To bring in the New Year I'm having a little "party" tonight, as I have been doing for many many years---and of course, pictures will be posted after this wonderful new year has begun, I promise....
So, I will see you all in 2007!
And if you are going out tonight, do drive carefully, please....
And have a Wonderful New Year's Day!
And
Big Hugs To Everyone....
More To Come.....in 2007.
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Here is the fabulous Maddie, (Betty's G.'s grandaughter, about to turn 11 in about two weeks), with the darling adorable "Ruby"....this was after Christmas Dinner, which was perfectly yummy...! Great meal, great company, one special evening for yours truly!Here is the beautiful tree...Much had been opened already by the time I took this picture....
There is another picture of the tree...Not a good one, at all...but, it does show the lights "on" though it is lousy focus...still, I am including it because I am funny that way....(lol)
Christmas at the Parks has always been very very special and this year---having not been there for two Christmas' due to health things....I was able to go. This is where I have spent every Christmas day for over 30 years....And now in 2006, our numbers are small enough that we can ALL sit at the dining room table....Cozy, comfy and very familial, indeed....
From this end of the table we see Garrett Parks, Betty's older son, with his wife Karen (Culliver) next to him on the right of the picture with the darling Ruby on her lap, and next to her is Katy Melody, (Betty's younger son Andy Parks' wife...).On the other side of him is a lovely wonderful young woman named Myrna Garwyn, she was Andy's very first girlfriend back in High School....and like Betty's daughter-in-laws...she is still like a daughter to Betty...
In this picture we see Myrna on the far right, (with just a glimpse of Garrett's arm....) and next to her is a very old friend of Betty's, Ginny Brown...a lovely woman who is an artist and who's husband, Phil, (just passed this year) was an actor who is probably best known by the public for his role in "Star Trek"...'And next to Ginny, is Betty's son Andy, and next to him is Michael Stefanie, a lovely man and a wonderful actor...he is with Myrna.We all had these silly hats on because they came in the "snappers" that were on the table for the first time....
And you can just see the dead snapper in the bottom middle of this picture above....That's Betty's cousin Carol Smith on the left, who flew down from San Jose....Betty---still eating---next to Carol, and then Maddie next to Betty with Michael S. on the far side of Maddie....
Here is Betty cooking in the kitchen, before the meal....if you are wondering why she is always wearing a visor it is because of her 'Macular Degeneration'....it protects her eyes from the piercing feel of light and helps her to see a bit better....
There were eleven of us at the table and it was a beautiful table with all sorts of goodies on it....including some chocolate "Christmas Trees" and "Santas" that I brought....some of the best dark chocolate I have EVER eaten...(SerendipityChocolates.com).....check it out....worth every penny!
In the hallway going from the Kitchen area to the living area Betty has some fun things hanging on the wall and Karen & Maddie put up "lights" this year to brighten it up....I love it!
They are talking about leaving it up all year round....It really brings a good amount of light to this hallway, too, besides looking so very festive...
Below is a picture of a few people around the Christmass tree haing opened more gifts there in the living room....
Katy and Andy having a bit of Christmas cheer, and in the background, Garrett, Karen and Michael, talking...you will notice that there is a kind of wonderful Black & White drawing above the 'player piano' right there in the upper center of the picture....
This is a wonderful treasure. It is a "Hirschfeld", drawn by the famous artist who did these fantastic cartoon-type (but soooo much more than that....), drawings for the New York Times Sunday Arts & Leisure section for shows and plays opening on Broadway, for years and years and years....It was quite an honor to be one of his subjects....
This particular one was Betty when she played the Irish cook in the 1989-90 production of "Meet Me In St. Louis"....(where, incidentally, Garrett met his lovely talented wife Karen, who was in the show, too....) and these are coveted and prized 'originals'. And if you were lucky enough to have been able to buy yours---which Betty was, well, as I said...it is a true treasaure! Al Hirschfeld is gone now so there will be no more of these fabulous treasures....
Here is a bit of a closer look at this wonderful drawing....not the best picture in the world, but for now, it will have to suffice....
