Same time, each year

Young Chang

NEWPORT BEACH -- Husbands were asked to stay home Sunday night.

Children were asked to behave without mom. And the boyfriend spent the

evening without his girlfriend.

It’s been the same way for 20 years.

Six high school friends -- Celeste Antenucci, Jill Bisbee, Wendy

Davey, Cindy Kelly-Mayes, Lisa Lemus and Denise Pigneri, all now 35 --

have agreed since they were 15 to make the first Sunday of each December

a night just for the girls.

At the end of each annual gathering, they exchange words like “We

should do this more often,” meaning what they say yet knowing their

schedules won’t easily allow it.

“Now, a lot of us are having children, some have moved, we’re not all

in the same five-mile radius we used to be,” said Davey, who hosted this

year’s party at her Newport Beach home.

“This is a very big deal, to celebrate the whole idea of Christmas

even and to let one another know that, hey, we’ve been friends for 20

years and we look forward to 20 more.”

The women all went to high school in Anaheim, where most of their

parents still live. They attended college in Southern California and

live, for the most part, in Orange County.

Davey lived in Oregon for a year but still made it to that year’s

Christmas gathering.

Everyone thought Pigneri would get married first and she did -- to her

high school sweetheart. Bisbee said she would never get married but met

the man of her dreams. Antenucci, a Corona del Mar resident, has a

boyfriend. The others are married. Antenucci and Davey are the only ones

without children.

Conversations in high school used to be about boys and big 1980s hair.

Today the women talk about who’s pregnant, what’s going on at work, their

children, growing pains and what diets work best.

As teenagers, they climbed over the school fence and sneaked into the

pool at night. They rented a house every summer in Newport Beach and

tanned and lounged with youthful summer fun.

Some were cheerleaders and some were in clubs. Boys called Antenucci,

Davey and Kelly-Mayes the “awesome threesome.” Bisbee was quite the

party animal. Davey was the homecoming queen in her senior year.

That was one of the most festive Christmases, Davey said. The setting

was Antenucci’s parents’ house. Everyone thought it was a big deal

because the table was nicely set and the home was so beautiful, she said.

Pictures show an especially hyper, goofy, wild and silly crowd, Davey

said.

Some years were more serious.

One December, Kelly-Mayes thought she was sick and doctors didn’t know

what was wrong. She underwent medical tests and thought she might not

have many years to live. The group talked late into the night about life

and death and being adults. Today, Kelly-Mayes is OK.

The conversations are “a lot about just how challenging life can be

sometimes,” Davey said. “We all had really good, healthy childhood

experiences, so none of us ever had difficult problems, but as we got

older, things went on.”

Antenucci said she loves most that everyone picks up right where they

left off.

“There are hugs and half the time you can’t get a full sentence out,”

she said.

For Sunday’s bash, Antenucci brought her spaghetti with special

meatball sauce -- a hit among her friends. The others brought their

assigned dishes -- a salad, main entree, dessert or drinks -- and a gift.

Their traditions include letting one another know exactly what they

want. Sometimes they give each other Christmas lists. When busy, they do

it verbally.

Everyone brings a Christmas tree ornament for the host of the party,

whose home must have a tree and holiday decorations. Someone takes

pictures every year.

Antenucci, whose birthday falls in December -- everyone gives her a

hard time about being the first to add a year to her age -- gets two

gifts at the party.

“They’re always very conscientious about separating Christmas and

birthdays,” Antenucci said.

But the group is most conscientious about continuing itsholiday

tradition.

Antenucci said everyone is proud of and admires one another.

“I think we’ve all kind of matured and gotten more cultured,” she said

of the group. “And we definitely got better hairstyles.”