A Stitch In Time, Part Two

In the last 'Stitch in Time' I began with pretty much the same story as this time. There is a follow up story to go with it. On New Year's Day in 1957 when my first daughter Kathy was a toddler we were spending the day at my parents' house in Coronado. Kathy was exploring, as toddlers do, when she fell down the back steps and bumped her forehead. It looked as if it might need stitches so I called our doctor in Coronado. He said to bring her to his house so he could look at it. When he saw Kathy he knew she needed stitches and said he would meet us at his office. We quickly went the short distance to the office, on tenth street, where he and his wife tended to our dear little girl. She ended up with several stitches right above her eyebrow.

I remember this story as a reminder of how things were in that day and age compared to what they are now. You would not expect to even call a doctor at home now, or to be able to go to their office on New Year's Day. Well, I was telling this story to my foot doctor who is in that very same office as we went to those many years ago. He was aware of the doctor that had been in his office, and I had told him previously that I had been to the doctor in that office back in the fifties. As I was telling him the New Year's story recently, he was waiting for me to finish my story as he had a story to tell me.

His story is that on New Year's Day in 2011 his friend's little girl got a very bad splinter in her foot that needed medical care. My good podiatrist opened up his office on New Year's Day to tend to this little girl's foot. This was the very same office where I had taken my little Kathy those many years ago on the first day of the year so she could have her brow stitched up. So amazing! So personal care is not outdated. At least it is not outdated if you know the right doctor.

My sister Donna was telling me that it was a Sunday that she injured her foot and the doctor opened up his office to tend to her. She needed stitches in her foot. I remember the injury and her needing stitches, but I had forgotten that it was a Sunday. This is when she was a preteen or early teenager.

I needed stitches on my hand one time when I was a young teenager. I had been chasing one of our friends who had taken my ball. We were in the street near our house and I fell on my hand and hurt it bad. I went to our doctor and got a number of stitches in the palm of my hand. I can still see the scar. I baby sat in those days to be able to buy clothes and other things I needed. I paid for my stitches, all $19.00 of the bill with my baby sitting money. That is when we got thirty five cents an hour for baby sitting. Three hours was a whole dollar and five cents. I even baby sat the same evening that I got my stitches even though it hurt a lot.

One time when our son Griff was a young adult he cut his hand very bad on a machete that he had brought back from the Philippines. He had to call a taxi to take him to the emergency room as he was too injured to drive. He actually was not being careless when he injured his hand. It seems that the case for the machete had a worn out spot and he mistakenly put his hand on that part of the case. Those kind of injuries sure can hurt. His hand is fine now.

In the last 'Stitch in Time' I shared about the stitches my children got when they were little. As far as I can remember they each had one set of stitches as children. The same for my sisters and me. There have been stitches due to surgery but that is not the same as those unplanned events that need stitches. I guess no one would choose either though. The thing to do is to handle each case in a timely manner. Each thing we go through is part of our growth and hoping we don't make the same mistakes again that led to the need for a stitch in time.

Riding The Train

Some of our most pleasant memories are from when we rode the train. When my sisters and I were young we rode the train between San Diego and Los Angeles a number of times. It is a favorite memory for me. I can still picture details of what the passenger cars of the train looked like.

After our daughter Kathy and her husband and first baby moved to Washington state we enjoyed several train trips on The Coast Starlight train to see them. I had already gone to Washington on the bus at least once when Laura and I decided on going north by train. We had a great experience on that trip. The scenery included the coast and the mountains as well as cities and farmland. We only spent one night on the train and slept in our seats. We did not spend the extra money for a sleeping car or fancy dining car experience. There was a cafe car to purchase sandwiches or other snacks.

In those days, in the eighties, smoking was allowed on some parts of the train. The problem was that smoke travels to other areas so it was difficult to get away from it. Now days there is no smoking allowed and that is more pleasant. That is how things have been on buses too, as well as other public places such as restaurants. When I was young smoking did not bother me as I grew up around cigarette smoke. But smoke is unpleasant for me now as it has always been for my children. Thankfully "no smoking" laws are in effect on trains and buses now.

