An Easter Story

This is a true story. Last year my family had a beautiful reunion at my brother's ranch in Perris, California. It was one of the most magical moments of my life. I hope that you enjoy my memories! Love Cat

I wanted to remember everything I could about that evening and write it all down before the events and images became hazy in my memory. It was a time that I will never quite forget, an unexpected gift that came when I least expected it, the day before Easter, Saturday, March 29th, 1997. I had dismissed the holiday as a time meant for children, a time for little boys and girls, dressed up in their Sunday best, to scramble for every chocolate treat they could find in their Easter baskets. A time for kids, running around after breakfast in the back yard, furtively hunting to see who could collect the most brightly colored eggs left by the Easter Bunny. I found out that weekend that Easter is for all of us!

My thought were consumed, at the moment, with the arrival of my new computer. I knew that Dad was coming over that afternoon to see the progress I had made putting it all together. I had worked diligently at this task and gazed with pride at my new system, up and running in the living room of my lovely apartment. I couldn't wait to show it off!

Dad had mentioned something about dinner at my brother Jimmy and his wife Liz' place. I hadn't given it much thought, to tell the truth, until I got a phone call that morning from Dad saying that he was on his way, reminding me of the occasion. Though I love my brother and Liz dearly and had wanted to see their place for a long time, I must admit, I selfishly hoped it would be a short trip so that I could get back to my wonderful new toy!

I pulled myself away from the monitor screen in time to put together a vegetarian casserole to take as a gift. I recalled that Liz was a strict vegitarian, and being a pretty good cook, if I do say so myself, I knew that it would be a fine offering. I got dressed and ready to go in a hurry. There were pots still boiling on the stove when Dad arrived at my doorstep. I proudly ushered him in and displayed my new computer system. I would have been content to stay right there all night browsing through screens and manuals, but Dad urged me to hurry up and get ready as we had a drive ahead of us and the afternoon was waning. With some hesitation, I had to agree with him. I hastily put my casserole dish, straight from the stove, into a container, fed the cat and we got on our way.

I remembered that Jim and Liz lived somewhere in Riverside County, which I knew was some distance away. Dad was driving so I settled back in the passenger seat with a video game in hand. We jumped on the freeway heading east, chitchatting and snacking on a few treats we had brought along with us. After awhile I began to feel sleepy as we rolled on away from the city that was my familiar turf. It's kind of funny. You can live in L.A. your whole life and never see the whole city. That's how big it is. There's a song, Idon't know the title or the artist, that they used to play on my favorite radio station, now sadly demised and sorely missed, FM 101.9, that had a refrain that went something like "Drove 500 miles today and I never even left L.A." It's like that here. You can get caught up in the fast paced lifestyle that often comes with being an Angeleno and forget what it is like to breath the air, fragrant with alfalfa, or enjoy the sights of the sloping hillsides in springtime, splashed with miles of brightly colored mustard.

I was fortunate enough to have grown up in a suburban part of L.A. county where we had the opportunity to appreciate these things, but it has been a long time since I looked forward with anticipation to the season changes, watching the green hillsides blossom with spring flowers. That seems like more than a lifetime ago. I have traveled all over the world and been down some pretty long roads that have led me into many different walks of life, with baggage full of memories that only a somewhat wild and untamed spirit could have collected, I came to settle down in a n obscure corner of the city, a "city within a city", a place I could finally call home, with some reservations, Lomita, California. Many Angelenos have never heard of the place, a few square miles that sit humbly at the base of the rich Palos Verdes Peninsula, bordered by Torrance and Harbor City in an area called the South Bay. Nothing to write home about, I guess, but after years of wanderings, inexplicable to my family, I was making an attempt to ground myself. I have my beloved cat, Meister, at my side and a quiet refuge from the streets where I can create without much disturbance. It is everything I need.

This day, I hesitantly pulled myself away from my secrect paradise to venture out into another world. I never imagined, caught up in my own experience, what a wonderous Easter surprise lay in store for us!

As we drove on, the scenery became more rural. I dozed off and on while Dad navigated. I remember grumbling, half asleep, while he informed me that most of my aunts, uncles, cousins and more would be there for the gathering I was in no mood to handle seeing all of them after so many years of self imposed exile. How would I present myself? Were they all as judgemental as my insecure ego imagined? After all, I was the "Black Sheep", I supposed, of the Fliege clan. In reality, everyone was much too busy with their own lives to pay much attention to mine. Luckily, I had not been given forewarning of this reunion or I am certain that I would have protested more. Maybe Dad planned it that way.

