It is true!

The woman I live with, Vin, offered to have a birthday party for me and said to invite some friends. I wanted to meet Larry and Diane and this seemed like a good opportunity.

I don't quite remember how the phone conversation went exactly but I tend to begin conversations with lengthy apologetic preambles so I most likely said to Larry, "You don't know me and it is funny calling someone I've never met but this is Holly Baker, I'm an Archipelagean." Diane reported later that she was watching Larry's face at the time and she found the metamorphosis of confusion to understanding pretty interesting.

Our front doorbell doesn't work and I had neglected to tell Larry this so I was very nervous that they would come and no one would answer. Fortunately my nifty accessory was getting into her car and she told them to knock loudly. I opened the door and began blabbering about the doorbell and them not being able to get in when Larry, who was still on the porch, finally said, "So are you Holly?"

We had cartons and cartons and more cartons of Chinese Food! This of course provided us with the opportunity to discuss John.

It turns out that one of Vin's daughters works for the same school district that Diane works for and they have a mutual friend. Vin is also a genealogy buff and I showed Diane some of Vin's photographs etc. My parents were here also and my father was on the Redwood City School Board for many years and talked with Larry for a while (Redwood City is about 25 miles north of here).

An old friend of mine came with his girlfriend and Larry and I showed them Archipelago. It was a tad comical. One of us would say, "Show him this" and the other would say, "No, show him that".

I very much enjoyed meeting Larry and Diane. They are delightful people.

Diane said she reads the voice cards and thinks we are an aereodite (sorry my dictionary is not nearby) group and doesn't want to contribute. I think spouses should feel free to throw something in. I'm glad I met Larry and Diane because I was intimidated by the group and now I know there are real people behind those icons!

John called the 1988 Desert Island Dinner Archipelago's first success. This event was another Archipelago success. I think we should someday in the future (near or far) all meet somewhere. In the mean time I hope the California contingency can get together.