thoughts of the little details

shared by Marlo R. Beall, her sister

Living in Alameda, we see a lot of Cal and Cal Alumni license plate frames while driving around. But every once in a while - at least once a week - I see a UCLA license plate frame, which makes me smile and think of Cyn.

In particular, it reminds me of the time when Cindy bought a set of UCLA Alumni license plate frames for my friend from grad school, Kevin. Since she was on the ASUCLA Board of Directors, she received a discount on UCLA merchandise. I had mentioned this to Kevin, so he asked if she wouldn't mind buying him some plate frames.

Cindy of course, was happy to do so. Kevin appreciated her kindness, but made a point to tell me that he was actually more impressed with the fact that Cindy also bought the set of screws from the UCLA store to be used to attach the plate frames.

I'm fairly sure that it wasn't imperative that the screws also be purchased with the frames; but thinking about those minor yet potentially important details was something that Cindy just had a knack for doing.

It's also a more poignant memory because Kevin told me about her additional purchase when he attended one of Cindy's memorial services. I hadn't known before then.

It is such a joy to learn of the random moments when folks who may not have known Cindy that well had a chance to see a glimpse of one of the countless characteristics that made her so extraordinary.

thoughts of salt and pepper

shared by Marlo R. Beall, her sister

For whatever reason, there was a brief period of time (I think during high school and college) when Cyn collected salt and pepper shaker sets. When I say collect, I mean that every once in a while, salt and pepper sets would find their way out of restaurants that she visited.

Although it was only an occasional act, our family would remind Cyn that stealing was wrong and that she really shouldn't be doing it. However, I believe that her collection still continued to grow. Even though we would discourage her from taking them, I think she was old enough that my parents were not necessarily in a place to strictly discipline her for her bad behavior.

I even have a random memory of our family being at a restaurant and our mom seemed to actually support Cyn's bad habit. I remember our mom exchanging a raised-eyebrow look with Cyn and glancing down to the salt and pepper shakers on the table, then back to her, as if to say, "Hey, look at those. Do you want those for your collection?"

I always admired Cyn for striving to do the right thing. So it's fun to think of those rare occasions when she strayed from that, and engaged in a little bit of mischief.