Betty did this wonderful song and Irish Jig on the top of a rather small table! She is one game performer....! It was one of the highlights of the show....and thus, the subject of this Hirschfeld...It is absolutely the essence of Betty, wghich was what Hirschfeld's great gift was as an artist.
And one last picture of Maddie and Ruby on this Christmas Day, 2006...I think this was the feeling of everybody there on this day...much love for one another and many hugs, too....
More To Come.....
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This was what was happpening in the sky this afternoon around 3:55p.m.....a dramatic sky all day, actually, with the threat of rain and horrific winds which continue as I write this....rather scary winds, I might add....I love that you can see some blue sky up in the left hand corner across the top....and sun trying to stream through the way it does sometimes.....
And then....here is the sunset....well I should say the changing sunset, a minute after 5p.m....the winds having blown out quite a lot of the heavy rain clouds that had been hovering all day.....this is looking west with the Pacific Ocean just there on the horizon....Glorious!And a close-up of those wonderful trees on the hill with the setting sun against the cloud(s) behind it.....
Peaceful and lucious, all at the same time....I love those wonderful trees on the hill more and more as time goes on....and....
More To Come......
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So, Christmas is history, but the memories will linger on.....well, at least for a few days.....My Christmas was lovely...I got to go to my dear dears, The Parks, because everyone was "well"....and it was very special and great fun, too! I took some pictures but I need to lighten up a few of them and then I will post a couple....
I love all my presents that I got, but there was one very very special one that came from a very very "special" person across the pond....and here it is......
He is one cute bear! And I love that he is part of the Guards Of Buckingham Palace. His name is "George" and he is really really special too, because he is a limited edition bear...so I am thrilled to be the proud recipient of this very dear sweet person....And he has the full approval of the 'man of the house', too....Sweetie.....
I hope all of you had the most wonderful Christmas, and now, on to New Years Eve and 2007!
More To Come......
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Here it is. Christmas 2006. May all your dreams come true and may you live in the warmth of loving family and friends.....And know that I wish you all everything your hearts desire.
And on that note and in the true spirit of the season.....
One of our dear blog buddies, Minerva, who lives across the pond, is struggling with the return of her cancer. Do go visit her and wish her 'well', for she needs our loving support right now...and, I promise you and I assure you, she will inspire you with her words and her heart on this special day, Christmas, 2006.
And just because I think they are a lovely addition to the spirit of the day...here are some very sweet goodies, though these are made of yarn.....
And one more lovely picture for the road, as they say....
A lovely lovely Holiday to one and all.....More To Come.....
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To all who come by and visit me here on this beautiful hill of mine on a regular basis I wish each and every one of you the Happiest Of Holidays filled with the joy of Family and Friends and much good cheer....and this includes, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Ramedan and any other lovely celebration that is happening right now....I love you all with all my heart and value your friendship more than I can say....And to anyone and everyone else that may come on by....I wish you all the Great Joy Of The Season.....
This guy is almost here and my chimney is ready for him....is yours?
And this idea stolen from Terri...(I love this, a lot). Do help fill my stocking! Thanks My Darlings! (And don't worry if the gifts don't show up in the stocking immeduately...they do eventually....and the "new" gifts are posted at the top of the stocking....)
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More To Come......
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Gee, I hope I didn't post this very same picture before...it's getting harder and harder to remember, people...Anyway...I think this is fantastic!
And looking at those little trees on the horizon...HERE is the most recent amazing magical view of them.....
Ooooops! No, that is not the trees....but, it is a beautiful beautiful sunset sky picture taken in the same direction as those beautiful trees.....
The view from my home, truly truly saves me....Without this view, truth be told, I would have been dead a long, long, long time ago. Believe me my dear dears.....long gone.....but, with the beauty of nature like this....well, what I can say....I am blessed....
Oh, Oh, Oh...now there are those delicate vulnerable sweet dear trees, in close up....(I am so glad I finally found where I saved this rendering...well, it is like a painting, isn't it?....). So often at this time of year there are fantastic clear skies....It has been chilly and the winds have been really really blowing.....and that cleans out all the shmutz in the so-called 'basin'....and so then we have a gorgeous sunset like this.....