After Laura's and my happy train experience Paul and I decided to travel to Washington by train a few times. Two of the trips were to see Kathy and family on Whidbey Island as Laura and I had done. The train goes to Seattle and then we get a ride with family to the island. Later, after Kathy's family had moved from Washington, Paul and I took the train to Seattle to spend time with his cousin. Since then we have taken trips by train to visit Paul's brother Charlie and his wife in central California.

The last time we went to Whidbey Island to see Kathy, John, Becky, Melissa and Michael they were getting ready to move back to California. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with them if I remember correctly. We helped them as they were preparing for their move south. They would have a car full with their family and three kitties. Paul and I brought five year old Becky back to San Diego with us on the train. She had never been away from her family, but she was close to me so she did fine. It was a fun experience traveling with our little granddaughter. That is a way to see the sights with new eyes.

Each time we traveled on the train we managed to add other visits to the itinerary. On some trips we got off in Sacramento to spend time with Charlie and Edye. On some trips we stopped for an overnight stay in Los Angeles to see my sister Donna and her husband Fred. We did our Los Angeles stop when we had Becky with us. This way we enjoyed the last segment of the trip in the morning or early afternoon. I have a cute picture of Becky wearing the conductor's hat on that part of the train ride.

The last time I took the train to Los Angeles was in the fall of 2007. I spent a good part of a week with Donna and Fred on that trip. I was there for Donna's "three times twenty three" birthday. That is how she referred to that birthday. Donna and Fred were coming to San Diego so they brought me home. The fires of 2007 started in our mountains that weekend. Not too many weeks later Donna and I lost our sister Betty, near Thanksgiving.

On one of our train trips in the early '90s Paul, Laura and I traveled together to Sacramento to a wedding. That was an enjoyable family time with Charlie, Edye and their family. We traveled on a different train in the valley that time On that schedule you take the train from San Diego to L.A. Then take a bus to Bakersfield in the valley. Then the train and then another bus. Paul got off earlier when he met Charlie to go to Yosemite as Charlie was on a work related trip in that area. They were in Sacramento on time for Eric's wedding that weekend.

On one of our train trips to see Charlie and Edye in Pacific Grove our destination was another wedding in their family. We traveled by car with Charlie and Edye from Pacific Grove to San Francisco to Deron and Laurie's wedding. We stayed in a hotel in S.F. that night. That was a never to be forgotten experience. We have missed going to other family weddings, but have been happy to be able to go to the ones we did go to.

I would like to go by train to Colorado at least once. I have been by car and bus and plane. On one of my Colorado trips Kathy, John and Melissa and I went on the Pike's Peak Cog Train. This train takes you to the very top of the mountain. At the high altitude of 14,110 feet I could hardly walk or breathe when we got off the cog train. It is a short visit, just enough time for pictures and buying souvenirs. I would recommend this cog train ride to any that did not have heart problems. The scenery is beautiful. The view from the summit of Pikes Peak is said to have inspired Katharine Lee Bates to write "America the Beautiful" in 1893.

We do indeed have a beautiful country and we should appreciate it from whatever vantage point we have available to us. For us in San Diego we have access to the beaches and mountains as well as the desert. We also have beautiful parks and the zoo within easy reach. We have trolleys and buses to get to many destinations. Of course most people have access to a car. By train or plane we can get to more distant destinations with other beautiful scenery to enjoy.

"O beautiful for Spacious skies,                       America! America!
For amber waves of grain,                               God shed His grace on thee
For purple mountain majesties                         And crown thy good with brotherhood 
Above the fruited plain !                                  From sea to shining sea !"

America The Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates in 1893


image credit: jpmueller99; TreyDanger

Riding The Bus, Part Two

Earlier I wrote about some of the people who we see or have met when riding the bus. Our family has used the buses in San Diego for decades. My children grew up knowing how to use the transit system. When they were little we did not always have a car, and I do not drive. We used to go to downtown San Diego by way of the ferry and bus. We didn't have to take the bus as we could get on the ferry going from Coronado to San Diego for small change. Then we could walk the rest of the way to our destination, even the San Diego Zoo. That was for the adventurous soul, but we sometimes liked to be challenged.

