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Sisterhood of the Traveling Tins. Curtis has always been into Tolkien, and into painting miniatures. For Christmas 1979, a year after Jeanine and Curtis got married, Curtis painted up some tins with Tolkien runes, and sent our gifts to Julia in them. Julia sent them back with Texas pecans, and a tradition was born. We sent them back and forth to each other until the last time, Christmas 2016. Family members remember those cans, and helping Julia fill them.

I remember, though, the time Julia sent me on a Boy Scouts river adventure with Jeanine's youngest brothers. (More is written about this elsewhere.). Most of my memories start from the yearly visits she would make to our home after I left Austin. I would be the gourmet cook, waiter, drink maker,

In 1998, Julia bought us this Santa for our house. It was brilliant! We have a specific place for this Santa every year.

and chauffeur, and she would buy the wine and her favorite "Rotgut" whiskey. We would buy special bourbon for Julia, but she would always insist on cheap whiskey. I would stay up with her (way past her bedtime) and we would have lively discussions over wine and rotgut and then I would help her to bed.

We drove down route one along the Pacific Coast to Big Sur, we took her to a meditation retreat center in the middle of the Santa Cruz Mountains, we visited San Francisco, and we always visited her cousin George and his wife Irene in Castro Valley (near Oakland in the east bay).

Julia had never been to Europe, so, in the summer of 1987, I got her first class tickets to Paris and a week in a five star hotel, Prince De Galles, on avenue Georges 5th, in downtown Paris. Julia had a great time there with Jeanine (her interpreter). The three of us had a great dinner on the Champs Elysees. Julia and Jeanine would often go on traveling adventures.

Julia and Jeanine had Sunday telephone calls almost every week, and I often would get on the phone to discuss the latest goings on.

Curtis
Dec. 31, 2018

(Thanks much, Curtis, for your remembrance of Julia, 10/16/22-11/18/18, who was Larry's, Jeanine's, and their six brothers' mom. Larry)

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