This next picture is one of my favorite views....the dusky sunset seen through the Euphorbia Ingens on the side of my house, looking west, of course....I keep taking this picture on different days over a period of months....the Euphorbia Ingens seed pods are visable here in silouette....and just to the left, in this particular picture, is the Euphorbia Amak Verigated....
And here below, another shot of these Euphorbia's back around January 9th, 2006....Almost a year ago now....How did this year just fly by?
There is something about the combination of the sunset and the plants that moves me....God knows how many times I've taken similar shots...and the truth is they are never the same...they are each different and to me, quite stunning....So, here is one more with just a teeny tiny part the of the city visible, too....
This is kind of a peaceful sunset which feels very appropriate as we are now just a few days and nights away from Christmas Eve.....Lovely and Peaceful, indeed.....
More To Come.....
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I thought you all might get a kick out of this little plump Mermaid Ornament....It's quite heavy and I have always found her quite colorful as well as amusing!And there is a kind of sister ornament made of the same material and it too is amusing and very colorful....And here she is!
A little fishy with great big red lips.....now isn't she fun? Here is another closer view of those big glittery lips....
LOL, LOL, LOL....She is cute, isn't she? And it is still Hanukkah...just about the middle of those eight days....So, once again, I wish everyone celebrating Hanukkah the most wonderful Holiday imaginable!
Trying hard to keep up with everything....now everyone, don't wear yourselves out partying....enjoy, enjoy, enjoy....!
More To Come, For Sure......
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I beg your forgiveness for not getting around and visiting very much these days...I am overwhelmed with trying to get everything done before Christmas...much to do and never enough time to do it in....Above is a partial shot of my little tree....This darling tree was made by my dear friend Carl Bostelmann, in what he called Santa's Workshop! He owned a beautiful store called Kaleidoscope, and each year he would make lots and lots of goodies for Christmas, starting about three months before---almost right after Labor Day....ornaments and trees and such. Dear Carl died in December of 1990, of AIDS related illnesses....I wrote about him in my World AIDS Day Post, on December 1st....
This litle tree is not even three feet high...in fact, including the ornament on the top, it is approximately 32 inches high. Carl put tiny little lights on it and some beautiful Red Cardinals, and some small red ornaments including the one on top, and a lovely plaid Ribbon, and that was it! Simple and beautiful and just enough to give you this warm Christmassy feeling....Over the years I have added some small things...some little Teddy Bears---different types and different colors, a few special little tiny ornaments that I found here and there, or that were given to me by different people....And each year I redress the tree....I have had this sweet little tree since around 1974....
Here's a dear little plump soft bear....I love him...there is another one like him up above on the other side of the tree, in tan....And this one below is a darling fat red bear...a little miniature of many bears I have had....and still have.....I love Teddy Bears, a lot!
I have this same little bear in green, too...again, on the other side of the tree....I know this tree is old and probably should be retired, but I just cannot give her up. It reminds me of Carl and the wonderful friendship I had with him for almost thirty years, having met him in late 1961....So, as long as I am around this little tree will be around, too!
And one more view, before I get back to my own little 'Santa's Workshop'...I promise I will try to be better about visiting and such, after these holidays are over....Meanwhile, I hope all of you are having a good time creating the magic of the Holidays for you and your family and friends.....And to all my 'lansman', a Very Happy Hanukkah!
Oh yes indeed, we must have a Hannukah Bear!
More To Come.....
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This is one of the most dramatic pictures I've ever seen....Soooo much is happening in this photograph, so much to see...and wherever you look, there is something to see! This was what the sky looked like from my deck on December 9th, 2006...the sun streaming through like 'stage lights' coming down on the Pacific Ocean and kind of highlighting the buildings in Santa Monica.....do click on this to see it bigger....Oh how I wish it could fill the whole screen....More To Come.....