More often we would take the bus to our destination. If we still had energy, or were short of funds, we could walk back home. It was downhill that direction from the zoo. Of course we still had to take the ferry. By ferry I mean the car ferries that had a place for passengers to embark. We had to change our way of doing things after the bridge opened and the ferries were stopped. It was a sad day when we had our last ferry rides. It was several years before we got the current pedestrian ferries. They are fun to ride but cost more than we were used to paying.

Our children learned how to go by themselves to the zoo while they were still in grade school. Some people may have thought I was crazy to let them do this but I knew that the children knew what they were doing. I would probably not let them do this if I were raising them today. Maybe if I had been an older mother I would have given it a more critical look. In other words I may have worried more. One time Kathy and our friend Wendy, who was a little bit older than Kathy, got on the wrong bus and had an unplanned adventure. It was ok as they just stayed on to the end of the route where the bus turned around, headed back to where they were in familiar territory. Wendy lived in San Diego near Adams Avenue and they were probably headed back to Coronado.

One time when the children were quite young and we were coming home from downtown San Diego I left a small package on the bus in Coronado. Now this is another one of my small world stories. The bus made a trip back to San Diego and had made the rounds in San Diego. It was back in Coronado after trips both ways on the ferry. I was walking down Orange Avenue in Coronado with the children when the bus driver spotted us and stopped. He said he had something that belonged to us. It was the small package that I had left on the bus. I think it was color books and crayons or some similar purchase. This was a treasure to the children and to me. Can you believe that the bus driver was so aware of our little family?

I have enjoyed Greyhound bus trips in the past too. I traveled more than once by bus to Washington state when Kathy's family lived there. I have traveled home from Billings, Montana by bus too, after going there by car. I did the same thing one time when I went to Washington with a friend and came home by bus. I have also traveled both directions by bus to Denver, Colorado several times. Last time I did this with Laura and we decided that it was the last time going that far by bus.

When my mother went to her fiftieth high school reunion, near Bellingham, Washington, Laura went with her by bus. Laura got to go to some of the events of the reunion with her grandmother. She also went to some of the events of her dad's and my fiftieth reunions in Coronado in 2003 and 2005.

Electric Streetcar to Coronado Ferry

We have been using public transportation for decades and appreciate having it be available for us. It was a real treat when the trolleys began service in the early eighties. We have enjoyed using them for three decades now. Paul and I remember that when we were quite young there were street cars. Too bad they were discontinued. I especially remember the street car that went down the middle of Orange Avenue in Coronado when I was little. My dad had stories to tell my sisters and me about his adventures with the street cars when he was young. He was a great story teller and I would love to follow in his footsteps.

Our family will continue to take advantage of the buses and trolleys as we do not have a car now. They are a necessary source of transportation for us.

Image credits: prayitno; aldenjewell; San Diego History Center

Riding The Bus

It has been mostly a blessing riding the bus as our main form of transportation. We have made special friends and met a lot of interesting people along the way. One of my best friends is one that I met on the bus. When I was going to Coronado every Sunday morning to Sunday school and church I met Ellen as she was heading to Westview Bible Church in Imperial Beach. We were on the bus a short time together each week and got to know each other over a period of time. She invited us to her church and since we had another friend there we eventually visited Westview.

We continued to go to Coronado, but occasionally visited Westview. Laura started going to Westview much more often than Paul and I did. Then for a period of time Paul was going to Midway Baptist Church which is now known as Oceanview Church. He liked the idea that it is close to home so it is a short bus ride. Laura was going to Westview then and I was still going to Coronado. The bus driver was interested in our unusual arrangement at the time. She would have been in Church if she had not been driving the bus.

When the bus schedule changed and was not running often enough on the Strand to Coronado we started going Westview most weeks. This has been a blessing for our family. I am thankful that we met Ellen on the bus. Ellen and her husband Dave are dear people. We have enjoyed getting to know them and the other dear brothers and sisters in Christ at Westview Bible Church. We still have a sweet connection to Coronado and our many friends there, but we are being blessed each week at Westview.

