Rome - Fall 2009
The King grew up in a Veteran's Coop in Queens, NY - Bell Park. There were 850 families - most of them World War II veterans just home from war and everyone was making children. In July someone thought it would be nice to have a reunion of the Bell Park Children and the Queen and King went up to NYC for it. It was very nice and over 400 people attended. Among the many people who came the King met Randi Book - the younger sister of one of my good childhood friends. I had not seen Randi in over 40 years and after the reunion we went back to the old neighborhood and went to Randi's old house where her mother still lived. It was an emotional reunion - she had been the King's Cub Scout Den Mother.
Photo: Randi and the King at the Bell Park Reunion in Queens, NY.
So what does this have to do with Rome??? During the last week in Rome the King and Queen were walking on the Via Veneto when the Queen turns and says I think that was Randi Book walking by us. I called out her name and sure enough it was she and her friend, Linda. We were leaving Rome the same day and we met up for dinner the last night of our stay. It was an amazing coincidence that we ran into each other - five seconds of delay and we would have not passed each other.
Photo: The final night's dinner at Lampada with Randi Book and her friend Linda, Brenan and Eduardo, an old friend from Rome.
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