A story of a dogs love

A DOG STORY



Anyone who has pets will really like this. You'll like it even if you don't and you may even decide you need one!

Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named 'Lucky.' Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing.

Mary or Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's other favorite toys. Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.
It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease....in fact ,she was just sure it was fatal.
She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A thought struck her...what would happen to Lucky? Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary's dog through and through. If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won't understand that I didn't want to leave him. The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.
The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.
Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap. Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn't come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.
When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong. She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned! While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life. He had covered her with his love.
Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day. It's been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky?
He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.
Remember....live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing from God. And never forget....the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care for us.
If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours! Live simply. Love seriously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God .
A small request: All you are asked to do is keep this circulating.

Dear God, I pray for the cure of cancer. Amen

thoughts a pondering

today is a day that allows you to sit inside and watch the snow flakes just drift to the ground and just ponder over all that you know, dream and what the future might hold for us. I have always been a west coast type of gal born in San Francisco, raised in San Diego CA, married a Marine almost 50 years ago, and never in my dreams, thoughts or desire ever thought I would be living in Alaska. The first time we ever saw Alaska is because of our 3rd and fourth daughters, and I fell in love with Alaska then, that was in 1990, so much has crossed our path and we have felt love, sadness, contempment, but never regrets. We have raised a family of beautiful children, and in turn they have raised a family of even more beautiful children and now those children are starting to raise families. It is amazing of how life goes on.

I am going to post some pictures of Alaska as I have seen it and I hope you can see the beauty of this state. I miss my children in Nevada so much but I am glad that I have had this opportunity to see this country and now can call it my home.

I guess today is a day for pondering and dreaming and saying thanks to the Higher Being up above for allowing me all of my good fortune, no not material things, but for the love of a family, good health, a good soul mate for life, and happiness for a life time.

Thank you

Andy Rooney speaks out

Good for him!!!
Surprised CBS let him get away with this even though he's right



Right on, Andy Rooney!

Andy Rooney said on '60 Minutes' a few weeks back:

I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what happens...Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.

Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.

I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, which is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE?

I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion.

I have the right 'NOT' to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off.

When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability.

I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen, you should have to speak English!

My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.

I think the police should have every right to shoot you if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word 'freeze' or 'stop' in English, see the above lines.

I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business.

We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations.

I don't hate the rich I don't pity the poor

I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn't stop you from watching them.

I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that's better, and put your name on the building.

It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say 'NO!'

I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries!

I am sick of 'Political Correctness.' I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa ; so how can they be 'African-Americans'? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe . I am proud to be from America and nowhere else

And if you don't like my point of view, tough...

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL! And what about CANADIANS-We feel the same. Bravo for the Canadians too!!!

I was asked to send this on if I agree or delete if I don't. It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in having 'In God We Trust' on our money and having 'God' in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the 14% to BE QUIET!!!

Two Words

ok, this posting is caused by Maura LeAnn

2 words

2 words NO MORE NO LESS can be used... Have fun and try not to use the same answers as the person before you...

1. Where is your cell phone? ..................In hand
2. Your significant other?..................wonderful man
3. Your hair? ....................................... Short silver
4. Your mother?................................ in heaven
5. Your father?...................................... at home
6. Your favorite thing?.............................my family
7. Your dream last night?........................ didn't dream
8. Your favorite drink? .............................cranrasberry drink
9. Your dream/goal?.............................live life
10. The room you're in?.........................picture room
11. Your ex?....................................not one
12. Your fear?..................................dying young
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?.........happy alive
14. Where were you last night?....................At home
15. What you're not?..................................nagging mean
16. Muffin?.......................................... blue berry
17. One of your wish list items?........... healthy life
18. Where you were born?................. San Francisco
19. The last thing you did?.......................closed store
20. What are you wearing?.................... A sweater
21. Your TV?.........................................a tv
22. Your pets?........................................ spoiled yorkie
23. Your computer? .................................yep computer
24. Your life?......................................... good fulfilled
25. Your mood?...................................content loving
26. Missing someone?........................my girls
27. Your car?...........................................a truck
28. Something you're not wearing?................ a slip
29. Favorite Store?.....................................crandberry shop
30. Your summer?....................................what summer
31. Like someone?.....................................my husband
32. Your favorite color?......................... blue green
33. Last time you laughed?.........................yesterday
34. Who will re-post this?...........................not sure

The Pickle Jar

The pickle jar as far back as I can remember sat on the floor beside the dresser in my parents' bedroom. When he got ready for bed, Dad would empty his pockets and toss his coins into the jar.