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Someone didn't feel good today....he threw up this morning all over the bed and the floor...poor dear....And the 'projectile' was pretty amazing...not quite like The Exorcist, but....it was quite a mess to clean up, I tell you....I felt so bad for him because I knew he didn't feel good and I think he is working on a hair-ball...So, after a while he went into his favorite place---the closet---to recover....then later, another favorite place, my leg...!Later later....that is much later, like mid-evening, he moved to one of his other favorite spots, the end of the bed.....!
What a sweetie, Sweetie is!
More To Come......
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This is an early Polaroid Picture....back when it was only black & white. We had had a huge snow storm with the kind of snow that just sat everywhere in these packed heavy drifts....and because it got colder, it just hung that way....The photo above is on a little side porch leading to the back garden....you can see the door going to the Dining Room, across the way....and that is a glass table and a side chair....
A closer look at that snow on the table and chair and over in the corner by the Dining Room door....you can see that there was so much snow it is even coming up on that door across the way....Where is this? Well, this is the house I grew up in in Great Neck, New York. Great Neck is on the North Shore of Long Island, 17 miles from New York City, 45 minutes from Broadway, as they use to say, on the Long Island Railroad----the Port Washington line.
This is a picture of the train station somewhat later in time, but still pretty much as it was when I was growing up. My father commuted to Manhattan every day on the the train, and I commuted to my Violin lessons every Saturday morning taking the subway, once we came to 34th street at Penn Station, up to 110th street. Of course all of my family took the train at various times throughout those early years. That changed once everybody could drive and we all had driver's licenses....then, I would commute by car.
Here's another shot of the train station looking the other way. That apartment building over on the right was there when I was growing up. The first time I ever saw a dead body was on the sidewalk at the base of that apartment building, right across from the station behind those trees....a woman had jumped off the roof early that morning....pretty horrific, to say the least. But I digress.....Each morning I would walk to the station, which was about four very long blocks from our house, and I would cross that little bridge to catch the bus which took us up Middle Neck Road to what was called the 'Old Village'...(we lived near the newer portion of Great Neck Village which was never called the 'new village'....)...and then we would get off the bus and walk the 6 or 7 very long blocks to school....the Junior & Senior High School all in one building....it was called Great Neck High School....now known as Great Neck North, there being two High Schools in Great Neck these days.
A beautiful building, isn't it? Back to the snow.....The snow was so very heavy in this particular snow storm that big huge drifts settled on the roof of the house, too, as well as on the ground and on the trees....And, eventually some of it began melting but then it would get cold again causing incredible icicles.....
There was this huge ice pack that began to melt all in one big chunk and you can just see it towards the top of this Polaroid beginning it's slow trip down as it melted while remaining this big huge chunk as it made it's descent....I love the look of this, don't you?
This next picture I believe I was looking out the front door at the trees laden with this wonderful compact snow and there in the background is the house across the street...a rather famous house because Charles Lindberg slept there the night before he took off from Roosevelt Field for that amazing first transatlantic non-stop flight, landing in France 33 1/2 hours later.....the year was 1927 and my parents were already living right here in this same house where I took these pictures, having moved to Great Neck in 1926. 
My mother lived here in the house in Great Neck for 40 years until she died in 1966....
Because this was the perfect kind of snow to build a snowman.....we did. Three of us....my brother Gordon and a great family friend Zeke Cohen and me....and after we finished him including his eyes, nose, mouth, hat and even buttons going down his belly....I stood across the street to get this picture....
We thought he was a work of art, of course...and in a way he was, but I think it was mostly because we had that perfect kind of snow to build with....Here is a closer look at him....pretty elegant, isn't he?
This being the winter of 2006, almost 2007, and so very many bloggers are writing about snowstorms happening right now, I was reminded of this one that took place so very many years ago in 1960 and luckily I had these pictures that I had taken to illustrate these remembrances....Isn't it great that the camera was invented? It certainly has enriched my life in every respect, I'm happy to say.....
More To Come.....
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Do be sure to click on this so you can see it somewhat bigger..it is awesome! I'll let this picture speak for itself...except to say....wow!links to this post
I have a new passion...you see this missile-like looking thing in the picture above? Well that's my new passion! And here below is a closer look at that passion with the sunset "happening" in the background...Oh my, you can't beat that....
