50 Years, and They’re Just Starting

Maybe it’s because the presidential campaign has lasted too long. Maybe it’s because summer will not cheerfully depart but hangs on like a bad habit. It is a time of grumpiness and ennui.

Two perfectly bright women have told me this week that they are convinced the world is coming to an end and they can show me the passages in the Bible to prove it. I declined their offers, as overheated and annoyed as I am already, and because an array of mice has invaded my house.

That’s why a golden anniversary party I attended recently was like a week in the country, a meadow with a creek wandering through it.

It was absolutely invigorating to be in a roomful of delightful people with the anniversary couple Larry and Shirley Freeberg and their six children, their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren.

The children, all grown up and tall and handsome, are Gary, Gregg, Chris, Mike, Mary Ann and Tony.

There were more than 70 guests in the Crystal Ballroom and adjoining reception room at the Esmeralda Hotel in La Quinta. The tables were adorned with arrangements of white butterfly orchids and gerbera daisies from Holland in colors from palest peach to soft rose. The music was marvelous, each melody full of memories.

The tour de force of the evening was a collage the Freebergs’ daughter Mary Ann had assembled of family snapshots, film strips and movie film. She scored it with music that was popular in the time shown in each picture. And she captured the family events so that each birthday party was attached to the correct kid. Not an easy chore when there are six, with holiday celebrations and other parties in between.

The Freebergs are a gracious and hospitable couple. The party at the hotel had the same warmth as the dinner parties they have in their home in Avenida Club La Quinta.

The dinner was veal Marsala prepared by Esmeralda chef James Walsh, who flavors his dishes with herbs he grows outside the hotel kitchen door.

The dessert was, of course, a wedding cake, a raspberry swirl confection topped with the pedestal holding a tiny bride and groom that had crested Shirley and Larry’s wedding cake.

Shirley told me that 50 years in a series of storage spaces had taken their toll--the bride had lost her veil and the groom’s Army officer’s cap had disappeared. (Larry was an Army officer in World War II when they were married.) For the party, they were able to re-create the cap and used a wisp of tulle for a new veil.

The couple lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, where they raised their children in a pleasant, hilly little town named Ross. Larry was in the automobile business selling and leasing cars.

They moved to Southern California where they lived for several years in San Marino, and recently retired to La Quinta. Larry plays an excellent game of golf. On the anniversary day, the Freebergs had a family golf tournament, which Larry won.

At each place setting was a small, glossy box filled with gold-wrapped chocolate almond kisses and topped with a small scroll with a facsimile of a gold wedding ring.

The scroll read: “Larry and Shirley--50th.

“Alas from the hive of time this honeyed hour has arrived. We taste the sweetness of 50 years of love and commitment and rejoice in the ‘yes’ of life lived daily. We hold in our hearts the treasure of faith knowing God is with us ever faithful.

“We celebrate God’s love mirrored here today in family and friends gathered. We are thankful for blessings bestowed abundantly. Lastly, we thank you for the gift of your presence at this celebration of love.--The Freeberg Family.”

It was a black-tie dinner and even the smallest grandson looked elegant in his dinner jacket. The small girls looked as if they had stepped from a Watteau painting with their flounces, ribbons and laces.

It was a delicious party from the beginning to the last champagne toast. The guests were from all over the United States, and Larry ran an airport shuttle for days getting everyone tucked into hotels. As they left, everyone agreed that this was the best party they had attended in years.

If the world is coming to an end, I’m glad I went to the Freebergs’ 50th and so was everyone else in the room.