As a small boy I was always fascinated at the sounds the coins made as they were dropped into the jar . They landed with a merry jingle when the jar was almost empty. Then the tones gradually muted to a dull thud as the jar was filled.

I used to squat on the floor in front of the jar and admire the copper and silver circles that glinted like a pirate's treasure when the sun poured through the bedroom window. When the jar was filled, Dad would sit at the kitchen table and roll the coins before taking them to the bank.

Taking the coins to the bank was always a big production stacked neatly in a small cardboard box, the coins were placed between Dad and me on the seat of his old truck.

Each and every time, as we drove to the bank, Dad would look at me hopefully. 'Those coins are going to keep you out of the textile mill, son. You're going to do better than me. This old mill town's not going to hold you back.'

Also, each and every time, as he slid the box of rolled coins across the counter at the bank toward the cashier, he would grin proudly 'These are for my son's college fund. He'll never work at the mill all his life like me.'

We would always celebrate each deposit by stopping for an ice cream cone. I always got chocolate. Dad always got vanilla. When the clerk at the ice cream parlor handed Dad his change, he would show me the few coins nestled in his palm. 'When we get home, we'll start filling the jar again.' He always let me drop the first coins into the empty jar. As they rattled around with a brief, happy jingle, we grinned at each other. 'You'll get to college on pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,' he said. 'But you'll get there; I'll see to that.'

No matter how rough things got at home, Dad continued to doggedly drop his coins into the jar. Even the summer when Dad got laid off from the mill, and Mama had to serve dried beans several times a week, not a single dime was taken from the jar.

To the contrary, as Dad looked across the table at me, pouring catsup over my beans to make them more palatable, he became more determined than ever to make a way out for me. 'When you finish college, Son,' he told me, his eyes glistening, 'You'll never have to eat beans again - unless you want to.'

The years passed, and I finished college and took a job in another town. Once, while visiting my parents, I used the phone in their bedroom, and noticed that the pickle jar was gone. It had served its purpose and had been removed.

A lump rose in my throat as I stared at the spot beside the dresser where the jar had always stood. My dad was a man of few words, and never lectured me on the values of determination, perseverance, and faith. The pickle jar had taught me all these virtues far more eloquently than the most flowery of words could have done. When I married, I told my wife Susan about the significant part the lowly pickle jar had played in my life as a boy. In my mind, it defined, more than anything else, how much my dad had loved me.

The first Christmas after our daughter Jessica was born, we spent the holiday with my parents. After dinner, Mom and Dad sat next to each other on the sofa, taking turns cuddling their first grandchild. Jessica began to whimper softly, and Susan took her from Dad's arms. 'She probably needs to be changed,' she said, carrying the baby into my parents' bedroom to diaper her. When Susan came back into the living room, there was a strange mist in her eyes.

She handed Jessica back to Dad before taking my hand and leading me into the room. 'Look,' she said softly, her eyes directing me to a spot on the floor beside the dresser. To my amazement, there, as if it had never been removed, stood the old pickle jar, the bottom already covered with coins. I walked over to the pickle jar, dug down into my pocket, and pulled out a fistful of coins. With a gamut of emotions choking me, I dropped the coins into the jar. I looked up and saw that Dad, carrying Jessica, had slipped quietly into the room. Our eyes locked, and I knew he was feeling the same emotions I felt. Neither one of us could speak.

This truly touched my heart. I know it has yours as well. Sometimes we are so busy adding up our troubles that we forget to count our blessings.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life, for better or for worse.

God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way. Look for Good in others.

The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched - they must be felt with the heart ~ Helen Keller

- Happy moments, praise God.

- Difficult moments, seek God.

- Quiet moments, worship God.

- Painful moments, trust God.

- Every moment, thank God.

Why should the wedding ring be worn on the fourth finger?

There is a beautiful and convincing explanation given by the Chinese---

Thumb represents your parents
Second (index) finger represents your siblings
Middle finger represents yourself
Fourth (ring) finger represents your life partner
last (little) finger represents your children

First open your palms (face to face), bend the middle fingers and hold them together back to back---

Second, open and hold the remaining three fingers and the thumb tip to tip.

Now try to separate your thumbs (representing the parents), they will open because your parents are not destined to live with you life long and have to leave you sooner or later.

Please join your thumbs as before, now separate your index fingers (representing sibings), they will also open because your siblings will have their own families and will lead their own separate lives.

