Ghosts and Guardians

I drive down Laguna Canyon Road in my Mother's Buick to see Gershwinn Alone at the Laguna Playhouse. Memories stir. A familiar drive. A drive that took me as a child in the early 70's with my parents in a Cadillac to Vacation Village for summer beach -front vacations, dinners with the Kavanaghs at Cordon Bleu with its aviary, and Easter brunches with Bob at the latest and greatest new find. A drive that took me for company Christmas parties at Ben Browns on Aliso Creek and hangovers at breakfast at The Beach House. A drive that took me in the late 70's in my Camero past the Greeter at The Pottery Shack to Bob and Lenny's leather shop, Un Bel Di. A drive that took me in the 80's as a young mother in my Ford Mini-Van to the Laguna Art Museum with Gillian, for walks with a stroller along Ciff Drive, lunches of "Havachips" and salsa at Laguna village, and the occassional margarita at Las Brisas with out of town guests. A drive that took me with Steve in our Volvo to The Sorrento Grill for birthdays and The Surf and Sand for anniversaries. A drive that took me to Bob and Lenny's condominium at Blue Lagoon for New Year's Eve parties. A drive that took me in the early 90's to doctor appointments with Bob as we searched for answers to his weight loss and headaches. A drive that took me to the Jolly Roger for lunch where Bob felt queasy and afterward I watched him shuffle to the B of A Versateller machine where I made my own diagnosis. A drive that took me to South County Medical Center with Bob for the HIV Test. A drive that took mother and me to Bob's condo on the night of his diagnosis. A drive that took me to his condo the morning he sounded so breathless and weak. A drive that took us both back to Mom's the day we went to see the AIDS doctor. A drive that would be Bob's last on the Canyon Road. April 1994. A drive that took me back to Bob's condo to empty it out. June 1994. A drive I stopped taking for a long time. I drive down Laguna Canyon Road in my mother's Buick to see Gershwinn Alone at the Laguna Playhouse. 2010. Ghosts and Guardians. Laguna still haunts me.