Reunion Confirmation

[LUVMyBirman]

There may be an much simpler way to keep track of whom is attending the reunion. For starters, enter your response under this thread. Please respond only if you anticipate attending. It will be much easier to keep track this way.

This will also help Hank get a handle on arranging our 'Friday' dinner meeting as well
Thanks

Here is a link...map of 'The Strip' and 'Downtown' area. May be of interest for planning purposes.
http://www.vegas.com/map.html

Gina M. # in party..... 1 or 2.
Staying at: The Golden Nugget.

Intersted in golf if the hubby can make it. Will know more in a few weeks.

[Christina]

Christina W. # in party...1 or 2 (Hubby planned Sat.&Sun with a friend, and will be gone)
Reservations at "The Lady Luck" from 10-14th.
No golf.

Christina
AVR's 8/7/00 & 8/18/00
Tucson Medical Center, Tucson. AZ
Mechanical
Dr. Gulshan Sethi

[Bob Gleason]

Bob Gleason One in attendance........golden Nugget .....Golf

[LUVMyBirman]

Copied this over from the 'other thread'

Al Lodwick is coming - not sure where I'm staying. I will arrive Friday and leave Saturday.

[Hank]

We will be there with the whole family between the 10th and the 14th. som at the Lady Luck and some at family in Mesquite.

count 2 for all and all six of us for some :D

[John & Joann]

John and Joann
2 in party
Fitzgeralds-1st night
Golden Nugget-2-4th night
No Golf, No REAL WILD PARTIES

Would like to take several trips around the area. Know the area fairly well. Maybe we could rent a van if enough are interested.

[Rain]

I have a room reserved at the Lady Luck Oct. 9 - Oct. 13. I will more than likely be there alone, but you (nor I) will know for sure until I get there. :) There could be two.. possibly even three! lol I may decide to bring my nine year old daughter if hubby comes. You have any nine year olds, Hank?

[Hank]

Why yes Rain, my girls are 11, 9, 6 and my son is 4.

[Ron K]

Hi,

I just finished booking my reservations with America West and with the Lady Luck. My wife (Mary) and I will be staying in a tower room arriving on Wed and checking out on Saturday afternoon.

We have something important to get back for, so we'll miss whatever is going on Sat. night and Sunday morning, but I'm sure we will have a good time with all of you who attend while we are there.

Also, I have an aunt and uncle that will be out there staying in an RV park for the winter, so we'll probably spend some time with them in the afternoons or perhaps they'll come over and visit with us. My aunt had 2 heart attacks last year and two angioplasy procedures. My uncle had CABG in San Diego about a year ago. They might get a kick out of meeting a few of you guys. They spend their summers in Lincoln, Nebraska.

We're not golfers, but if there's a bowling tournament, count me in.

I'm especially looking forward to meeting Hank and Michelle and their family.

Ron K

[LUVMyBirman]

Great Ron, looking forward to meeting you both!

Rain, my daughter will be in school, otherwise I would bring her. Reading her student handbook made me feel like it was a complete crime to take her out of school for pleasure. Plus, we can't really hold that poker face if you know what I mean. We would shurly get caught.

We will be back in June, as a family. We have Celion Dion tickets. She will be at Caesar's:). Can't miss that one. Must be nice to have your fans come to you. Her tour seems to be specifically in Vegas. Rumor has it she's selling her mansion in Juniper, FL and moving to Lost Wages. :eek:

[Hank]

It will be nice to meet you also Ron - We are looking forward to it! We can definately try to set up a bowling outing.

[Rain]

We gotta get our kids together one of these days! That would be so cool. Gina’s Kara is only a couple years younger than my Sara too.

Maybe we can plan a get together in the summer with our children... A vr.com family picnic in the CO mountains?!! :) Someday Hank.... Someday we gotta get everyone to CO, I know everyone would love it here. Or Gina... maybe we could spend a warm weekend in Phoenix over Christmas sometime. It’s always fun swimming the New Years in in Phoenix...... I’ve done that a few times. :)

Gina.. I know. The deal is I agree with them. You wouldn’t believe how we have scheduled our lives around the kids school schedules. Eric is now a senior in college and has only missed 3 ½ days of school. Ryan has only missed 8. Sooooooo as you can imagine I’m not really excited about Sara missing three days of school to go with me to Las Vegas. And she would just totally freak. Some how I’ve managed to convince my kids it’s a really, really bad thing to miss school without even knowing how I did it?! lol Anyway....That’s one of the reasons I will probably be there alone.


Hey Mr. Ron K.! I don’t know how to bowl... but I’m willing to try! :) Can’t wait to see everyone!!

[Ron K]

Hank,

I think it would be nice if some of us could get together and do a little bowling one afternoon. I don't know where the closest bowling alley is, but we can do some research and find someplace. I know there is a free shuttle bus that goes from downtown out to Sam's Town where they have a nice bowling facility. Even the kids can get involved in this event.

Rain,

I'd be happy to help you get started and give you a few instructions if you'd like. The important thing is that we have a good time and a few laughs, not how good we bowl.

Any others interested?

Ron K

[Perrster]

The timing of this is so right on so I have just have to pose this silly question for the laughs:

Ron, are you bringing your (bowling) balls to the Reunion or would you use "alley balls?"

Wish I could be there. I would have even thrown a ball or two in spite of the fact I gave up bowling years ago. Wife and I can't stand the smoky atmosphere anymore.

You all have a ball in Vegas!

PerryA

[Bob Gleason]

Sorry, but I'll pass on the bowling......I don't have a pair of jeans, nor to I have a shirt that says "Lightnin' Bolts" on the back.

