I'll never forget the first time we met David. Steven and I had received an ominous letter from the City of Bainbridge Island telling us we had to pay an exorbitant amount of money for the "Local Improvement District" in our neighborhood. We were sitting in our living room in shock when there was a knock on the door. It was David. He was holding his letter, and he was in shock, too.
Along with Barbara and David and another family, we entered the Byzantine world of attending City Council meetings and drafting letters of protest. Those four years (or was it more?--it seemed like an eternity) turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the end result was our friendship with David, Barbara, and Kirsten. What luck!
Later they went on their sailing trip in the Caribbean, then bought a different house down the block (where Kirsten still reigned as Princess of Park Avenue), and finally to Zoe. No matter where they lived, we managed to be the recipients of Barbara's unparalleled hospitality and David's wit and humor.
I have only one beef with David---that he didn't force me to buy a Mac sooner. I went through years of crappy PCs until I learned the joys of Macintosh. David patiently navigated me through this new landscape, including my unending questions like, "Why is the little red x on the left instead of the right?"
In the past two years it was hard to see David decline, but he never lost the ability to make me smile. Thanks, friend, for knocking on our door.
- Margaret Nevinski