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Russell C. Coile
the amount of food needed and we never minded having
"planned overs."
We had a baby shower for my administrative assistant,
Pat Hill. She was in an automobile accident on the way to
our house. She was taken by ambulance to Walter Reed Army
Hospital as her husband was a Marine. She wanted to go to
Bethesda Naval Hospital, which was closer to the crash site
and to our house, but they had the fi nal say so, so Walter Reed
it was. She was checked out and both she and the baby were
ok so she came to the house. The party was over, but we gave
her a meal anyway, and all the baby gifts.
Pierre Tullier's Wedding Reception
When Pierre Tullier, one of my analysts, announced he
was getting married, everyone said, "Great, a party." MCOAG
was always up for a party, but Pierre quickly shot down
our balloon no party. The bride's mother didn't approve
of the marriage because Pierre was Catholic and they were
Protestant, so no reception.
When I told Ellen she said, "That's ridiculous. We have to
have a party. We'll have it at our house."
We had the couple to dinner to discuss details. When Ellen
fi rst came to America we were invited to a wedding. After
the ceremony in the church, there was cake and punch in the
church basement. She was thinking along those lines, with a
few embellishments for, say, fi fty people.
The wedding was to be in downtown Washington at 11:00
a.m., which meant people would arrive at our house at 12:30
or so which also meant people would be expecting lunch.
So Ellen decided on chicken salad, lettuce salad, rolls and
butter. She told the couple they should provide the cake. She
would have champagne punch and a non-alcoholic punch,
plus coffee. Some people just don't think a meal is complete
without coffee.
Ellen asked our teenage daughter, Jennifer, if she would
like to be a serving wench and maybe recruit a couple of
friends to help. The girls thought it would be fun, so Ellen