It
was 1988 and I was celebrating my thirteenth Leap Year birthday and I
was thinking of having a bar mitzvah but I wasn't ready to go through
the Hebrew lessons again so instead I had a party at The Golden Spike
restaurant which had a fantastic buffet including a really tasty carrot
cake.

I
have a whole album of pictures from that evening. In addition I do have
my diary notes and a copy of my master charge credit card receipt and
The Golden Spike receipt for 25 people @ $15.50 per person-- remember
this was 23 years ago!--plus 5 carafes of wine--and an $80 tip so with
tax  came to $459.25! (Amazing the stuff I have in my diaries LOL)

I,
also have a list of the people who came, and looking over the list, I
am sad at how many have died since then, the few that have
'disappeared', four whose names/pictures I don't recognize while a
couple have moved away.

(In
picture above top center is the article/picture that appeared in the
local newspaper when I celebrated my first Leap Year birthday!)

Four
years later for my 14th Leap Year birthday I decided to try something
different. I held an open house from 1 PM to 9 PM in my two bedroom
apartment just off Sunrise Boulevard.

Of
course you know there would be a few cakes but I also served 'only junk
food' like pizza, popcorn, candy, cookies, chips, soda, etc. but no
booze--hey, it's a teenagers party!!! (By the way, do you notice the
round table--it is the same one I have today!)

A
huge suprise that day was Mark Covington flew in from Santa Fe, New
Mexico, and stayed for 3 days. We even got to have lunch with, and he
met, Richard Stahl. Sadly, Mark would 'disappear' in a couple of
years--for some reason I feel he died .

James
made me a "A Chorus Line top hat--that a few years later my birds
shredded! I did send/gave out about 100 invitations and I have the list
but I couldn't tell you who came and went over the 8 hours and by then I
haven't had a drink in 11 years so I won't use that as an excuse!

As
always looking over the list I am sad at seeing who have died and/or
'disappeared', meaning I have no idea what has happemed to them, over
the period of 19 years it wasn't as bad as previously.

I now had 4 years until my 15th birthday and 8 years until I was 'sweet sixteen'!