A road trip summer

Opening on a very sad note, the magazine Greater Laredo is no more. A wonderful nearly five years of association with Raul Gutierrez came to an end. Best wishes to a wonderful guy. By the Way will continue in LareDOS.
We put in some travelin' miles this summer. A road trip to California, a quick trip to San Miguel de Allende, then on to Canada for our cousin Ruth's 90th birthday. Unfortunately, we had to miss Mayor Aldo Tatangelo's 90th. We heard there was a real traffic jam as so many people dropped in to wish him well. Two wonderful friends enjoying such a good long life! Happy birthday to them both.
The wedding of Linda Ann Laflamme and Michael Haran was the premier reason for the California trip, as well as a visit to good buddy Darla Deats, primo Andy Gault, and goddaughter Paige Sanders Smith, as well as to bask in the beauty of the place we would probably most like to live if we were not in "Paradise on the Río," as we affectionately dub our beloved home town.
We left with a neat and tidy van and tried hard to keep it all in order. Of course, chaos reigned after a few miles and traveling companion Terry Palacios Smith howled at the book we read on the road. How to Organize your Life did end up more of a joke than anything. The harder we chase order, the more it eludes us. Oh well.
We left Terry to play mother of the bride, and proceeded on to Shell Beach where we would stay with Darla in her seaside apartment for a few days until we journeyed back up to Malibu where the wedding would take place. Her son Michael Richards joined us for the trip to the wedding. A big bear of a guy, he has the McManus personality and good looks. Darla's three sons are casualties of divorce and Michael and Darrel are raising their children together, including the children of brother David who is serving in Iraq. Michael and Darrel live in Carmel, California. We pray for David and our other GIs.
Their talented mom works and lives in Shell Beach and gave us wonderful tours of the area. Avila Bay became a household name recently. We were there shopping and exploring but did not go in the water. A great white shark attacked a woman there not long after we left.
Paige spent the afternoon with us at our hotel. She and her husband Cliff and their children Kristin and Parker live in Malibu. It was great to see her after several years.
Linda and Michael were married at the lush wooded Calemigos Ranch estate near Malibu. A story of the wedding appears elsewhere in this issue. A wonderful wedding, made even nicer by the gathering of old and new family and friends. We wish them well.
We spent the day with primo Andy Gault, who lives in Santa Barbara with his lovely wife Konnie. She was out of town planning her dad's 80th birthday so we did not get to see her, but Andy wined and dined us and gave us the royal tour of his wonderful new home and town. Perched atop a hill overlooking the bay, it is a jewel of a home. Konnie, a talented ballerina, has a studio on the second floor. Flowers and herbs grow everywhere. They share the home with their beloved dogs and Andy's fab cars. They send greetings to their friends in Laredo.
Very shortly after returning, we met old pal Joyce Johnson Early for a quick trip to our beloved San Miguel de Allende. We had a ball shopping and just relaxing in the gorgeous little paradise. A slogan we have adopted from a tile we saw there on our first trip has become a life style goal: "Que bonito es no hacer nada, y despues de no hacer nada, descansar" ("How beautiful it is to do nothing, and after doing nothing, to rest"). It takes some getting used to, and we have to beat down the feeling of guilt if we aren't doing something productive. We wonder how that became so ingrained in our nature? Yankee work ethic? It is perfectly OKAY not to be busy doing something every single minute! It really is! Stop and smell the roses -- our beloved late father-in-law Pete Reed used to say that.
Anna Claudia Benavides was honored with a beautiful misa de gracias at San Agustin Cathedral with a fiestecita following at the Executive Club, in celebration of her 50th birthday. She is the daughter of Norma Zuniga Benavides and the late Guillermo Benavides.
Mariachis greeted the honoree with song, much to her delight. So many friends and family joined the celebration. Among them were her brother Memo and his wife Sonia, whose parents Francisco and Minerva Madrid, and her sisters Olivia and Eddie Robbins and Minnie and James Urie, of Austin, also attended. Other relatives included Sylvia Zuniga, Gloria Zuniga, her daughters Diana, Sarita, Angie, and her future husband Bryan Adams.
María Luisa Ballas and her sister Cata Marulanda, as well as María Luisa's daughter Winkie and her husband Ken Jamiel, came from Houston. Winkie's son Lochlin and daughter Louisa Bramlett came with their parents. Louisa will be a deb this February, so we will see her often.
John Campbell and his parents Louis and Esther, are long-time special family friends. John, a former student during our brief sojourn as a substitute teacher some years ago, is a favorite Benavides family friend. A delightful and polite young man, John has a big position with HEB in San Antonio but chooses to live in his hometown, so he comes home every weekend.
Other guests included Dr. Joaquin and Barbara Cigarroa, Dr. Alfredo and Tina Treviño, Clayton Baum, Charlie Dickenson and Alicia, John and Linda Mann, Jack and Elizabeth Foster, George and Anita Macdonald, Gloria Gallagher, Bessie Gallagher, D. D. and Annie Dodier, Chito Salinas, Carlos and Oralia Varela, Rose and Clyde Dent, and Rose and Dan Ryan of San Antonio.
After a meeting to discuss the proposed green space ordinance, someone suggested a cuppa' at the Hamilton Hotel. What a great renovation -- Snake Pit ghosties were all around -- Bill Hall, Augie Guajardo, Sr., et al. Great that the downtown re-do is on track! So many interesting and important projects to be a part of! How can one not want to participate? Uh oh! That does cut into our no hacer nada‚ time! Sigh!