LUNCH WITH A COUPLE OF STREET WALKERS

My cousin Terri Cardoza and I had lunch with a couple of self described "streetwalkers"-retired. "It's our claim to fame," said Elaine Koopman, left, of her partnership in crime with Millie Freitas. These two streetwalkers are 80 and 90 years old, respectively. The street walking happened during their twenties when the two best friends served in Soroptomists together and needed new blood for their group. They took to the street, knocking on doors, and managed to recruit 55 new members. Their reputation was established. Hmmm! Fame lives longer than 15 minutes in some circles.
Elaine flits around the house like a young girl. Millie beats Terri and I, and sundry others, at cards and dominoes with regularity. These two babes don't let any moss grow between their toes or ears.
Oh, that I can maintain such a sense of fun when I'm in my eighties and nineties.

OSO BUCO, HUMANE SOCIETY, AND AUTO CLUBS

My cousin Terri Cardoza is the hostess extraordinaire. Here she dishes up oso buco with her neighbor Millie Freitas watching, who is pushing 90 very hard, and a genuine character in her own right. Richard Cardoza hungrily watches. Countless times I've sat at their table and enjoyed bountiful meals and wonderful evenings of cards and/or dice. Millie inspires me to Dare-to-be-100, as she stays actively involved with her garden and neighbors. Terri has adopted the philosophy of the American Humane Society which basically postulates that if you take animals to the pound that are active in your neighborhood, others will soon move in to claim their territory. You never rid yourself of strays. Instead, you have neighborhood strays "fixed", thus keeping them actively hunting mice, gophers, etc. and preventing a cat population from exploding. She has trapped 25 cats and had them fixed with cooperative vets and help from the Humane Society. Richard, an excellent mechanic, belongs to a car club and has restored many interesting vehicles over the years. His current favorite is a 1969 Camaro. Besides cars, he has an unbelieveable electric train set-up that takes up a whole room; he barbeques in the summer and you couldn't ask for a better friend than Richard. His current ride of choice is a 1969 Camaro. Jim met them for the first time and, of course, they made him feel right at home. I feel so lucky that we are family.