PNDP Post Mortem Post

Thank you for making the PNDP such a fun party! (So much fun that it has taken me this long to recover enough to write up this post). We are so glad that you were able to join us and help us celebrate. It was wonderful to see you all, although many of you I only got to see for a few minutes. Seeing everyone was the part I was most looking forward to, but afterwards I realized that, just like at my wedding, I didn’t get to spend enough time with anyone. The math is 5 hours = 300 minutes, divided by 150 -200 people equals 2 minutes max a person, which just isn’t long enough at all. So, we will just have to see you all again, soon.

How was the party? We don’t entertain much, and it turns out it takes a village to throw a big party, even a pretty simple one. After having half of Los Gatos searching for a taco truck for us, Louise Millman (via a trail of Art Docents) came up with Tacos Acosta. After Karla Maxfield, our bilingual friend and neighbor, made the arrangements by telephone, we met Sergio and his family when they set up their grill in our driveway. Lovely people, great tacos, doesn’t get better than that.

Speaking of my friend Louise Millman, I can not thank her enough. As a restauranteur (Willow Street, Main Street Burgers) and caterer, she not only found me a taco truck, but calmed me down when I called her for party planning advice (“Louise, what goes with tacos, cake and gummy brains?”), and then not only provided tables, umbrellas, ice, ice buckets, coolers, trash cans, tables, and gluten-free banana cupcakes, but delivered all of that, too. Louise rocks! And she makes it look easy.

Karla Maxfield not only served as our translator, but also asked Brett and Martha, Karla’s co-workers at the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose, to help with the t-shirts. They came to the party 15 minutes early, and we set up the tables and I taught them how to pull a silkscreen print onto a shirt. For the better part of 5 hours, they helped people make shirts, and people then used fabric pens to add their own personal touches. Some filled in the outline of my brain with anatomical details, others left it empty (which is pretty accurate), or made it into a smiley face or design of their choice. These two worked very hard, taking short breaks to jump in the bouncy house with the other young people. By the end of the party, Brett was so jazzed about silkscreening, that he wants to get his own set up. He also took my old dial-a-flow iv lines for use in his garden as drip watering tubing. Seemed like the perfect day to empty out the medical supplies box in my basement.

When people weren’t getting tacos, or making shirts, or jumping, they seemed to be sitting or standing around talking, eating and drinking. Thanks to Karl Eisenhower, Rusty’s friend from elementary school who flew out from the D.C. area for the party, we had strong 3-2-1 margaritas. Other people brought wine, which was also appreciated. Melody Tebbs and Marcella David (who flew in from Spokane and Iowa, respectively) turned my island into a beautiful cheese and fruit display, which they kept stocked throughout the day. They also served as greeters and hostesses. Our children each got a chance to pick a favorite snack food for the party, so we had goldfish, Chex mix, and Pirate Booty. For my choice, I picked my favorite thing: cake from Icing on the Cake. And of course we had gummy brains.

Most importantly, though, we had people at the party. Thank you so very much to all of you who came to the party, whether from near or far. Friends from Marin, Spokane, Virginia, Los Angeles, Iowa City, San Francisco, Berkeley, Stanford and England joined us. Many others walked to the party. A few days later, I was talking to someone at school and she commented that we must have had a lot of people from Stanford there, because she didn’t recognize quite a few of the guests. It then dawned on me that guests came from many parts of our lives: family, neighbors, my family’s neighbors, doctors, college classmates (both me and Rusty), our children’s friends and families, women from my book club, Rusty’s former work colleagues from two different companies, our favorite architect, teachers and the principal from our children’s school, fellow Art Docents, members of the LGEF board on which I serve, my personal trainer, law school classmates from Michigan, our piano teacher, Lego team members, and on and on. All these people helped us get through the past year, in one way or another, and of course there were many, many more who helped but were not at the party. The guests were a visible reminder of how lucky we are, how rich and varied our lives have been, and how fortunate we have been to meet so many fantastic human beings along the way. We have been very, very lucky indeed.

In the end, we had a blast at the party, and hope you did, too.

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