[sylviayasgur]

hi all!
doesn't look like we'll be making the reunion this year. we're going fishing with joey's parents next week, and we have parents weekend on oct.24-26, and joey can't afford to be out of the office that much (considering i stole him away a couple of times this summer). plus, his partner's mom is dying and he's out of the office most days.
i will miss you all and can't wait to see photos and hear all the "scoop" and fun stuff. actually, i'm so jealous!
will miss you , but wishing you all loads of fun.
enjoy, sylvia

[Ron K]

Hi Perry,

I was actually thinking about bringing my bowling ball with me, as well as the usual equipment. I just hate carrying the bowling ball around in the airports, but I guess golf clubs are even more of a bother.

I agree with you about the smokey atmosphere in the bowling alleys. I hate it too. However, since so many fewer people are smoking these days, there tends to be much less smoke, especially in the mornings and afternoons.

I'm sorry you can't be there this year. I was looking forward to meeting you and your wife. Also, I seem to recall that you offered to buy a round of drinks or two if I showed up in LV. Well, maybe next year.

Bob G. --- If you want to reconsider, I'm sure you could wear your pink Izod golf shirt and the bright plaid pants in the bowling alley. However, the spiked shoes are a no-no.

Also, you never have to worry about losing your balls while bowling, excluding side bets, of course.

By the way, how come the "Jersey cowboy" doesn't own a pair of jeans?
See you in 'Vegas --- Ron K

[Bob Gleason]

Actually, Ron, I do have several Pink Golf Shirts but they are not IZOD, but Polo and Cutter & Buck.......No Plaid Pants for me, but I just might surprise you at the bowling alley and wear a pair of Madras Pants (You might say that this Yankee Cowboy does have the balls to do it) (excuse me)

As for jeans, I bought a pair of Banana Republic Jeans about 5 years ago and I bet I wore them less than 5 times.........Jeans are too restrictive for me, but I am certainly not braggin' about that.

Cuffed Khakis, for golf and for meeting my VR.com buddies, as usual.........attendees at our reunion in San Antonio and Nashville can attest to that. In fact, I was the only one in Khakis the night Gina, Billy, Janie and I, hit some "country and western" spot in Nashville.............but that didn't stop me from dancin the night away with Gina (her poor toes!!)

[Bob Gleason]

I meant to till you that I HAVE been to a bowling alley.....ONCE. I think it was around 1970........Behind a local Jersey City Bowling alley was a great place to spend some quiet time with a lady friend..........nobody bothered you at all.

Well, one time, I just happened to be there and low and behold I see this light flashing in my car (1959 Chevy Impala).....We immediately "sat up" from the other position we were in and there was a knock on my window. I rolled down the window and this police officer asked what we were doing and I simply explained that I didn't have any money to go "elsewhere" (a.k.a. the No-Tell Motel) and that I promise we would be quiet and leave in a short while. Much to my amazement, he agreed to let us stay there.

About 15 minutes later, another knock on my window!!! I rolled down the window and explained to the officer that we were not finished and would be leaving shortly. I simply rolled the window back up and............there was this huge bang on the hood of my car. I rolled the window down again and looked closely at the officer............DIFFERENT COP!!!!

I, in my most angelic and sincere voice, explained to the officer about the original cop letting us stay. Amazed again!!! He let us stay.

Afterwards, me and my little honey went and had a beer at the bowling alley bar. (And that my friend, is the last time I have been in a bowling alley........do they still seel beer??)

[Ron K]

Hi Bob,

See, there are a lot of ways to have fun at a bowling alley. I won't ask what you were wearing that night.:)

You have a keen sense of humor and I'm sure you have a thousand stories to tell that are interesting and/or humorous. However, I'd also like to hear about the things we all have in common, such as the initial shock of hearing about our heart condition, the anxiety and fear prior to surgery, how we managed to deal with it, our recovery, and how our lives have been affected by what we went through.

I'm looking forward to having some fun, but I hope to get to really know at least some of the folks a little better by building on our common bond.

One thing you and I do have in common, I'll bet, is an appreciation for a good drink. So let's agree to meet in one of the lounges and swap stories. I'll buy the first round.

Take care, Ron

[Bob Gleason]

Actually, the last time I had a drink was at the Nashville Reunion.

As for what we have in common, my shock to hear that I needed a new valve plus they had to repair my aortic arch and root, devasted me. (read my story)

And, even today, I still find it hard to believe (or had to accept) that I have to go around with this mechanical valve clanking the way mine does. I have suffered through a major depression over it and it sometimes consumes me if I let it get the best of me. My depression kept me away from this site for many months. It controlled my life and my energy.

I get TIAs or TIA-like symptoms that my cardio cannot explain and that keeps me on edge a lot. I caused me to go on long-term disability.

But, Ikeep trying to accept myself and there is no better place for support, caring and understanding than right here at VR.com. I have made many good friends and as I go through life I always am reminded of what my father's creed was:

" I shall go through this life but once.......any goodness I may show, or any kindness I may give......let me do it now. Let me not deter nor neglect it..........for I shall pass this way no more."

I try to live my life my that creed...........It works for me.

[Perrster]

We, who will not be attending the Reunion in Lost Wages can't wait to see a pic of Gleason (in his Pink Polo and Madras Pants) teeing up a bowling ball!

Enjoy every moment of it.

Fore!!

[allodwick]

I said earlier that I was coming, but now I have the hotel confirmed - Lady Luck.

I'll do a little introductory talk on Friday night and then we can open it up for questions - if that is OK with everyone. I had a suggestion to talk about Celebrex, Vioxx and Bextra. If anyone else wants anything specific, please let me know. So I do not overlook it e-mail me at allodwick@earthlink.net. I will be gone next week, so don't expect a quick reply.