Bedtime Stories and Other Tales

You're never too old: By the time you get to be my age, you've had so many experiences you never thought you would have that it's difficult to decide which one to write about. Some experiences are secret, so they can never be disclosed. Working in real estate back in the 70s, I sold a mansion in the Hollywood Hills to Raymond Burr. I also sold the Occidental Movie Studios, home to pioneering filmmakers; Cecil B. De Mille, D. W. Griffith and Mary Pickford. It was purchased by a firm that made music videos for singer Donna Summer, the "Disco Queen." However, taking part in the sale of the Ambassador Hotel and Coconut Grove on Wilshire Blvd. was the highlight of my eight years in real estate. These experiences were never planned or thought of when I was living in Texas. I've already written about cooking and serving dinner to Julia Child and meeting my lover of almost fifty years at a dance bar in San Francisco. When writing prompts, I've described my getting lost alone in the desert. Or being at sea for the first time on an ocean liner and suddenly awakened at 3 am by the ship's alarm and an announcement by the captain to prepare to abandon ship-on a stormy night in the Pacific Ocean. I hesitate to repeat the numerous stories I've shared about the stars of stage and screen, politicians, CIA spies, dukes, duchesses, foreign dignitaries, media personalities, renowned artists, writers and gourmet chefs that we had the opportunity to know, entertain and serve while running our inn and restaurant in rural New Mexico. None of which I ever dreamed I would experience.