No Bad Luck on This Friday the 13th

By Elinor Tinsley
Last Friday the 13th,  a “small group” of over 45 people gathered at the Tiki Bar and Grill to try and halfway surprise our dear friend Linda Elissalde for a pre celebration of her 85th birthday the next day, February 14, 2026.  I say halfway surprise because Linda is a pretty hard person to surprise.  She seems to always be “in the know”, but fortunately Linda does not use Facebook to be “in the know” so we were able to post about our gathering on the church’s Facebook page, Bay Vue Methodist Worship and Events.  Linda knew we were going to meet at Tiki for lunch, but she had absolutely no idea the number of people who would come from near and far to be there for her.

I was overwhelmed by the number of people who wanted to come and share this day with our friend and everyone must’ve shown up because we had to add extra tables to accommodate everyone.  Thanks to the many who came early to help decorate AND stayed afterwards to clean up and a special thank you to Elaine Rollfing for the fabulous Italian cream and lemon butter cakes, and to Rita Moseley for making one of her coconut cakes.

Linda didn’t even have time to open her gifts, but rest assured, anyone who gave a gift or a personalized card will be receiving one of Linda’s special thank you notes in the mail very soon. Along with the photos I was able to take and the ones that Shauna King so graciously sent me, we were able to capture some great memories for Linda and all that attended and share with the ones who weren’t able to attend.

I have been blessed later in life to have met one of my dearest friends who happens to be 18 years my senior.  Linda and I share February birthdays and she allows me to share her birthday month with her from time to time. We are kindred spirits and the inspiration she gives me all the time, not to just keep going, but to do everything you can in life, has been a true blessing to me, and to all the others that are fortunate enough to know this tornado. The absolute only regret that I have is that we did not meet sooner. Linda is who I want to be when I’m 85! Thank you, Linda Elissalde for being born.

Elinor

Elinor Tinsley been a permanent Crystal Beach resident since April of 2017, after building her home with her husband, Pat Tinsley in 2011. Elinor has spent many years in service to others from Girl Scout leader to youth group leader to volunteering in many organizations, with the Bay Vue Methodist Church and the Bolivar Peninsula Cultural Foundation being the two that she commits most of her time to.

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