And as you can probably tell from the above photo this is not a missile, at all. What is it? Well, it is the beginning of the flowering of an Agave plant that is in my garden down below....and it really has quite a long way to go before all is said and done....
The very beautiful Agave is a rich deep dark green....and it is a most elegant plant---and quite large, too....
The picture above was taken before there was any evidence that a flower was about to begin it's very long journey and ultimately, the death of the whole plant. But this whole evolution will take a good year...maybe longer....if all goes as it usually does with these Agave flowerings.... And below is a close-up of this very beautiful plant....
You can see the arms a bit closer and the special shape of this particular Agave...It is probably eight feet across and about six feet or more high....Here is another view of the beginning of the flower as seen on Sunday....
This picture above is just about in the middle of what has grown so far....it will get really really big....maybe 20 to 25 feet high....but before we get too far ahead of ourselves....here is a closer look at the top of this stalk....
Just how beautiful is this....? I tell you nature is just fantastic! The numerous colors in this stalk---the shapes that come from the very act of it's growing....beautiful....!
And one more view of this stalk from above, looking down from my deck, which is where I was when I suddenly saw that something quite special was in the works....It is of course sad to me that this plant will die and that the signal for this impending death is the stalk beginning to grow right in the center....But, what a glorious journey this demise is going to be....as you will see.....
And, just for good luck, here's a bit of a closer look at this stalk from my deck up above....
There definitely will be....
More To Come....
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"The Mister" as he was dubbed by my friend Shawn, just sits around looking gorgeous most of the time....And, in fact, he looks gorgeous all of the time....In fact, I think I could say without fear of contradiction that indeed, he does look gorgeous every minute of the day and night....no exceptions there....He loves to lay on the end of the bed.....
Gorgeous!He sometimes stretches out in a different way, too
Gorgeous, Gorgeous!
And, still another direction...a bundle of white fur with pink ears!
Gorgeous, Gorgeous, Gorgeous.....!
He's the best of the best....with his dear little pink nose....give me a spoon, please!
More To Come......
This is part of Cats On Tuesday, and you can see the rest of the people participating by going to Gattina's....Enjoy!
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This post was inspired by something I saw over at Dak-Ind's...You were supposed to post a candid picture of yourself from High School....and this led to what you will read below which is kind of like free-association for me....And in the picture above, that's me over on the far left....I am there with a couple of pals from High School----we were at someone's house, but I don't remember who's and I have no memory of what we were looking at....or what we were doing, either!I was not a happy teen-ager, at all!
And in fact it showed in my school work. I failed three subjects when I was in tenth grade...And in fact, everything about my school work changed drastically after my parents separated when I was ten years old...so, going into the teen years with all the horrors that come with that, by tenth grade things were pretty horrible again, grade-wise....So, that summer we were scheduled to be in Los Angeles for the entire summer.....my very first time in Hollywood....that was the summer of 1947. And because I failed these three subjects I had to go to summer school, taking at least two of the subjects that I failed---French and Geometry. They were both taught by the same teacher/tutor...I don't remember how my mother found this really nice sweet lady, but my mornings were spent being "tutored" by her and cracking those books....and there were two very nice boys in that little class too, and that was it....just the three of us, and the bird-like Miss Thorne....
Yes, that was the teacher/tutor's name, Miss Thorne. And I remember she lived on Clark Street in what is now called West Hollywood, just below what is still called, The Sunset Strip....at that time, this whole section was just a part of Hollywood and really the Post Office was Los Angeles....no Zip Codes back then, and it was not that far from the little house my mother had rented for us all to spend the summer in, on Le Doux Street, which was just on the edge of Beverly Hills, one or two blocks west of La Cienega Blvd., and just a little north of Wilshire Blvd. All the houses in that area were like little bungalows....all close together and all with small rooms, but a house nonetheless....