There are a lot of interesting people on the bus and I have enjoyed talking to some of them. Bella is an older lady that I used to see quite often on the bus. She was beginning to forget things a lot and I was really concerned about her. She had a lot of history in our area and I heard some of her stories more than once. She lived with her sons near the trolley station and they must have begun to be concerned about her too. We had not seen her in quite a while when Laura and I came upon her as we were walking near her home in the valley. She said her sons did not want her to leave the yard anymore. At least I know she is safe.

We see many handicapped people on the bus. They don't let their disabilities keep them from being out and about many times during the week. There are a lot of senior citizens on their errands as well as young people going to school or their jobs each day. The bus and trolley are very much needed by many people. I appreciate being in an area where public transportation is available. I appreciate the nice bus drivers too. I have met some very nice drivers. There are a few that are not as nice, but they are the minority. Drivers have an important job and also need to care about people. You can tell which ones are not people oriented, it is just a job for them.

Then there are the people that get on the bus and are having a bad day. They want to make sure that everyone else has a bad day too. The other day one guy was loudly cussing at his lady friend. I could tell that he was a bully and did not have anything nice to say to her. I would have loved to say something but would have probably made the situation worse. I don't like to see someone being treated so badly. I would hope that she has someone to intervene for her or that she is able to distance herself from this bully.

Riding the bus is not boring. But you have to give yourself enough time to get to your destination. We like to leave home early and arrive at appointments early. Proper planning is important.

Photo credits: Seattle Municipal Archives;  DearEdward; paulkimo90

We May Change But God Never Changes

Over the years our circumstances and attitudes have changed. What was once considered offensive seems to be acceptable in this day and age. When I was young the families on TV were modeling moral values, even if they were not in church on Sundays. We had favorites such as "Leave It To Beaver" and "Father Knows Best." It seemed ok when things got a little bit more realistic, but families were not valued as time went by. I understand having shows that value a hard working single mother. That is the reality in many families. But it has gone way beyond that.

I do not appreciate the total lack of moral values in shows now days. I will not watch programs that promote unmarried sex as a norm. I know it happens in real life, but it doesn't have to be promoted on TV. We need to let our young ones know that they need to build relationships and then get married before hopping into bed. Happiness is not built on hopping into bed on a first or second date. I'm not being judgmental of those that have not waited till marriage and found themselves in a situation they had not intended. I'm not happy with TV networks for promoting this as acceptable and normal.

God has a reason for guiding us in the right direction. It is for our own good. He wants the best for us. The networks don't care about our welfare. They even promote homosexuality. We can't get away from this on TV any more. I was innocently watching a weight loss show when the person "came out of the closet" about his homosexuality. I didn't even want to think negative about him, but they fawned over him as if it was a good thing and that bothered me. This subject is thrown in our face at every twist and turn.


22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.


 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.


 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.


 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. Romans 1:22-28


The Word of God says this better than I can. They do not desire to retain the knowledge of God. They say God created them that way and God does not make mistakes. Yet the Bible condemns that lifestyle. God loves us and desires for us to confess our sin and turn to him. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. He gave us His only begotten Son and if we confess our sins and turn to Him we will be saved. He did not come to condemn us, but that through Him we would be saved. See Romans 3;23 and John 3:16-17.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8 

Timely Expenses

When Paul and I were newlyweds in Coronado we may not have had much money, but we were able to make a little go a long ways. The cost of living in those days was nothing compared to what it is now. Our first little garage apartment didn't cost more than thirty or thirty-five dollars a month. It was one room plus a small kitchen and a bath, just right for the two of us. I don't remember anything about how the utilities were handled. We may not have had an extra bill for them. If we did they would have been very small. Our struggle was in having enough cash for food or any extras.

We were in that first little house on the alley for less than half a year. We moved to our next home on Margarita Avenue in the early part of 1955. This house was originally owned by Paul's Grandma Jones. When we lived there Paul's Uncle Ivor Jones owned it. We paid him fifty dollars a month rent. This house was an older cottage with three bedrooms, a large living room, a kitchen and a bathroom, besides a basement. There was also a large yard. We stayed in that house for four years. Kathy and Laura were born while we lived on Margarita Avenue. This was a block from where Paul lived as a child. He would have spent a lot of time at his grandma's as a child so the house we lived in was very familiar to him.

