PART II: SCENES AND STORIES FROM TWO OF OUR PARTIES IN RIVERWOODS
Bernie and I loved hosting our families and many friends from Lake County and elsewhere. I have so many happy memories of winter-holiday gatherings, porch parties, and just hanging out in the woods!
August 1985: The “Bring Your Own Chair Party”
That’s me in “our woods” late in the afternoon on the day Bernie and I closed on the log house in Riverwoods.
To celebrate, three couples—our dearest friends: Harold and Patty, Bob and Sheila, and Beecham and Renate—joined us for a “Bring Your Own Chair Party” on the porch, which was not fixed up at all. “To go” food make it easy, and we had a blast.
Bernie on the porch as sun set on our first day in the new-to-us house.
November 1988: Bernie’s 50th Birthday
We celebrated Bernie’s 50th birthday in the first version of our renovated living room, three years after we bought the house. By now, my parents had moved north from Louisiana to live near us, which—with Bernie’s mother also living close by—gave us many happy family gatherings.
Shown in these photos are Bernie’s mother Minnie, (blue sweater), my father Truman (red sweater), my mother Margaret (pink scarf), Sheila (white lace collar), and Renate (pink turtleneck).
The oversized savory breadsticks sticking up from a favorite glass pitcher were my own original creation… and a big hit!