Kit at 87
From the get-go, Kit has been a survivor and an explorer filled with adventure, joy, and light. On August 6, 2025 he celebrated his 87th birthday, though not as planned. But let me back up to events of the prior week. Before Kit’s driver’s license expired on his birthday, I arranged to have Golden Empire Rehab where he is a resident take the two of us to the DMV. My goal was to get a Senior Real ID card for Kit and to get my California driver’s license with a Real ID imprint renewed before my 80th birthday in October.
My report on that front is that the folks at the DMV were super terrific. All went well. New photos were taken (we are now officially seniors with gray hair), and in two weeks we will have our new documents in hand. Kit’s reward was a double cheeseburger and a large fries from McDonald’s that he ate with gusto once we got back to the Lodge (our name for Golden Empire).
My friends on our road in the Sierra Foothills have been incredibly kind and generous since the day we arrived in April 2021. Just before Kit’s birthday, neighbor Anita delivered ripe plums and Asian pears in individually assembled bags to each of the Crystalwellians (my neighbors on this magic road we share). Four bags of local orchard fruit were carefully balanced on the handlebars of her electric bike. One neighbor mistook her for a Taco delivery driver with silver curls flying out from under her enormous black bicycle helmet.
At the mention of tacos, Anita sent us a link to “Let’s Taco Bout It Blog”—a literary food blog for people who love literature and creative meals. (https://letstacoboutit.video.blog/) It included a recipe for a gorgeous looking cold plum soup inspired by a passage from Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. I loved the blog and picture of a bowl of plum soup the color of beet borsht with clouds of cold sour cream floating on top. I vowed the plum creation would happen soon in my kitchen, but the week took an unanticipated detour south.
Which takes me back to Kit’s birthday. Daughter Heidi and I had planned a small celebration for that Wednesday in the Empire Room at the Lodge. Heidi would pick up orders of Chicken Korma and yogurt sauce with fresh coriander, cheese naan, Vegetable Samosas, and Basmati rice, and I’d bring him a non-alcoholic beer. Lots of cards from friends near and far were assembled in a gift bag along with a large-faced watch so he can keep up with the time when we aren’t there. There was also a splendid portrait of Pope Leo XIV that friends Tim and Phoebe brought from Rome for Kit who is our own beloved Leo extraordinaire.
Instead of a cake, I made Banana walnut muffins with coconut crumbles for Kit and neighbors who arrived with cards and helium balloons to decorate his room. Peekay, our cat, attached a card advertising a Cat Video Fest film showing that week in historic downtown Nevada City. But life is filled with detours, and the Indian feast had to be postponed. Instead of the Empire Room, Kit ended up in the ER. He’s now back at the Lodge and doing much better. Being 87 is not easy, but as I said earlier, Kit is a survivor. Long live Leo the Lionhearted.
