Family Visiting 2023

January 1 we celebrated a wonderful New Year Oshogatasu (feast of Japanese dishes) with brother-in-law Rich Dunckel, cousin Masa Tokugawa, and Alan.  This was very special because Masa was fighting cancer and passed away peacefully at end of March at his home in Fairfax CA. We miss his gentle presence.

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Here's Alan and his brother Dan clearly enjoying their breakfast at Tomate, a restaurant that Diane and Alan frequent nearly every Saturday. Dan had come by train from Denver in April. We picked him up at the train station in Emeryville where one of our "trying times" took place.

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In June, after Alan attended a planetarium conference in Tennesee, on the way home he made a visit to Denver where he introduced grand-nephew Ozzy to the family French horn. Ozzy's wondering what's in the bell while niece Sarah looks on, bemused.

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Diane, grand-nephew Ozzy, and nephew Sam are relaxing at a table at the Denver Botanical Gardens.

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Alan, niece Sarah, and brother Dan during a visit to the garden in Denver where Sarah works.

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In July sister-in-law Susan Kaplan visited us in Berkeley. Here we are in a redwood grove during a an afternoon visit to the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden.

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We went to brother Dan's 80th birthday party in August (though his birthday is actually in July). During the visit, here is Alan & Dan exhibiting some creativity in the marvelous Discovery Museum in Fort Collins. They may not have figured out that they were supposed to race each other...probably didn't bother to read the writing on the wall.

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In October, niece Sarah and her friend Raye visited. Here we are having a nice outdoor lunch at a restaurant parklet in San Francisco. Parklets for outdoor dining proliferated during the pandemic.  [left to right: Diane, Alan, Raye, Sarah]