Our “coffee-mates” from church all signed a get well card for my husband and sent it to us. On the front of the card is a beautiful pen & ink drawing of Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, California, by John Pearson, a member of our church.

Little did they know that this is where I spent just about every summer as a teen and seeing the drawing flooded my senses with all sorts of wonderful memories from long ago.

My sister and I would spend hours stretched out on the rocks, sunbathing in our bikinis (like I said, long ago). We use to smear our bodies with baby oil mixed with iodine. We would literally “fry” ourselves, our goal being to accomplish the most “rad” tan possible in one week’s time. What we would get would be an incredible sunburn which Mom (yes, the lasagne lady) would then attack with a bottle of apple cider vinegar. Ahhhh, those were the days!

I remember hearing “The Monster Mash” for the first time at one of the hamburger diners nearby. Hours were spent entertaining our parents with our rendition of that song.

But the best memory that comes to mind: Dad had a small speed boat. It was a catamaran (double-hull) which was supposed to be safer than a regular boat. This was selected because Mom couldn’t swim and was terrified of the whole ordeal. Well anyway, Dad would pull my sister and I, at the same time, on giant “banana skis” and we would fly all over Emerald Bay — with one goal in mind — to see which one of us could cause enough “wake” to dump the other. We were adorable.

Thanks for the memories!