Lunch with Rhoda

Rhoda Fickle sent Dad a card asking him to meet her for lunch. Today I drove him to Tustin and the three of us had lunch at Mimi's. Rhoda looks just great! She seems very much the same as she was when I was a kid. So funny and full of energy. After lunch we drove over to her old house. This is where we used to go every July 4th when I was growing up. I loved it. The house was beautiful and Larry and Rhoda were great hosts.

We'd always start the day by meeting at Irvine Park for a picnic breakfast. We'd spend a few hours there (Irvine Park is gorgeous) and then head over to the Fickle's. They had a great swimming pool, a garden and horses we could ride. The food was always really good. After dinner we'd go out the front yard for fireworks. Every family would buy a big box of them so we always had loads of pretty explosives. Their house was up on a hill above Anaheim so we could also see the fireworks shows from Disneyland and Anaheim Stadium. We always looked forward to 4th of July at the Fickle's.

Now the neighborhood is unrecognizable. Many of the old houses have been torn down and replaced with huge mansionoids. But the Fickle's house is still there. It was a big house to begin with (Larry and Rhoda built it) so there's not much reason to tear it down. There's a guest house where the garden used to be and a new addition is being built at one end. But it's the same house. I'm glad I got to see it again.

I'm also glad I got to spend some time with Rhoda. The last time I saw her was at our wedding. Larry was still alive then although at the time he wasn't doing too well. He was a sweet man.