The sun was sliding lower towards the west where the rolling hills seemed to go on forever. I woke up from a catnap as we pulled off the freeway and onto what appeared to be a deserted road. My interest was sparked by the unfamiliar sights of cattle and open fields. We passed through a small village that seemed to be a replica of an old western town, complete with a country store, feed depot and bar. After that there seemed to be nothing at all, except for an occasional dirt road running off from the main road that we were traveling on. I remember wondering where Jim and Liz could be doing their grocery shopping. I hadn't seen a super market at all.

The air was fragrant with the scent of alfalfa, hay and eucalyptus. I recalled those scents all to well from my childhood, so deep in the past. I closed my eyes again and drank in the familiar scents that brought back so many memories, long forgotten.

I was startled from my reverie as the car jolted roughly onto another road, this one seeing to be leading us into even more remote countryside. The road wasn't paved and we had to make our way slowly in order to avoid an occasional dip. I wondered absently how Jim and Liz were able to traverse during the rains. There was a house here and there. Street signs that appeared to be handmade. All very quaint. It felt like we were a million miles away from Los Angeles.

Driving on, we eventually pulled off onto a pitted dirt road with a carved wood sign that marked Jimmy and Liz' street. The road curved around and at last we were there! Dad pointed up the hill to a lovely little house shaded with tall eucalyptus trees that must have been there for a longe time! There was open space speading out everywhere, The quiet drew my attention to small things like a flock of birds singing as they passed overhead. Their shadows grazed us for a moment, beckoning me to look to the sky. I rarely notice birds in the city except for maybe a few dirty pigeons here and there, which I distastefully avoid at the prospect of becoming a target for one of their nasty droppings! I do love animals, but my contact with wildlife is pretty limited.

I have my darling cat, Meister, but he is so domesticated that he lives the pampered life of a prince. He would be no more equipped to hunt in the wild than I would. Well, maybe I'm wrong about that. Cats have instincts, but he is not going to have the opportunity to test his if I have anything to say about it and that's that! I keep him indoors except for occasional trip to the vet or little walks where I take him on a kitty leash around the neighborhood. This was indeed a different world.

We started up the gravelly driveway leading up to Jimmy and Elizabeth's house. It was steep and dusty. We finally came to a stop and the dust began to clear around us. Here we were! By this time I was quite intrigued. There were lots of other cars parked in the rugged driveway already, but still plent of space for us. "Your brother and Elizabeth have five acres of land.", my father explained proudly. "They have done a lot of work here." An understatement.

As we got out of our car I noticed my brother, Ronny, my Uncle George and a few others standing around in thefront yard. Dad and I made our way up the rest of the drive by foot and greeted everyone. I began to feel at ease and forgot about my earlier trepidations regarding our visit. I was about to ask my brother, Ronny, who the pretty, shy young lady standing with them was, when my uncle Alan came out from inside the house. I hadn't seen him in years. "This is your cousin, Leslie." He told me. My eyes grew wide with wonder. "She's beautiful!" I exclaimed. So grown up! I had remembered her as a child and here she was, a lovely young woman!

I gazed up a t the quanit 40's style farm house again that had been so lovingly restored as to keep what I imagined to be the original look of the place intact. I felt as if I had been transported back to a time where life was lived at a slower pace, a time where one stopped to savor the small things in life that we modern day city dwellers have either forgotten or never knew.

I made my way up the little path to the front door of the house and stepped into the hallway that led to the tiny living room. It was cool inside, in contrast to the heat that still lingered under the late afternoon sun. I immediately admired the appeal of the Southwestern decor that tastefully boasted carefully selected throw rugs, brightly painted vases. and other charming objets d'art that greeted me as I entered the darling house. Jimmy and Liz had carefully decorated their home in this appropriate style with just the perfectly placed ornaments, nothing too ostentatious or overdone. I was already impressed!

I happily greeted more family members as I entered the cozy living room. Everyone seemed so genuinely glad to see one another. As it was a surprise to me, I luckily didn't have much time to be nervous or frettful before our arrival. It was a perfect setting for our reunion!

