firings; image transfer firing to Cone 01, a little hotter than in the past.
Where to begin!? Truly a remarkable 4 days; saw my oldest brother and sister-in-law for the first time in 8 years, attended my 40th high school reunion, went to my nephews GIGANTIC high school graduation party in Berkeley. I need to take each event one at a time, so much happened in 4 days that I thought I had been gone for 2 weeks....
Started with a flight over the San Bernardino Mountains/Lake Arrowhead in Southern California on my way to Orange County...
First stop Irvine with my oldest brother Matt;
When I was 7 years old and Matt was 17 he went away to college on the Hudson River at West Point. Thus ensued several years of him coming and going from our home on the Irvine Ranch in Orange County. I always remember him walking through the front door all decked out in his uniform and how proud we were of him. He would take me to the beach and teach me to body surf or up to the local mountains for a ski lesson. I idolized him as a young girl; he was tall, handsome, and life was always more fun when he came home.
After graduation Matt did two tours of duty in Vietnam; Special Forces/green beret, clandestine ops in Laos and Cambodia, the whole deal. During his tours of duty in 1970, we had a large map of south and north Vietnam on our dining room wall with little red pins stuck in it. I was in junior high at the time. Some how Matt survived..
After his tours were finished he ended up in Germany where he met his Vietnamese/French wife, Lydie Phillipe. This was about 40 years ago now, right as I was finishing high school. Lydie's parents met during the French occupation of what she calls in french, Indochine ( Indochina). I learned a lot about my sister-in-law's family this trip; how her father was a prisoner of the Japanese, how both grandparents disappeared or were killed in WWI. Stories I have never heard before even though she has been a part of my family since 1975!
After being discharged from the army in the mid-70's, Matt and Lydie chose to live in my home town of Irvine, California and to raise their two daughters there. Bi-lingual from birth (english/french), my two nieces, Lia and Brigette, both live and work in Paris now.
As it has been 8 years since my mother died of breast cancer (the last time I was in Irvine and visited with Matt et Lydie), I decided to start my trip with a visit to my oldest brother and to the beaches where I spent my childhood. After landing in Orange County, the 3 of us went straight to the beach and spent two whole days driving up and down the OC coast from Dana Point to 34th street on the Balboa Penninsula. I was absolutely flooded with memories... I spent all of my junior high and high school years body surfing these beaches every spring and summer vacation. How glorious it was to see it again!
We even visited the house I grew up in on Gillman Street in University Park...
At the end of the two day visit we ended up here on Newport Beach Harbor, eating and drinking during a long happy hour watching the boats go by....
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