I remember our first meeting in front of Bagel Bistro… actually, you helped us pick that name so it was Bagel Brothers then For one, you got my odd quirky humour and indulged my off, and SUPER off beat ideas… and second, you kept on eating our food – how great is that!

Carol, Kathy, and I still go over the Business Plan you created for us, and surprise, surprise, the ones you recommended are the ones that ended up most profitable (I am pretty sure one was that Carol do all the cooking and I stick to community work….)

I am so excited for the both of you, and might I add that there is no reason whatsoever that you cannot come to Santa Cruz – I promise not to lock you up in one of our facilities…. no matter how much Cindy begs me too!

Good luck to all your future endeavors. You and GCI are the best at what you do. Congradulations.

Lynda

— Ed rescuing me during snow storms to bring me to work because I’m too chicken to drive.

— Comparing war stories (really). Both of our dads fought in WWII.

— Trading travel memories. We both have lots of stamps in our passports, but Ed is going to have a LOT more in the near future.

— One particularly fussy coffee pot that always boiled over causing a mess. Ed said he didn’t mind running into burning buildings, but he wasn’t going to get near that coffee pot!

— Ed’s puns.
— Ed’s laugh.
— Ed’s big heart.

- After Ed returned from Greece he brought with him the secret to an excellent Greek salad. Fresh feta = delicious!

- Ed’s stories from responding to medical emergencies have actually made me ill… go ahead and ask him for his top 5 scenarios for sure-fire nausea. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

- The day when Ed stopped reading the newspaper during lunch instead he surfing on his Blackberry… in fact he’s doing it right now. Ah, progress.

- Raiding the pantry for snacks when the studio was on the back of Connie’s house off Boulevard Road

- The odd sensation of having a key to your employer’s house in order to go to work

- Rose Bowl parties

- Moving into our first “real” studio on 4th Avenue

- Remodeling the studio to replace light tables and art boards with work stations for more computers

- Converting various spaces in the studio into nurseries as employees had babies over the years

- Enjoying Bob Newhart perform live at a client’s fundraiser at the Seattle Flight Museum

- The purple robe

- Clients visiting with their dogs

- Photo shoot by helicopter over Saint Martins

- Connie baking a birthday cake for Donnie on our first day in our present studio. Smelled wonderful!

- Connie’s birthday cruise last year

Watching little 12-year-old Mindy mature into a sensible adult, great school teacher and wonderful mother of two.

Oh, and just for the record, Jenny already had her neck injury before riding in my truck.

One of my favorite memories with Ed was when he had to drive me back to the office after a meeting (he didn’t have to of course, he’s just nice like that.) The snow had turned to horrible ice grooves along the road. I have a neck injury and his truck, being ginormous as it is caused some serious whiplash on my part. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t like the whiplash, it was just fun to joke about how glad I was when he would drive Cindy’s hybrid after that.