Paul's parents were on Pomona Avenue just two blocks from us. They lived in one of the homes that they had built. They bought their large lot for $500.00 sometime in the early forties. The first house they built was on the alley, in the back part of their lot, on Adella Lane. I understand that Paul's mother did some of the construction while Paul's father was at war. Paul's Grandpa Marvin was in charge of the construction as this was his trade. They lived in this house until they built their home on Pomona Avenue, the front part of the large lot. Paul's dad was the main carpenter as this was his skill. This is the only home they lived in from before the time I knew them until sometime after Paul's mother died in the seventies. This is the home that was Grandma and Granddad's house to our children. This is where many memories were made. Christmases, birthdays and many special events were celebrated there.

Paul's mother died in December of 1971 after a long battle with cancer. She was missed by all, especially Dad. Paul's dad remarried early in 1973. After a couple of years Dad and Myrtle sold the family home in Coronado and bought a home in LaMesa. There must have been several owners of our favorite house on Pomona Avenue as we noted changes over the years. Color changes, a second story added and whatever a new owner deemed necessary to make it their home. That was all fine and good, but when we drove by and saw that it had been torn down our hearts were broken. Paul always says that he had helped build that house as he helped with the roofing. The back house in the alley is still there and has a second story added. There are two houses in front now and they are not my favorite houses on the block.

Before Laura was a year old we moved to a house on the 200 block of F Avenue. This house was owned by some people we knew. I remember the older lady who lived there when I was a child. She was the mother of the couple we rented it from. This was a block from where I lived as a child. My parents and one of my sisters still lived on the 300 block of F, in the old house I lived in as a teenager. My Grandma and Aunt Clara, as well as Uncle George still lived at 300 F Avenue so we all saw each other quite often. The children got to know several generations of my family.

Paul and I paid $70.00 rent for the house at 238 F Avenue. This is where we lived when Bill and Griff were born. We were in this house until Griff was two years old. By this time we didn't have any family living on the next block. My grandma had died when Bill was a new baby. The old family house was sold for around $19,000. The last time I saw it on the market it was $700,000, billed as one of the least expensive houses in Coronado. Grandma was in the house for about forty years. It is my favorite house and I enjoy seeing it when I'm going down Third Street in Coronado. It was a quiet street when we were there, but it is a busy highway heading to North Island now.

Just before Griff was born Mom and Dad were able to make their first major purchase of a home of their own. They paid less than $15,000 for their new house, one of the first houses built in the area where we now live. It is part of San Diego now. In those days their mail was addressed to Imperial Beach. Another name for this area is Otay Mesa. Dad did not live very many more years so didn't get to see how this area developed over the years. He died in 1964 when my children were still quite young. He didn't even get to see the bridge being built. He would have liked the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge.

When my sisters and I were quite young there was a nice sized lot next to Grandma and Granddad's on F Avenue. It was part of their property. When we lived at our grandparent's, after the war, my parents raised chickens on part of that lot to earn some extra cash for our family. Mom and Dad were given the lot as their inheritance. They needed cash and sold the lot for $1,000. If you know Coronado now you know it would be worth a fortune.

Paul's Uncle Ivor sold the house on Margarita Avenue in the $10,000 range. If only we could have purchased it then. But we were kids with no money. Nobody would have dreamed that property would skyrocket. In our early years $10,000 was a fortune to us.

In 1965 Paul, the children and I moved to Olive Lane. Paul's brother and sister-in-law lived there with their first baby. They were expecting a second child and were moving for more space. We decided to move there even though it was very small. It was nicer than we had and it was also cute. It was two stories and had three bedrooms and two baths. I enjoyed this little house the first year we were in it. We paid $100.00 a month for several years and then the rent was raised ten dollars. A lot for us. Just add some zeros now and that would be reasonable for this day and age. After living on Olive Lane for eight years I was more than ready to move. We had a lot of history in that little house, not all good. It was not the house's fault though.

We bought this house in South San Diego in 1973 for less than $30,000. It is worth a lot more now. Our family has enjoyed many Thanksgivings and Christmases here. Our family has grown with more in-laws and grandchildren. We now have a great grandson. Life can be good. We can't depend on the things of this world to make us happy though. The only constant is the love we have in Christ.