And where Miss Thorne lived was all small houses too, at that time....now, in 2006-2007, it is all big apartment buildings and condo's....Miss Thorne would not recognize it at all, I'm afraid....Here is a closer look at Miss Thorne...there is something quite sad about her and I think she was indeed, a rather sad and lonely lady...I wondered what her life had been like as a young woman living in Hollywood. She must have been a very very pretty young woman....because you can see the traces of that young woman in the close-up picture, though no doubt faded by 1947......I fantasized that she had probably been an actress (before she became a teacher), who's career never really took off....I fantasized that she no doubt had been in love with a man who could not be hers because he was already married and though he professed his love for her, he had no intention of ever leaving his wife....thus...She always spent Holidays alone and Birthday's alone---without him, alone and lonely...(I was a hopeless romantic at almost 16 years of age having been ruined by Radio Soap Opera's and MGM Films...)....I think she was, by the time I knew her, well on the road to being an alcoholic...in retrospect, there was that look about her....it's strange because I have known two women---both contemporaries of mine---who were in that situation, starting in their twenty's. One was involved with her boss for over 35 years...and he never left his wife...And the other was involved with a rather well known movie star for 35 or 40 years---and he never left his wife either...What seemed so romantic to me as a young impressionable teenager, turned out to be a very sad sad life....both these friends of mine ended very badly and very sadly, too, both alcohloics and always alone on those important days when one should be with a loved one...I really do think that might have been Miss Thorne's story, too....I don't know for sure, but I think she certainly might have been in that same terrible dilemma....
I didn't mean to get off on that but, that's the way these reminiscences go, you know....Back to 1947....this picture below is a kind of interesting one....
It was taken at the then Los Angeles Airport, from left to right...my brother Gordon with his hand trying to keep the sun out of his eyes, and next to him my brother-in-law Bobby, (Robin's husband of three years at that time....they were married for almost 6o years by the time Robin died), my mother, and then me, and in the foreground is my dear sister Robin with her back to us....Mother and I were about to get on the plane to return to New York where I was to take the 'Make-Up Tests' for the three subjects I had failed....well, guess what....I failed those 'make-up' tests so I had to take those three clsses all over again in 11th grade! I honestly don't know how I graduated from High School at all....I can tell you this, my report cards were not a pretty sight!
Another shot of my mother and I getting ready to walk out to the plane so we could board the very long flight home....twelve hours non-stop....which was a fabulous thing back then....! This was before 'Jets' you know....? And it was back in the days when women dressed for travel, including girdles and High Heels, no heels on me that day but I'm sure I had on a girdle....that girdle thing changed for me not long after that....I figured if Katherine Hepburn could wear slacks when traveling, so could I. It is hard to believe there was ever a time when we dressed up to sit for 12 hours....pretty crazy....but remember, traveling was fun back then and it was an adventure, too....not like today....Well this isn't the end of the summer of 1947...but for now, that is all there is on this "candid photo from High School" post. And as always....
More To Come......
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Today is World AIDS Day....and I cannot let it go by without expressing what I feel....So, this is my post from last years World AIDS Day....I honestly do not think I can write anything more heartfelt than what I wrote last year, and unfortuneatly these are still 'the facts' and it is, for me, the best way to honor all who were lost....
So here it is, my dear dears....
IN THE TIME OF AIDS
As we approach World AIDS Day, I thought I would post just a few of the Names Quilt Panels of some of the 44+ people that I knew personally who have died of AIDS related illnesses since 1983. Now, on this World AIDS Day, 2005, this plague is still very much with us, and as you know, there is still no cure.
*****
ANTHONY COSTELLO
Tony was the first person that I actually knew who died of AIDS. He was a brilliant novelist, an incredibly talented actor, and a beautiful watercolorist-painter. It was 1983 and he was 45 years old.
Quite a few years ago The Names Project AIDS Quilt came to Pasadena, Ca. And it was the largest portion ever displayed in the Los Angeles area up to that time. I had actually seen smaller portions of the quilt, a number of times over the years, but this time...this was the first time that I found some of the panels of people I had known. This time, The Quilt was at The Rose Bowl and they said that just this particular portion of the Quilt filled approximately two football fields. To get some idea of the enormity of this great and moving on-going project, here it is in Washington D.C., on the Mall.
Take a good look at this:
To try and give you just a tiny idea of how many people who have died of AIDS are represented by the Quilt....there are 8 panels in each Block.
