Anne Guerin's Birthday Party At Fairfax Country Club

This past Sunday Jack and I were delighted to attend our dear friend Anne's 60'th birthday party at the Fairfax Country Club in Fairfax. Jack and I have known Anne since meeting her while we were living in Germany in the early 70's. Anne's mother was a Berliner who left Berlin when Hitler came to power in the 1930's. Anne's mother returned to Germany after the war to be an interpreter at The Nuremberg Trials being held at the Dachau Concentration Camp.

In 1979 Jack and I were lucky to reconnect with Anne when we discovered that the home we wanted to purchase in Burke Centre was just up the path from Anne's home. In fact Jack and I with our realtor signed the contract at Anne's kitchen table. Through the years we met both of Anne's parents when they visited Anne. Anne's mother was German but Anne's father was French and a French Catholic Orthodox priest. Anne's native tongue is both French and German. She was born in Paris, France but later grew up in French Morocco and of course, her mother was German.

In the photo above Anne is standing behind her oldest son, Patrick Byrnnes who works for the Homeland Security Department. Patrick is holding in his arms Anne's first grandchild who was born this past September. Isn't she adorable!

And here is Natalie Byrnnes, Patrick wife, who grew up in Richmond, Virginia but now lives in Northern Virginia. Natalie says Richmond is the "old south" while Northern Virginia is a northern metropolitan community with a very diverse population.

It is always a joy to be invited to attend the Sunday buffet at the Fairfax Country Club. The freshly made omlettes are a big draw but there must be at least 100 other food selections on the buffet menu.

The young man in the blue shirt is Anne's second son, Michael Byrnnes. Shhhhhhhh! Don't tell anyone but things look very serious between Michael and the pretty girl sitting next to him. These two have been commuting back and forth from Richmond, VA to Albany, NY to date each other.

We have loved seeing Anne's Oakton neighbors at her parties. In this photo are Fred and Isamu who live near Anne. Fred also owns a vacation home in Rehobath Beach so he enjoyed talking to my girlfriend Joyce Blakeslee who retired to Rehobath Beach from Fairfax---what restaurants at the beach are your favorites? Now look below at the man seated in the middle of this group. Some of you Ohio folks may recognize him because he graduated from Anna High School in Shelby County, The same county that I am from in Ohio. And he was stationed for many years at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Fairborn, Ohio. Come back here tomorrow and I will tell you all about the boy from Anna, Ohio.

The man in the middle----the boy from Anna, Ohio.