Don and Laura — who long ago lived on the Peninsula and moved away when their three children were small — there were Noel and Pat Thomas who also used to live on the Peninsula in those days, and Nyel and me who still do, and Tony and Ann Kischner who still do but we can hardly remember that because they are the owners-operators extraordinaire of the Bistro and that’s where we usually find them.

Don, Laura, and Tony

Missing from the usual Gatherers were Chris and Dave Jensen who, also, still live on the Peninsula but were not quite home from some exotic get-away last night.  And, we had one extra surprise person — Tony and Ann’s youngest daughter, Michelle (Doctor, Wife, Mother of Four) who came to hug us all and to tell us how important we each had been in her life.  What an incredible woman we “collectively” (according to her own words) turned out!

Part of Tony, Ann, and Nyel

And, there you have it!  We hadn’t gathered since Covid struck and, since then, many milestones have been approached and dealt with — bad health issues for several of the guys, a grandchild on its way for Don and Laura — expected in October on Laura’s birthday!  And between Don and Nyel enough weight lost to equal another person!  OMG!

That we have survived the Pandemic (thus far), that we still have lots to laugh about, that we all teared up at Michelle’s remarks, that we all remember Red’s and MaryLou’s and the days when Fred Rutherford was mayor, and that none of us can quite believe that we all got this old — all that and more will keep us coming back in the years ahead — god willin’ an’ the creek don’t rise!