On Sunday I passed from 65 to 66. I told Axel we should have taken a ride on Route 66 but it is a bit far from here. Instead he took me on a surprise birthday trip to Portland (Maine) where he had created a feast that went from fabulous lunch to fabulous dinner to fabulous hotel to fabulous breakfast to fabulous lunch before we headed home via Tessa and Steve.
They whipped up a fresh pasta meal for us with leftover sauces from their annual friends dinner where some 18 people come together to enjoy each other and great food. It’s a wonderful ritual that reminds me a bit of our periodic taco nights when we lived in Georgetown (MA) and the guys vied with each other for who could eat the hottest taco – sweat drops running down their foreheads as they pushed beyond limits. Was it fun? For us not engaged in this contest it was great fun to watch the men in their self-imposed suffering.
Sylvia's Journal 
I saw a lovely sad movie last week: “The Bread Winner” and thought of you and Axel in Afghanistan, working with the teenagers.
Love to you at the holidays.
Carol Sawyer, University of La Verne
On Sat, Dec 9, 2017 at 7:11 AM, Sylvia’s Journal wrote:
> svriesendorp posted: “On Sunday I passed from 65 to 66. I told Axel we > should have taken a ride on Route 66 but it is a bit far from here. Instead > he took me on a surprise birthday trip to Portland (Maine) where he had > created a feast that went from fabulous lunch to fabulous ” >
Hi Carol, what a surprise to read you. Yes, the movie is on our list and your comment was a good reminder to go see it. Merry Christmas