I "met" my cousin, Brian, now a longhaired computer science senior in college. Both he and Leslie were so grown up that I never would have recognized them! My sweet Aunt Vickie looked about the same as I had remembered her. We reminisced over some family history and chuckled together at how the time slips by so quickly. "Yes, of course I remember when you and Uncle Alan got married! 28 years ago! No way! I guess we are getting older!", we laughed together and then Jimmy chimed in, "I remember too." Now Jimmy is five years younger than I. He was quite little then but I am sure that he does remember. Family has always been important to him. I still think of Jimmy as my little brother and Ronny, well, he is eight years younger than I am and he will eternally be my baby brother. Both boys are their sister's pride though she rarely says so. I guess now the cat is out of the bag!

As we chatted, my mother glided into the room, elegant as always, face aglow and came over to me with a big kiss and a hug. She insisted on taking me for a tour of the charming little house and the grounds. I readily agreed. She had every reason to be the proud mom that day. I began to feel my heart swell with pride again as I observed more of the beautiful detail and care that my brother and Elizabeth had put into their retreat. There was an atrium full of exotic birds, all in expansively decorated cages that were fully adorned with hand made perches and toys. Bags of feed and other supplies lay stacked neatly in one corner. Everthing seemed to be so lovingly cared for and tidy. This theme was apparent everywhere, from the tiny cactus garden along one side of the house to the well tended corals and the herd of goats that gazed down curiously at us from their grazing pasture which sloped up behind the house almost as far as we could see. As we were admiring the exotic birds Jimmy wandered in and pointed out his parrot, Alex, whom I remembered from years ago! "That's the bird that you used to let watch soap operas, isn't it?" Mom and I giggled with my cousins. "I remember when you would call me up and let me listen to him on the phone! He mimicked the voices of those characters perfectly!"

My father insisted that we take a good tour of the outdoors before dusk so that we could observe everything properly while there was still enough light. Enchanted, I hurried to join him an my cousins to catch a glimpse of everything before the sun dropped behind the golden hills that seemed to spread out forever. We followed Dad along little tended paths that wound around the back of the ranch house. There was so much to see! Dad had a story to relate about almost every little landmark. There was an antique "tractor" that Jimmy had restored which he now tooled about in, according to Dad, when he did his chores. There were the newly erected sheds that Jimmy had built with the promise of filling the coral with horses someday soon. This had been a dream of Jimmy and Liz for years. They were making their dream come true! There were shade trees, dog kennels, cat kennels,aquariums and more. A real animal kingdom! And the well tended landscape was carefully planted and nurtured with indigenous trees and foliage.

Quickly the sun slipped down behind the rolling hills. As dusk fell a bright moon appeared and little sparkling stars dotted the sky overhead. I stood in the gathering darkness gazing at the unfamiliar sight above. Being the city dweller that I am, I was dazzled by the majestic beauty of the night sky, pulsating with life. I could feel the vastness of space that spread out way beyond my vision or imaginings. There was still a touch of muted light on the horizon, just enough to allow me to make out the silhouette of another car as it crunched up the driveway towards the house. I squinted to make out who it might be.

Dad appeared then by my side. He was waving at the approaching car. It pulled to a halt and I recognized my uncle, Stewart, Dr. Fliege, as he immerged from the passenger side. The attractive lady with him was his new wife, Charlayne, no doubt. Now, Doctor Fliege, I must say, is quite a character. Bright, quick witted, sometimes caustic, he is never dull. Opinionated? That's my uncle! I have always secretly adored Uncle Stew and looked up to him though I never said so. He is quite lovable underneath his sometimes intimidating manner. I had heard nothing but praise for his lovely wife, Charlayne. They had been together now for some time, but, as I mentioned, it had been years since I had seen most of my relatives. That night I finally had the pleasure of talking with Charlayne an I found her to be truly warm and charming. I like her very much. She is smart, genuinely gracious and unpretentious. I am pleased for my uncle.

There was a sense of real harmony that night. Harmony with nature and harmony between all of us who had come together that day. Everyone seemed wholeheartedly pleased to be there. The atmosphere felt charged with enthusiasm as we all greeted one another. You could feel the affection like an old familiar blanket wrapped around you. And something else that I din't realize until later, we were having too much fun to muse, a sense of poignancy hung in the air that night. All of us there together, unexpectedly after so long. Through personal trials and triumphs we immerged, if only for this one time, as something special, a perfect image of that dying breed, the extended family. More than likely, that was the last time we would all be together. It was our Easter gift, that reunion, something to treasure forever.

