September 19, 2002: Ted Barbour's Wedding in NC
	July 6-13, 2002: Our Summer Trip to Colorado
	Return to the Index for 2002

Well, it's that time once again to celebrate the birthdays of Fred, who turns 48 on August 6th, and Ron Mathis, who turned 39 on August 1st. As they have so graciously done before, Ron and Jay have offered to host the combined birthday party. As we have done in the past, we have invited all our Dallas friends, and almost all of them were able to come. In addition, Rudolf Lowenstein, the English cleric that Fred and I met online some time ago, is on one of his bi-annual visits to the United States, and since he was staying with us, we brought him along.

You may already have visited an album page in which I describe where Ron and Jay live in relation to my house in Dallas, but it doesn't take long to show you.

To get to Ron's house, Fred, Rudolf and I went up the Tollway to LBJ (I-635), took that east to US 75 north and then drove about twelve miles to the Parker Road exit. Then we head west on Parker.

At Roundrock, which is about three miles west of US 75, we turn north, go half a mile and turn left on Glenhaven. That's Ron's street.

Ron and Jay live down at the end of the first block. Ron has lived here for quite a few years, first with Chris Young and now with Jay Enriquez.

Chris has moved to Sherman-Denison where he is much closer to his work at a chip fabrication plant.

One of Ron's oldest friends, Hank was there with his partner Keith. As of this writing, I haven't seen Hank or Keith in many years and have forgotten their last names. Chris Young, Ron's former partner, was there from Sherman with his new partner, Steve. I believe that Chris has been in Sherman for a couple of years now, although from my vantage point writing this in 2012, I am not quite sure.

You have met Ron Drew before in this album. I have known him for quite some time, having met him in the early 1990s when he and Lowery Evans, a friend that Grant and I had met, moved in together in Grand Prairie. I continued to see him and Lowery after Grant's death in 1991; in the 1990s they lived for a time in Hackberry Creek in Irving. In the late 1990s Ron was offered a promotion with GTE that took him (and Lowery) to Tampa, Florida. Fred and I didn't get to see them much while they were there, but we made at least a few trips down before Lowery's death in 2000. About a year later, Ron met Leroy Trehern and they returned to Dallas for a time after Ron retired from GTE. At this point, they were living in Irving, where Ron was close to his old friends and considerably closer to his mom in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Lou Acevedo is a friend that Fred and I made some time ago, and he's come to be friends with just about everyone Fred and I know here in Dallas. I met Barbara Reynolds through Lowery in the early 1990s; how they had met I am not quite sure. But Fred and I saw Barbara frequently at Lowery's house and continued our friendship with her when Lowery and Ron moved to Florida. As of this writing, in 2012, we still see her often, and she is a frequent guest of ours at the Dallas Symphony. Finally, we have Rudolf Lowenstein, a Franciscan friar from London. Fred met him online when Fred posted some pictures of his cats. Rudolf found them, sent him an email, and we began corresponding. Rudolf makes trips to the US about every other year to see his father in Los Angeles and various friends that he has around the country. On these odysseys, he usually stops in to stay with us for a day or two, and this was one of those times. (Rudolf's father, interestingly enough, is the business manager for The Rolling Stones.)

As far as the pictures go, I'll just give you thumbnails and descriptions for them; you can click on the thumbnail images to see the full-size pictures:

Here are some of us looking at the birthday cards that Ron and Fred received. From left to right are Barbara (well, just the back of her head), Chris, Steve, Ron, Lou and me.

Chris, Steve and Ron.

One of the nice things about holding these mid-summer birthdays at Ron's house is that he has a pool, and that's a big plus when the day is warm. On the patio, under the umbrella, are Barbara, Leroy and Ron Drew. Around the jacuzzi are Lou, Rudolf and me.

Fred just took a partial zoom shot of the same scene, with the same people- except for me. Probably why he zoomed in- to crop me out.

This shot was taken through one of the windows in Ron's family room, looking out to the pool.

Keith and Hank in Ron's living room.

Back outside at the jacuzzi, there's Lou, Rudolf, Leroy and me.

Ron and Jay are doing burgers and hot dogs, and I am temporarily manning the grill.

On the patio are Leroy, Hank, Keith, Barbara and Rudolf.

We had a really great time at the birthday party this year; it has become a tradition that I hope will continue.

You can return to today's index or use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	September 19, 2002: Ted Barbour's Wedding in NC
	July 6-13, 2002: Our Summer Trip to Colorado
	Return to the Index for 2002