Robin Williams lived in Tiburon, CA and shot various films in nearby San Francisco; the most famous one was probably, “Mrs. Doubtfire”. He started his career as a comedian here. I remember first seeing him on the show, “Happy Days” which inspired the spin off show, “Mork and Mindy” when I was a child growing up in Maryland. I never imagined that I would someday move to the Bay Area and adopt it as my home. I followed Robin Williams’ career for most of my life and was impressed with his talent, humility and sensitivity. I only briefly met him once, but the meeting was synchronous and memorable.

Catering work was physically exhausting, but interesting. Wedding receptions were particularly stressful and hilarious in an annoying way. I had to carry monstrous trays of hors d’oeuvres, chilled vodka spiked oysters and spicy mango prawns were the most popular and would quickly…