Friends for 46 years

Max and I had a great treat last night. We had dinner with Steve Sizemore, who I first met in 7th grade at Woodrow Wilson Junior High. That was in 1961, over 46 years ago. Steve and I were in junior and senior high together for the next 6 years and played basketball together for 5 years in 8th through 12th grade. Steve was my best friend through high school. He went to Michigan State for college and I went to OU. He then went to Berkeley for graduate school and I went to Arizona. Since then we have seen each other only on rare occasions.

Steve was in my sophomore English class at Will Rogers High School in Tulsa. I have to admit I had a bit of a "crush" on him that year. He was the first REALLY SMART PERSON that I had ever met and I was quite smitten by that intelligence. (That was of course before I met Uncle Sam and discovered a whole new dimension to the REALLY SMART PERSON!) But then the next year I had Latin with Don and I was so over Steve. And then it turned out that Don and Steve were best friends so I actually got better acquainted with Steve. After that senior year in high school I didn't see Steve again until Don and I saw him here in San Fran about 12 or so years ago- we went to an African restaurant- the first African Restaurant I had been to and it was so much fun not to have to mess with forks or spoons or knives or chop sticks- just your fingers and a lot of bread! So last night was such fun- And I so look forward to more time with Steve while we're here.

So last night was a real treat for us to catch up on the last 10 to 12 years of our respective lives. Steve manages the UNIX computer system at Berkeley and has been doing so for quite a while, but he now lives in Georgia with his wife (who is also an IT professional) and only spends half of his time each month in the Bay Area. So last night we finally got our schedules coordinated.

I find it wonderful that even though we see each other so rarely, our relationship is one that doesn't change even after all of these years of occasional crossing of paths. It was great to catch up on each other's lives, but it was also a real treat to spend time together again. It was comfortable, relaxed and just like old times. Some things never seem to change and having a best friend fits into that category. The better part of this is that Steve will be here the first half of each month the whole time we are here. Max and I are looking forward making sure we take advantage building on 46 years of friendship.

We walked down to Filmore for dinner and decided to eat at Fresca, the Peruvian restaurant that specializes in ceviche (yes Matthew and Sharon- it is as good as you remember). It is quite the place to be so we actually had to wait for about 20 minutes for a table (on a Monday night!)


We started with an appetizer-but can't remember what it was since our focus was on our main course.

We shared 6 different preparations of ceviche- my oh my that was a treat- I forgot to photograph all of them but above are two that I did remember! And then we still had room for desert (well at least Steve and I did)- so we finished with Chocolate cake- and an absolutely wonderful rice pudding. I'm looking so forward to more shared meals with an old friend in this new place.