I remember standing with Uncle Stew out in front of the little house, past the shade trees where we had a perfect view of the panoramic heavens above. He was pointing to what appeared to be a large star. They all looke large and alive to me, a city girl who is lucky if she catches a glimpse of the moon now and then. One by one the others curiously wandered out to see what the fuss was about. The professor, Doctor Fliege, happy to have a crowd now, continued to instruct. "It's the Hale Bopp Comet!" We were advised as to the best way to view the splaying tail of the comet and given more particulars as we peered up at the night sky. Apparently, the comet can only be viewed someting like once every 2000 years or so. We were in luck! Of course, we couldn't resist making a few snide remarks about the "Heaven's Gate" cult incident that had occurred the previous week. They had supposed that they were going to meet their spaceship that was somewhere "behind" the 29 mile wide comet. The "spot" that they had thought to be their "spaceship" had sadly been an aberration, of course.

Turning our thoughts to more positive things, we all took our turns gazing at the comet. You could clearly see the tail of the comet splaying out majestically behind it. I remember well the image of us standing there in front of the house, silhouetted against the gathering darkness. It was a perfect moment. I admired the profiles of Dad and my two uncles, the resemblance startling, even in the twilight. Pretty soon the beckoning of lights and delicious scents on the air called us back inside. It was almost time for dinner!

I wandered back insideand snuck into the kitchen to take a peek where Elizabeth was hard at work. What a fantastic kitchen she has! They must get wonerful light from the large window panes facing west. I admired the handsome cabinets that Jimmy had installed so carefully and the large butcher block table in the center of the room, a chef's delight! There were blenders whirling, pots boiling, crates of fresh strawberries waiting to be opened and much more! A few more curious onlookers sauntered in to take a look. Pretty soon we were ordered out of the way by Elizabeth and her mom. As we made our way back to the living room, my mother stopped me for a moment to point out a hand painted mosaic fresco where the kitchen borded the dining room. It depicted beautifully reproduced images of the wildlife and vegetation indigenous to the area. This had been a housewarming gift to Jim and Liz from one of their friends.

While we waited with anticipation for supper we snacked on delicious cheeses and sipped exquisite wines. There were enticing aromas wafting from the kitchen. I decided to take another short walk outside again and enjoy a bit more fresh air before we ate. I savored a glass of Chardonnay and gazed up at the night sky.

At last we were all directed towards the dining room. The table was tastefully set with a combination of fine china and rustic baskets offering a variety of tempting delights. The windows were adorned with pretty lace curtains. The walls entertained an assortment of family photographs and curio cabinets, all creating an atmosphere that welcome us to make ourselves at home. Jimmy and Liz have come a long way from cooking over a Coleman stove in a tent, which, I am told, they did for a whole year while the house was being "remodeled". From what I understand, there wasn't much house to work with when they started, but what they have created is a charming dream home, just as they had envisioned for so long.

The dining room was bathed in candlelight and there were vases of fresh flowers elegantly arranged and placed. We took our seats at the long country style table that was laden with bottles of fine wines andother tempting offerings, as I mentioned. Soon the first course was brought in, a chilled salad of baby greens with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Everyone dug in with gusto! The conversation was animated between enthusiastic bites of delicious food and elegant wine sipped from crystal glasses that sparked with fire from the candlelight that illuminated the room.

Elizabeth had really outdone herself! The courses kept coming and were greeted with much enthusiasm. Each dish seemed to surpass the last one if that is possible, from the garden salad to the pesto pasta, prepared with no nuts in my honor, as I am allergic to nuts, to the grand finale, Elizabeth's wonderful homemade whole wheat shortcakes topped with fresh strawberries and candy ginger whipped cream! Calories were not spared that night, nor did anyone care! The meal was absolutely superlative in every way!

It was like a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting, with a modern touch of course. I am certain that everyone had a wonderful time. I know I did! After dinner we sipped coffee and suddenly it was time to be on our separate ways home. Most of us had long drives ahead of us, but no one seemed to mind. As I hugged my brothers lovingly my heart swelled anew. A sister's pride knew no bounds! Both of my boys, so unique and precious to me! I am a lucky girl indeed to be so blessed. We made our farewells at last. As Dad and I pulled out of the driveway and onto the little street, I gazed back up at the house with its' twinkling lights. I knew then that this had been a once in a lifetime moment for all of us Flieges. In the car Dad and I chattered enthusiastically all the way back home. I couldn't wait to get back to my new computer, but now I had a new project to lure me! I wanted to remember everything about that evening and write it all down before the events and images became hazy in my memory. What better way to break in my new computer than to recount the special moments we had just shared? Happy Easter everyone!

Love Cat

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