Not all the houses we have lived in are still standing. But they are in the memories of our hearts. The family home on Margarita Avenue is still there and we enjoy driving past to see it. Paul's brother and sister-in-law knocked on the door and visited the lady that lives there on one of their trips to Coronado. I need to do the same thing sometime. I also want to do this for my grandparent's house too. Paul's other grandparent's home on H Avenue in Coronado is not there anymore. Grandpa Marvin built that house too. He also built the addition to my grandparent's house in the early years. Our homes become so much a part of us.

When I was little and lived in Coronado I got homesick for my grandparent's farm in Washington. And when I lived on the farm I would get homesick for Coronado. For years I wanted to go back to Washington state to see all the family homes there and see those loved ones we missed so much. I finally got to vacation there several times and it satisfied me. San Diego is home now and I don't have those old longings to move anymore. We are close enough to Coronado to satisfy me. I would love to live there , but do not need to do so. My only real need is to visit loved ones around the country. I especially need to see my babies.

My longing is to live with Jesus someday. This world is not my home, I'm just passing through. There is a home prepared for me in heaven. It is better than anything that I can imagine.

pictures from family album- first pic. Margarita Avenue
2nd pic.- Caroline with first two children on Margarita
3rd pic.- All four children with their cousin at Grandma and Granddad's
next pic.- At Grandma and Granddad's with a little friend
next scene- 200 block of F Avenue with two of our children and neighbors
another Margarita scene with Paul and the girls
Kathy, Laura, Bill and Griff on Olive Lane

First Memories

There is an article in the paper today about first memories and how young were you at the time of your first memory. I know that I remember several things from when I was in kindergarten. I'm sure I remember a little bit from when I was a little bit younger. I clearly remember the house we lived in when I was around four or five years old. In fact my youngest sister was a baby then so I would have been about four when I first remember that house.

The house was on B Avenue, south of Tenth Street. It was a very old house and has been gone for years now. There was a vacant lot on the corner of Tenth and B. Next to the lot, on Tenth, there was a building that must have been a club house for Filipinos. I was a friendly child and probably made friends with some of the people there. Across the street on Tenth and C was, and still is, the Presbyterian Church. I made friends with Pastor Carson's youngest daughter Eloise. I went to their Sunday School for a while, but don't remember how long. We had been so young that Eloise did not remember knowing me when we met in later years.

On Orange Avenue, in back of our house, was the little hospital where my sisters were born. Twenty years later, in the sixties, there was a cute shop there named The Bayberry Tree. That store could have been there into the seventies. We enjoyed going into that store over the years when my children were young.

One story that Mom used to tell about my sister Betty was that she used to hold her breath and couldn't breathe. Mom would grab Betty and head out the back towards the hospital, then Betty would catch her breath when they got outside. I guess they didn't end up reaching the hospital before she was ok. We were in a good place if assistance had been needed.

Another time when Betty was about two years old, when we were visiting our grandparents and other relatives on F Avenue, Betty fell while drinking out of a small juice glass. She cut herself very bad on the bridge of her nose. I remember it bleeding a lot and all the adults being very concerned. Little Betty needed stitches for that injury. Those were probably the first stitches for any of us. I know we lived in the house on B then as I remember my aunt and uncle being with us there right after that happened.

I remember going to kindergarten in Coronado. My grandfather used to take me home after school. I rode on the back of his bike. One day when he went to pick me up I wasn't there. I had gone to a friend's at a house nearby. I can even remember the house on Seventh Street, near where the current police station is. I don't know how he found me but he did. I guess I was in big trouble since it stayed in my memory bank all these years. I'm remembering this seventy years later.

Paul remembers the first day of kindergarten. He says there were two teachers and he rejected both teachers. He does not remember why he did this. There is usually one child in a class who would much prefer to be home with Mommy. I guess he was the one. He also started school in Coronado. One of the teachers was the teacher I remember having, as did three of our children.

