Tilden Park - 2026
photos by Styrous®
A few months after we had been seeing each other, I had Tom get on the back of my Beemer and we rode up to Tilden Park in the hills above Berkeley. I'm not sure what tine of the year it was but I remember it was one of those rare Bay Area days when it was hot and a pleasure to be riding on the bike with the warm wind blowing through our hair (it was pre-helmit days) and the warmth and light of the sun strobe through the trees over head. It was like a scene out of a beautiful, romantic movie.
I drove along Grizzly Peak Road along the park and because the road is so narrow with no place for a car to stop it was perfect for me to pull over and park the bike. We got off and found a spot amongst the underbrush and sat and talked for quite a while about our relationship up to that point. That was when I told him that I believed I was beginning to have serious feelings toward him but I wasn't sure. He acknowledged that he understood and said we'd have to see where all this might be going to which I agreed.
This last Monday, fifty years later, I drove up to the park, this time in a car as I no longer have the bike (link below) . . .
With my cousin Anita and sister Barbara with me I remembered how the relationship with Tom had started (link below), where it has gone and after fifty years, how deep my love for him has exponentially grown. I'm pretty sure he heard me.
photo by Barbara
After I celebrated the life and achievements of Tom (links below) and said what I needed to tell him, we continued the celebration with a lunch I had packed along.
. . . and enjoyed the fantastic view.
I know he is enjoying the view!
And he would have marveled at the plane that appeared in the sky above us,
perhaps it was him taking off!
Tilden Park - Monday, November 9, 2026
photo by Styrous®
Styrous® ~ Friday, November 13, 2026
