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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Fab 4 friends reunite for Mother’s Day

Annie Holcomb, of Spokane Valley, center, the “Italian Mama,” is pictured with her daughter, Carol Millard, right, of Hobe Sound, Fla.; and Carol’s childhood friends, clockwise from left, Sharon Thompson of Tacoma; Linda Smith of West Medical Lake; and Sandy Scheer of Atascadero, Calif. Not pictured are: Sandy’s “Swedish mom,” May Fierce-Johanson, and Sharon’s “Swedish mom,” Wanda Thompson, both of north Spokane; and Linda’s “English/Irish mom,” Dorothy Parsons, of south Spokane. (Courtesy of Sharon Thompson)
From staff reports

A group of four women reunited in Spokane over Mother’s Day weekend to honor their mothers and a friendship that has lasted over six decades.

The women call themselves the Fabulous Fearsome Foursome of the Fifties: Carol (Holcomb) Millard of Hobe Sound, Florida; Linda (Parsons) Smith of West Medical Lake; Sandy (Johanson) Scheer of Atascadero, California; and Sharon Thompson of Tacoma.

All were born in 1952, attended North Side schools together and graduated in 1970 from Shadle Park High School. They have stayed in touch through the decades.

Thompson said in an email they had an interesting mix of shared experiences: Two had the same babysitter as infants; two have Swedish culture backgrounds; two attended the same church; two used the same wedding dress; two became teachers, and sometimes they had frustrations over the same boy. They enjoyed going to football and basketball games together, and cruising Riverside Avenue with hundreds of other Spokane teenagers on weekend evenings.

That was their “social media,” Thompson said.

After college and children, get-togethers were fewer. But in their 50s, a group trip reconnected them and launched regular reunions.

They realized their friendships were “too dear and deep to give up. We made concrete choices to stay together and play together. Now with cellphones, we’re no more than seconds away,” Thompson said.

And Mother’s Day weekend “couldn’t have been sweeter nor better received,” Thompson said in an email. “Laughter and joy from each mom was at a high point, and that was the best gift of all” in making the trip to Spokane.

The foursome’s next trip? They plan to visit Key West in summer 2018.