The Lake

If you are from San Mateo County all of us know there is no lake here. The only lake I grew up knowing about is the Crystal Springs Resivoir. I dream about water-sking on it because it is so flat. I even asked my girlfriends for my 50th, if they'd be willing to do some jail time to make that dream a reality for me.

Mom's lake is the Foster City Lagoon. She asks to drive over to it daily. Jane use to take her there to eat lunch, stroll along the lagoon, watch the wind surfers or peek in at the senior center. Now Mom convinces every new care taker to take her there to enjoy the sites.

Last Friday I called to check in. I had been on a business trip to New York City for a few days so I thought I'd work a half day Friday and take her to lunch. That morning she said she had a slight cold, cancelled her weekly hair appointment and was going to "take it easy". She asked for a rain check.

Of course I rescheduled my day accordingly. Then not more than an hour later around lunch time I got a phone call from Mom, "Hiya. I was hoping since we have not seen each other in days, we could do lunch". She loved to "do lunch". I kind of reminded her that she had declined lunch due to her not feeling well. She just responded, "Well I feel great now and I'd love to get out of the house". How could I refuse?

I grabbed some tacos and drove her to the lake. She loved every second of it. "Look at the ducks. Look at the beautiful sparkles off the water. Look at the windsurfers". We were parked in the handicap spot overlooking the lagoon. She acted as if we were vacationing and overlooking the Italian Riviera. It was sunny. It was magnificent.