May 10th Markers

In our family May 10th has always been significant as it is Paul's brother"s birthday, and sometimes it is Mother's Day. Charles Ellis Marvin was born May 10, 1935 and is one and a half years younger than his brother. Charlie has the dark hair of both his parents as well as their good looks. He has nice qualities from each parent. His love of animals comes from his mother. He has always had a favorite dog and spoils them as some people spoil their children.

Charlie and the rest of their family call my husband Bill. Paul is named Paul William after his dad so that is why he was called Bill. He was Billy as a child. Our son is also Paul William and is Bill to us. He is also Paul to friends. So we have to be on our toes when referring to Paul and Bill, depends on who is speaking if we hear Bill or Paul. Charlie's children refer to Paul as Uncle Bill. He is Uncle Paul to my sisters' children. For those who don't know, Bill is one of the names for William.

Charlie is the father of Eric, Carrie and Deron. He is the grandfather of Carrie's son Lucas, Deron's daughter LuLu, and Eric's girls Grace and Isabel. He is also the grandfather of Carrie and Eric's stepchildren. Charlie is married to Edye, a very sweet lady. I have enjoyed having these two special people as brother and sister-in-law. They have enjoyed the role of being grandparents. They love their children and their children's marriage partners, Kara, Dean and Laurie.

Charlie has always been very active. He enjoys cycling every day. He goes on long cycling trips every year with some of his good friends. They have biked in the Rockies and in the North Cascades. They have cycled in the mountains of Canada and in the U.S. Charlie and his biking friends are all Coronado High School graduates from the early fifties. Maybe one is a little bit younger. They are each seventy plus years old. Maybe one is in his sixties. These fine gentlemen are good examples to the younger generations.

Charlie and Edye live in Pacific Grove in a cute cottage. Their home is very comfortable and welcoming.  At this time Edye's sister lives with them as she is not able to be alone. I'm sure that she is happy and comfortable with them. They have always made us feel welcome when we visit.

This year on May 10th Charlie will be in San Diego with a good family friend, one of his cycling buddies. We will be going with Charlie and Clarence to Don and Sally's in the Talmadge area of San Diego. Don is Paul and Charlie's cousin, pretty much the same age as them. We will be enjoying lunch with them. This will be a nice time to get caught up with news from family and friends. We will also remember Charlie's birthday. We have been managing to get to Don and Sally's at least once a year in recent years. When cousin George is in town we go with him to Don and Sally's. That is usually December.

May 10th is also the day my mother went home to be with the Lord. It was two days before Mother's Day in 1996. Mom had been in her own home until a month or two before that date. We were trying to help her with her house. Betty and Sam had come from Montana, along with their son Matthew, to help get Mom's house in order. Mom would not let us throw much of anything away even though she had asked us to help her work on the house. Sam rented the biggest construction bin possible as there was a lot to be dealt with. During this procedure Mom fell and broke her hip. She was very fragile even though she was strong in many ways.

She had surgery on her hip and was in the hospital until a place was available in a nursing home. She was not in the nursing home long before she was back in the hospital. It turned out that she had a bowel obstruction that needed immediate surgery. She was too fragile and went to be with the Lord a day or two later. Betty and Sam made a second car trip with Matthew all the way from Montana to be with us. Of course my sister Donna and her husband Fred were also here with us as we got things in order. We had a memorial service at my church in Coronado. It was a memorable time for our family.


Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything


 1 There is a time for everything, 
   and a season for every activity under the heavens:
 2 a time to be born and a time to die, 
   a time to plant and a time to uproot, 
 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, 
   a time to tear down and a time to build, 
 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, 
   a time to mourn and a time to dance, 
 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 
 6 a time to search and a time to give up, 
   a time to keep and a time to throw away, 
 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, 
   a time to be silent and a time to speak, 
 8 a time to love and a time to hate, 
   a time for war and a time for peace.


We had our time of celebrating Mom's life. Ida Frances Davenport McDonaugh-Meza had a full life. September 16, 1913- May 10, 1996. She lived longer than two husbands. She had many jobs in her lifetime. Mother to Caroline, Donna and Betty; grandmother and great grandmother. Also an aunt, and a friend to many. She was treasured as a daughter when her parents were alive. She was the long awaited baby girl as her parents had lost two babies before she was born. She was the big sister to her brother Ray Jr., the little sister to her adopted sister Beulah. She was raised on the farm in Washington, went to college and then headed south to California. She met and married my dad R. Eugene McDonaugh and they both worked hard all their lives.

It was appropriate that we were celebrating mothers the weekend just after Mom went to be with the Lord. We were having A Mother-Daughter brunch the day after Mom died. Then Mother's Day was the next day.


We have other May markers too. We have more family and friends with May birthdays. There is at least one nephew with a May birthday. We have several friends with May birthdays. Our friend Adria's birthday is May 10th. Our friend Ron and his late wife Kathy both had the same May birthday. That is amazing to have the same birthday as your spouse. Little Sabrina celebrates her birthday on May 1st. She is one of the children I love.  :)