One Block.
Then they put 4 Blocks together, so that there are pathways between each block to allow people to really see the panels and to be able to read the names of all the people in each Block.
KENNY SACHA
Kenny was a Singer/Dancer/Comedien...I knew him because he always performed in the AIDS Benefit that I have been Co-Chair of (along with Betty Garrett) for almost 20 years... The last time
KENNY performed in the S.T.A.G.E. Benefit, was 1992. Despite the Kaposi's Cancer that appeared on his face, he sang and danced and he was hilarious, as always.
He died a few months later. He was 39 years old.
The Quilt, as it appeared in Pasadena with the pathways between for viewing.
FREDERICK COMBS
FREDERICK was a wonderful actor and a beloved acting teacher. But what all of us remember FREDERICK for more than anything else, was at Christmas time he would get a list of children's names from The United Way who would have no Christmas at all, and then he would ask his friends to make one wish of one child or two or even three wishes, come true, that Christmas. And this was done anonymously. You never met any of these children, and it was one of the most meaningful things any of us participated in at Christmastime each year. He began doing this in the early 70's when he lived in New York and then continued this after moving to Hollywood. The Christmas of the year he died, over 400 children had a Christmas they would not have had without FREDERICK. He died in 1992. He was 57 years old.
JAMES EDWARD LEE
JIM LEE was an 'artist' when it came to plants. I first met JIM, when I saw some very beautiful Desert plants outside a building and asked the building owner's where these plants had come from. I was told "Flamingo Garden's" which was JIM'S Nursery. For around 8 years I frequented his nursery at least two times a week. We became great friends because I loved Desert Plants, too. And many of the plants in my garden came from JIM'S place. Eventually he had to give up the nursery because of his failing health. This was very devistating to him and to all those who loved him. He was 48 years old when he died.
One of my oldest and dearest friends that was lost to this terrible terrible disease had no panel in 
the Quilt when it was in Pasadena. But I honor him this World AIDS Day as a rememberence of things past that I do not ever want to forget. He will always be in my heart.
CARL BOSTELMANN, JR.
CARL was a designer who had an extremely successful Gift Shop in Beverly Hills called Kaldeidscope. CARL loved Broadway show music, and entertaining with panache, and beautiful things, and beautiful people, and he kloved creating "Santa's Workshop" at Christmastime. About 3 months before Christmas, CARL would begin making 'Christmas Magic' in what he called Santa's Workshop in the back of the shop. When you walked into Kaleidoscope, there was always the scent of fragrent candles and 'show music' playing from some Broadway show that CARL loved....and he loved a lot of them! The August before he died, we shared one more 'Happy Time' together, seeing Barbara Cook and Mandy Patankin at The Hollywood Bowl. Spending time with CARL was more fun than anything you could imagine. His enthusiasm for life and romance and fantasy made everything around him beautiful and memorable. I miss him more than I can say.
He died, just before Christmas, December 1990. He was 53 years old.
So on this World AIDS Day, I remember, with love, each and everyone of the people I have lost to AIDS.
And here they are:
Jim Abbott, John Allison, David Amorena, Bill Bokoskie, George Brenlin, Fred Chris, Panos Christi, Paul Cira, Jerry Clark, Peter Collfield, Robert Doud, Robert Elston, Neil Flanagen. Danny Fortus, Mitch Geisart, Alison Gertz, Howard Goldberg, Jeffrey Goodman, Bobby Gorman, Sebastion Hobart, Paul Hunter, Michael Jeter, Jimmy, Austin Kirby, M.G. Macormic, Doug Marney, Gary Mascaro, Bill Moore, Michael Morris, Ron Muchnick, Tyre Patterson, Harry Percer, Alan Peterson, James Carroll Picket, Tom Redmond, Freddy Sadoff, Terrence Scammell, Jacque St. Onge, Neil Tucker, Clyde Ventura, and Ben Wilson.
YOU ARE ALWAYS IN MY HEART, NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN.
And to the 15+ people I know who are living with HIV/AIDS, as I write this, I pray that there will be a cure, very very soon!
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