Loli was a friend of mine, always happy and smiling, despite getting Hodgkins disease. We went to visit her in the hospital where she was now getting infusions in the veins between her toes.
She kept on with life and made plans to marry her boyfriend after graduation. I attended a wonderful bridal shower at her home with her family and friends. The wedding took place in San Francisco; I was working and couldn't attend.
In the summer of 1967, we moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for my Father's new job at the University. I enrolled and began to learn about the new culture where "white" and "black" water fountains still existed. One day I was walking thru the parking lot behind the LSU Student Union and noticed a car with a California license plate driving towards me.
Being friendly, I said Hi, where are you from? The young man said he was from south of San Francisco. I said, me, too. What city? He was from Sunnyvale, I said Palo Alto. He asked which high school I had attended; Cubberley, I answered. He said his wife had attended Cubberley, her name was Loli Minasian!
What a shock! He said she had died and he was taking a road trip to sort things out. Poor guy, poor Loli.
On another topic, there were guest speakers at the LSU Student Union, one of them was David Duke of the KKK, another shocking event.
Karen I remember going to what I think was Lolli's last birthday party that her parents gave her in San Francisco. They picked me up and drove us to this Armenian restaurant where her large family held this boistorious birthday party for her. Aunts, uncles, old people galore; little skinny grannies and huge, mustashed old men, all super affectionate; bear-hugging us and lovingly introducing themselves to me. It was so unlike my family birthday parties! The food kept coming and coming. And then the dancing started. It didn't matter that I didn't know how to dance, what mattered was that you were up and going from family member to family member, having a great time. I saw a type of family life that I had never seen before.
The lunch went on for hours in her honor. Her family members told stories about growing up and what her famous uncle, William Saroyan,(The Human Comedy for which he later won a Pulitzer Prize - plus authoring many other books) was like during his nomadic times as an immigrant in California. I remember looking over at Lolli in the late afternoon and she looked exhausted but so happy.
You mentioning her in your posting, brought back what an amazing time this one brief afternoon was in my life. Hard to believe, but her funeral was the first funeral I had ever atteneded and to this day, I can still remeber feeling a strange type of jealousy of her and her family because of their demonstrative love and enjoyment of life and each other.
what a beautiful description of her last birthday party! I believe her family was from Armenia, is that correct? I'm sure it meant a lot to all of her family that you and her other friends were there. Do you remember when that was? or when she died? Oh, yes, I forgot about her famous uncle!
Thank you for those wonderful memories of Lolli. My one memory of Lolli was when we were going to school together at Fairmedow. One day Lolli brought a special visitor to class with her... it was her Uncle, William Saroyan! He visited with us for an hour and told many stories, which unfortunately, I forget. What struck me the most was his huge mustache and how proud he was of Lolli. I will never forget that day or the ever-present smile that Lolli's had on her face for bringing her Uncle with her to school. Yes, they were an Armenian family.
Sorry that you won't be at the Reunion, Karen. It would be fun to see you again.
Wow, you really met her Uncle at school? How exciting! That is something to tell your children about. We really did have an ideal childhood, didn't we? Palo Alto was a quiet, progressive, happy place to live. Looking back, we were really lucky, actually. I had back surgery almost 2 years ago and can't manage any long trips, but I will be thinking about you all! Hope lots of photos will be posted on this website. Enjoy, enjoy!
Where is Sue Kmetovic, Terri Wisman, etc, etc? Anyone know?
Karen Shambaugh (Rink)
Loli was a friend of mine, always happy and smiling, despite getting Hodgkins disease. We went to visit her in the hospital where she was now getting infusions in the veins between her toes.
She kept on with life and made plans to marry her boyfriend after graduation. I attended a wonderful bridal shower at her home with her family and friends. The wedding took place in San Francisco; I was working and couldn't attend.
In the summer of 1967, we moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for my Father's new job at the University. I enrolled and began to learn about the new culture where "white" and "black" water fountains still existed. One day I was walking thru the parking lot behind the LSU Student Union and noticed a car with a California license plate driving towards me.
Being friendly, I said Hi, where are you from? The young man said he was from south of San Francisco. I said, me, too. What city? He was from Sunnyvale, I said Palo Alto. He asked which high school I had attended; Cubberley, I answered. He said his wife had attended Cubberley, her name was Loli Minasian!
What a shock! He said she had died and he was taking a road trip to sort things out. Poor guy, poor Loli.
On another topic, there were guest speakers at the LSU Student Union, one of them was David Duke of the KKK, another shocking event.
Julie Hackett (Adams)
Karen I remember going to what I think was Lolli's last birthday party that her parents gave her in San Francisco. They picked me up and drove us to this Armenian restaurant where her large family held this boistorious birthday party for her. Aunts, uncles, old people galore; little skinny grannies and huge, mustashed old men, all super affectionate; bear-hugging us and lovingly introducing themselves to me. It was so unlike my family birthday parties! The food kept coming and coming. And then the dancing started. It didn't matter that I didn't know how to dance, what mattered was that you were up and going from family member to family member, having a great time. I saw a type of family life that I had never seen before.
The lunch went on for hours in her honor. Her family members told stories about growing up and what her famous uncle, William Saroyan,(The Human Comedy for which he later won a Pulitzer Prize - plus authoring many other books) was like during his nomadic times as an immigrant in California. I remember looking over at Lolli in the late afternoon and she looked exhausted but so happy.
You mentioning her in your posting, brought back what an amazing time this one brief afternoon was in my life. Hard to believe, but her funeral was the first funeral I had ever atteneded and to this day, I can still remeber feeling a strange type of jealousy of her and her family because of their demonstrative love and enjoyment of life and each other.
Karen Shambaugh (Rink)
Hi Julie,
what a beautiful description of her last birthday party! I believe her family was from Armenia, is that correct? I'm sure it meant a lot to all of her family that you and her other friends were there. Do you remember when that was? or when she died? Oh, yes, I forgot about her famous uncle!
Karen Bodding
Hi Karen and Julie,
Thank you for those wonderful memories of Lolli. My one memory of Lolli was when we were going to school together at Fairmedow. One day Lolli brought a special visitor to class with her... it was her Uncle, William Saroyan! He visited with us for an hour and told many stories, which unfortunately, I forget. What struck me the most was his huge mustache and how proud he was of Lolli. I will never forget that day or the ever-present smile that Lolli's had on her face for bringing her Uncle with her to school. Yes, they were an Armenian family.
Sorry that you won't be at the Reunion, Karen. It would be fun to see you again.
Best,
Karen Bodding
Karen Shambaugh (Rink)
Hi Karen and Julie,
Wow, you really met her Uncle at school? How exciting! That is something to tell your children about. We really did have an ideal childhood, didn't we? Palo Alto was a quiet, progressive, happy place to live. Looking back, we were really lucky, actually. I had back surgery almost 2 years ago and can't manage any long trips, but I will be thinking about you all! Hope lots of photos will be posted on this website. Enjoy, enjoy!
Where is Sue Kmetovic, Terri Wisman, etc, etc? Anyone know?