What's in Dave's Head

Michael Conroy passed last night at age 68 of a brain aneurysm.  Mike’s father married Anais Harding, the cousin of Donna’s father, Lou.  Mike, like his dad, was an attorney; I can personally attest to his legal talents. When Donna and I were engaged, I was a very low-paid journalist for a group of publications covering the telecommunications industry around the time of the breakup of AT&T.  One day I got the opportunity to cover a Supreme Court trial.  It was pretty heady stuff for a relatively inexperienced reporter to be in attendance at the high court and to see the Supremes—they were like celebrities sitting behind the large, elevated dais, each of them recognizable. When the session was over and I had written my story, I headed to Annapolis to visit my friend Lee and to brag about my big experience.  We went to Riordan’s, I believe, one of the bars on the square that faces Ego Alley, the dock where boaters moor and show off their vessels. ...

This weekend was one big celebration for two occasions relating to Kate.  One was her 30 th birthday.  The other was very good news concerning a very scary medical situation.   I’ll leave it to Kate to provide details about that if she wishes; I’ll say there were lots of tears, and prayers, and sleepless nights leading up to a revelation Thursday morning that the indicators that had precipitated the fears amounted to a false alarm.  So the celebration of Kate’s birthday was a release of a great deal of stress and worry, and we all partied accordingly late into the night and into the early hours of Sunday (apologies to our neighbors; the weather was beautiful and we were out on the deck till about one a.m.). Friday afternoon our daughter Eileen and Donna cooked and Saturday we decorated and prepared for a surprise party at our house.  Eileen kept Kate occupied by going for pedicures and drinks while about 30 of Kate’s friends arrived.  ...