November 8th

On November 8, 1960 I was great with child and was the mother of five year old Kathy and two and a half year old Laura. Kathy was in kindergarten that year and had the same teacher I had in kindergarten. I was almost 24 years old and was voting in my first Presidential election that day. I had been voting since I was 21 as that was the legal age to be able to vote at that time. On this Tuesday I got Kathy to school and headed off to vote that morning with little Laura along for the walk. It was my pleasure to mark the ballot for Nixon just as my husband would. I'm sure my parents were voting for Kennedy. They would never vote anything but Democrat.

Later that day the time had come for me to go to Mercy Hospital in San Diego. On this trip across the bay by ferry, (this was before the bridge), I think it was my parents that took me to the hospital. We didn't have a car so I depended on family or took the bus. Paul came a little later by bus and arrived at the hospital just in time to be greeted with the birth of our first son, Paul William Marvin,III. It had been a fast delivery which was nice. He was a healthy 8 pound baby boy. He would be called Bill, not Billy as Paul had been called as a child.

The other big news that day was our new President elect was Kennedy. He was a favorite of many over the years.

My parents and I had a little tradition when we took the babies home from Mercy Hospital to go by my Dad's cousin's house on Fifth Avenue, in San Diego, on the way home. We enjoyed this opportunity to show off the babies to this sweet cousin. We did this for Laura and Bill, then later on for Griff. Kathy was born in Coronado so we didn't have this tradition until Laura was born.

Over the years we have enjoyed other traditions such as children's birthday parties and first haircuts. I let Bill's hair grow until after his first year photo and then I gave him his first haircut. He was a cute little guy with blond locks.

Today is Bill's 50th birthday and he is not here to celebrate with. I sent him cards and am trying to call him. He could be birding which is a hobby he enjoys. Paul and Bill both share this hobby so we get to go on rides to do this when Bill is in town. He lives in Florida so doesn't get here as often as I would like. But he was here twice this year so we got to go a lot of places including Arizona and Colorado.

Bill served in the Air Force for ten years and then was active in the Air Force Reserves for enough years to retire. He went to Iraq twice for several months each time while in the reserves. The reason he is in Florida is because he bought his house while stationed there. Hopefully he will someday move back to our area.

Today we have men here installing a new furnace to replace the one that died this spring. This will be a nice thing to have when it is cold. So far I have been ok without a heater. This furnace is a blessing provided by the Lord as we could not have afforded it. God is so good!!

God has blessed us in many ways. I especially appreciate my dear family. My heart belongs to God and family. My spiritual family as well as my dear ones. Hugs :)