Happy Easter

April 5, 2015

Meri & Nadene

Happy Easter

Kathy’s mother, Mary Kilroy had an Easter tradition for many years of hosting a picnic at Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park. The picnic area under the pine trees at the beach hosted many warm and wonderful gatherings of friends and family. When Mary passed away, the tradition stopped, but Kathy and I have tried to honor Mary’s memory by hosting our own gathering each Easter we are in Key West by inviting a collection of our friends to join us for brunch.

Kathy, Reggie & Terry

Trevor & Meri

Once again this year, we gathered with a crowd of about fourteen at the Westin resort to enjoy their fabulous Easter brunch. It was a beautiful day and an absolutely wonderful day spent with some of our closest friends. Joining us this year were our friends Reggie and Terry who brought along a neighbor couple of theirs, our friends Chuck and Sue, our friend Sy and our friends Trevor and Nadene who brought along the star of the show, their baby Meredith.

Terry & Reggie

Chuck & Sue

Kathy spends two days a week babysitting Meredith and is loving it, so it was extra special to have Meri there to be the focus of everyone’s attention. She is so sweet and beautiful and well-behaved and absolutely adorable. Much like her parents. It was especially sweet to see Sy at age 89 interact with the baby. It was a glorious afternoon and a simply fantastic celebration.

Easter weekend was also the time set aside for the annual Ocean Fest celebration which was held in and around the Eco-Discovery Center. It brought together a collection of environmental organizations, food vendors, artists and craftspeople with rides and games for kids all to recognize the Ocean environment that surrounds us.

The Lazy Dog Crew

Wyland

Holly & Jack

It is a pretty cool event and it was packed under beautiful skies and perfect spring weather as families came out in force to take advantage of the free festival. It is exactly the kind of thing that I once found myself at frequently when I worked for Reef Relief and it is always nice to enjoy such things without having to man a booth.

Wyland

Eliza

Kathy & Scott

The event also had live entertainment including the fantastic Nick Norman who was playing while we were there, my buddy Marine artist Wyland was on hand to paint murals along with kids and to give away some artwork to raise money for Ocean related charities. It was a fun event all around.

Jack

Corey

Kathy

Nick Norman

Sadly though I have to report some very sad news that has happened between the time period covered in this post and the time I got around to posting it and that is the passing of our dear friend Sy Krinsky who accompanied us to Easter brunch and seemed well, but became ill this past week and passed away. Sy was a dear, dear friend and one of the sweetest, kindest people I have known. He had a positive outlook about just about everything in life and lived life to the absolute fullest. He was a fixture on the Key West social scene and stayed incredibly active right up to the very end. He was a fantastic role model of someone who squeezed the last enjoyable drop out of everything he did, always with a smile and positive outlook. Kathy and I will miss him so much.

Sy