A Match Made in Heaven

Diane Roberts & Paul Birkeland

Earlier this week, Ken and I ventured into the big world for one of his first dinners "out" since his knee replacement surgery.  We went to one of our favorite Eastside restaurants, Cantinetta, on Main Street in Bellevue.

We were so pleased to be able to spend time with Paul Birkeland and his fiancee, Diane Roberts.  Paul lost his wife, Joyce, to cancer last year and Diane lost her husband to cancer five years ago.  The two families have been friends for over 30 years and raised their children together.  I think that Paul and Diane found kindred spirits in each other, both having shared so many experiences together over the years. They are planning to get married in December in a small family wedding.  Ken and I certainly offer our best wishes to them for long life and happiness together.

Paul and I are working on a ZINO Society Walla Walla Wine Adventure for the end of April, 2011 and look forward to visiting some of the top wineries in Walla Walla with a group of around 16 couples.  We already have a great itinerary planned with access to wineries that don't normally take time to entertain guests and others that we both just love.  Definitely, I will share more details on this later.

We ended the evening once again with Cantinetta's fantastic dessert, Zeppole.  By then, Ken's pain medication and strength reserves had faltered, so I quickly gulped down one bite of dessert and then literally ran to get the car which was around the corner.  Paul helped Ken walk to the car when I pulled up out front, and we barely made it home before Ken turned into a pumpkin!