Donna didn't get to go to kindergarten as we were in Washington state with our mother's parents and there was no kindergarten there. I remember Donna's first day of first grade at the Meridian School, near the Canadian border, not far from our grandparent's farm in Laurel. I had done first grade twice at that school. I was in second grade when Donna started first grade. We had moved to Portland by the time Betty was in kindergarten. She started school there and finished her kindergarten year in Coronado.

One thing I remember about going to school in Portland, when I was in third grade, was that we were in a mixed race neighborhood. This was a change from our days on the farm with our grandparents. I also remember someone asking me what was on Betty's face. I never paid much attention to her birthmark otherwise. I knew enough to just say it was something she always had. Kids can be color blind, or blind to birthmarks. I always had a mole near my eye and remember a teacher being concerned about it when I was in first or second grade. Otherwise I wouldn't have thought about it. I eventually had it removed many years later. Betty never had the desire to have her birthmark removed. It was part of who she was.

Another memory from the house on B Avenue in Coronado also needs to be told. My parents were always hard workers and they did what they needed to do to support our family. Mom took in laundry and ironing and may have done some maid work. When we were very young Dad was a chauffeur, while his eyes were still good.

One day when Mom was at work and Dad was caring for the three of us girls he may have fallen asleep on the job. He may have had a few under his belt too. That happened sometimes. The three of us may have been on the noisy side and bothered the neighbors this one time. Our nearby neighbor was none too  pleased with the enthusiasm coming from the kids in the house next door, and Daddy could not be raised from his sleep. Our good neighbor called the police. When Mom came home from work the police were there and helping out nicely. But my Mom had plenty to say about that! She told them to mind their own business, that they did not need to be there. Life was not boring in our household.

In this day and age I'm sure things may not have ended as they did in those days so many years ago. I have a feeling that they did not choose to cross paths with that mother hen again. She could be very likeable and never knew a stranger, but not on that day.

Small world if you live in Coronado. Our neighbor was one of Paul's uncles. Now I remember that uncle always saying nice things about my mother. My dad was a good friend of another one of Paul's uncles. Even though I did not know Paul till we were teenagers our ties go back a long way. Dad and Paul's aunts, uncles and parents all grew up in Coronado from the time they were in school. Some of my uncles and one aunt would have gone to school in Coronado too.

I remember the first day going to school after arriving back in Coronado after the war. I was in third grade, Donna was in second grade and Betty was in kindergarten. This would have been after Christmas vacation, and after a long bus ride for our whole family from Portland to San Diego. After that first day of school I was to make sure my sisters got back home on Third and F ok. I remembered where my sisters classes were and how to get home. I found Donna and Betty as I was supposed to do. But then they decided they knew more about getting home than I did.

I couldn't persuade them to go with me straight down F from the school to home, heading north, towards the bay. It was so easy for me, but they had their own idea of where to head. They went straight, but they headed west down Fifth Street, towards North Island. I got home and told either our parents or grandparents that Donna and Betty were headed the wrong way. It did not take long for family to find my wayward sisters. They knew the way after that.

Another time that same year I was walking with two friends home from school. We were across the street from Dorothy's house, on the same block that I lived, when a man asked us if we wanted a ride. I was not wise to the ways of the world, just fresh from several years of "A Little House On The Prairie" existence. Thankfully I was with two wise friends and noted that they were alarmed. They ran to Dorothy's house and thankfully I decided that was what I should do too. Or maybe I just finished the walk home since I was close by. I would have thought it was someone that maybe I knew and was just being nice. The next day the police came to school and asked us questions. I doubt that I was a good witness for the information that they needed.

The second friend that day was Paul's cousin Sally. I have known her since third grade. When we met we were so amazed that our fathers were good friends. Our fathers had their own adventures together over the years.

After this experience I was sure it was my God given duty to warn my sisters of things such as that. But I got carried away and put fear into them that did not need to be part of their young lives. I had just discovered that there were bad people and I was the one to protect my sisters. Who knows, maybe the person who offered us a ride was not really a bad guy. I did a pretty good job of warning my little Kathy too. "Do not take rides from strangers," so she even turned down a ride with my aunt that she knew all her life. I must not have worried too much though as my children pretty much had the run of the island. And that is another story.