MaryAnne,
Found the website! It is a lovely tribute to your grandmother and entire family.
You were there when I first met Connie. It was at a dinner party given by newly arrived Ambassador John Gunther Dean in spring 1981 -- I think you came as her "date" in that old Benz she had. I was a first-tour 25-year old diplomat working as Dean's staff aide; he was always good about including me in these dinners. This one was for key Thai cultural and society figures. I was lucky enough to be placed next to her, and I think she was pleased that I tried to speak with her in Thai. She said impulsively on that first night, "I must give a dinner party for you," which she promptly did. I was so touched that this elegant and famous grande dame of Bangkok would take any interest at all in a lowly young diplomat -- but of course she always made me feel very special. When I demurred from selecting the guests myself (she was always keen to meet new people), she put together a lovely group of lively guests, mostly expats. I remember meeting first for drinks on the upper terrace of the incomparable Thai House -- magical, it was -- and then walking across the garden for dinner in the brick house. "I told Jim Thompson from the first that I would continue to live in my comfortable brick house." she explained. We had khao soy -- the Chiang Mai treat that back then was virtually impossible to obtain in Bangkok -- and she had such fun explaining to us its history and how to eat it. To this day, it's one of my favorite dishes -- but I had it first at Connie's (how many people can say that?). We kept in touch until her death, and you were good enough to send me the program from her funeral. Such memories! A fine, generous, shrewd, lively, and fundamentally kind lady -- in the most literal and complimentary use of that word!
And then I had the honor to be your mother's guest at one of the last -- perhaps even THE final -- dinner parties at the Thai House, which by then (1994) was surrounded by tall apartment blocks. Even so, it was still one of the most delightful spots in Bangkok -- and, as always, was full of good company and good food, not to mention the incomparable antiques! I remember your mother showing us a rare silver Buddha, the likes of which I've never seen since. (Or am I confusing that night with a memory from one of Connie's parties?) And of course also during that period (when I was again at the U.S. Embassy) I was honored to attend your sister Linda's wedding -- one of the last public events her father Barry was able to attend before his death.
Good luck with the website, and many thanks for this trip down memory lane (to a Bangkok that no longer really exists...)!
- Scott Bellard
(U.S. Diplomat and family friend)
Found the website! It is a lovely tribute to your grandmother and entire family.
You were there when I first met Connie. It was at a dinner party given by newly arrived Ambassador John Gunther Dean in spring 1981 -- I think you came as her "date" in that old Benz she had. I was a first-tour 25-year old diplomat working as Dean's staff aide; he was always good about including me in these dinners. This one was for key Thai cultural and society figures. I was lucky enough to be placed next to her, and I think she was pleased that I tried to speak with her in Thai. She said impulsively on that first night, "I must give a dinner party for you," which she promptly did. I was so touched that this elegant and famous grande dame of Bangkok would take any interest at all in a lowly young diplomat -- but of course she always made me feel very special. When I demurred from selecting the guests myself (she was always keen to meet new people), she put together a lovely group of lively guests, mostly expats. I remember meeting first for drinks on the upper terrace of the incomparable Thai House -- magical, it was -- and then walking across the garden for dinner in the brick house. "I told Jim Thompson from the first that I would continue to live in my comfortable brick house." she explained. We had khao soy -- the Chiang Mai treat that back then was virtually impossible to obtain in Bangkok -- and she had such fun explaining to us its history and how to eat it. To this day, it's one of my favorite dishes -- but I had it first at Connie's (how many people can say that?). We kept in touch until her death, and you were good enough to send me the program from her funeral. Such memories! A fine, generous, shrewd, lively, and fundamentally kind lady -- in the most literal and complimentary use of that word!
And then I had the honor to be your mother's guest at one of the last -- perhaps even THE final -- dinner parties at the Thai House, which by then (1994) was surrounded by tall apartment blocks. Even so, it was still one of the most delightful spots in Bangkok -- and, as always, was full of good company and good food, not to mention the incomparable antiques! I remember your mother showing us a rare silver Buddha, the likes of which I've never seen since. (Or am I confusing that night with a memory from one of Connie's parties?) And of course also during that period (when I was again at the U.S. Embassy) I was honored to attend your sister Linda's wedding -- one of the last public events her father Barry was able to attend before his death.
Good luck with the website, and many thanks for this trip down memory lane (to a Bangkok that no longer really exists...)!
- Scott Bellard
(U.S. Diplomat and family friend)
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