I guess they really do come in Threes

The last month has been a difficult one for myself and my Disney friends. First, we lost Mel Charboneau. I met Mel in junior high school where he was often teased due to the way he walked. His heel cords were extremely short & he always walked on his toes. Despite the teasing, Mel was a great guy and if it got him down, he didn't let it show. We also went through high school together and he was in the class behind me. Everybody liked Mel. Then within the first week I was working at Disneyland-there he was! He was working on Carnation Main Street with another Lowell alum, Kathy Greenwood. Our paths crossed periodically and then when transferred into Fantasyland Ops, we saw and partied with each other often. Once again-everybody liked Mel! He passed away within the last month, I'm still unclear on why.

Then on Father's Day I find out that Cindy Chalifant passed away from colon cancer. She kept it pretty hush-hush so it was quite a shock. She was such a vibrant, fun, smart lady who was great to be around & great to be her friend. She will be missed! Here's a picture of us at a party sometime in the 80's

This week I also found out that another friend from Tomorrowland, Karen Bopp is dying. She also had cancer and didn't let many people know. I saw her last month at B;ackies and you couldn't tell anything was wrong. She too was another vibrant, smart, fun person and I was glad to be called her friend. I can't find my pictures I have of Karen-they're packed away at Mom's.

Through Disneyland I have met some pretty spectacular people. We always said that when we would leave it would be the people we missed and we were more right than we ever knew. So it's not just famous people who pass away in threes - it's also wonderful, fun, funny, bright people that I met at Disneyland.