Now join the index fingers as before, now separate your little fingers (representing your children), they will open too because the children also will get married and settle down on their own someday.

Finally, join your little fingers as before and now try to separate your ring fingers (representing your spouse) You will be surprised to see that you CANNOT....because husband and wife have to remain together all their lives through thick and thin!!!

Please try this out...

Isn't this a great theory?

Do you know how to tell a two-way mirror?

Interesting information about mirrors!

I thought this was good information. Who knows nowadays?

How can you tell when you are in a room, restroom, motel etc. with a mirror or a 2-way glass?

Here's how: I thought this was quite interesting!
And I know in about 30 seconds you're going to do what I did and find the nearest mirror.

Do you know how to determine if a mirror is 2-way or not?

A policewoman who travels all over the US and gives seminars and techniques for businesswomen passed this on.

When we visit toilets, bathrooms, hotel rooms, changing rooms, etc., how many of you know for sure that the seemingly ordinary mirror hanging on the wall is a real mirror, or actually a 2-way mirror (i.e., they can see you, but you can't see them)? There have been many cases of people installing 2-way mirrors in female changing rooms. It is very difficult to positively identify the surface by looking at it.

So, how do we determine with any amount of certainty what type of mirror we are looking at?

Just conduct this simple test: Place the tip of your fingernail against the reflective surface and if there is a GAP between your fingernail and the image of the nail, then it is GENUINE mirror.

However, if your fingernail DIRECTLY TOUCHES the image of your nail,
then BEWARE! IT IS A 2-WAY MIRROR! 'No Space, Leave the Place.'

So remember, every time you see a mirror, do the 'fingernail test.'
It doesn't cost you anything.

REMEMBER. No Space, Leave the Place:

Ladies: Share this with your girlfriends, sisters, daughters, etc.

Men: Share this with your wives, daughter s, daughter-in-law, mothers, girlfriends and/or friends.

behine the scenes of a State Fair

The Alaskan State Fair is scheduled to open on the 21st of this month so it is time for all the arts and crafty people to show off their talents. Have you ever wondered how people earn their ribbons? Well we had the chance to find out how the canning people earned their ribbons, we were recruited to be tasting judges. There were over 500 entries and we arrived at our duty station at 7 pm and we were told that we should be finished by 10 pm and if we stayed until the end of the tasting we would earn 2 tickets each for admission to the fair plus a ribbon that said we were judges. Anyway we arrived (Del, Cathy and myself) at 7 pm prompt and the tables were all set up to hold 8 people, there are 4 judges to each process, so I was paired with Cathy and two other people and Del was paired with 3 people. We had to judge the packaging, consistency, taste, smell. We tasted so many jams, jellies, preserves, marmalades, pickled beets, pickled who knew what, chutney, we had to rate each group and pick 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc, let me tell you, talk about a sugar high, oh my gosh, I tasted some weird stuff, good stuff, fabulous stuff and stuff to die for, at the very end of the tasting they broke out all the salmon stuff, smoked, canned, and by that time there were only 6 of us die hards left out of over 40 people for that tasting, we had to smell, taste, judge the looks and I am sick of salmon. I have never tasted so many different kinds of ways to can salmon, we had peppered salmon, jalapeno's salmon, dill salmon, smoked salmon, just plain salmon, pickled salmon. The reason they saved the salmon for last is if they had opened up the salmon before all the rest of the stuff, then everything would smell and taste like salmon. We finally finshed at midnight but my stomach did not settle down until the morning talk about tossing and turning, ugh, I did not feel the least bit hungry today and right now I could care less if I never had jam, jelly, preserves, pickles, salmon for a long long long time, but I am ready to do it again next year haahhahaah....it was fun.

A view from another country

I am not writing a view from me but a view from another country about our country.

We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA .

Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title 'C'ntarea Americii, meaning 'Ode To America ') in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei 'The Daily Event' or 'News of the Day'


~An Ode to America ~

Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs

On 9/ll, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.

After the first moments of panic , they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: 'God Bless America !'

I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from h itting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.

How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy. What on earth can unite the Americans in such way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion... Only freedom can work such miracles. Cornel Nistorescu

(This deserves to be passed around the internet forever.) It took a person on the outside - looking in - to see what we take for granted ! GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!

4th of July 08

I love our town of Wasilla, they have the biggest heart when it comes to anything Military, we have so much patriotism in this town. I will share some of the pictures I took of the parade and tell you about what Wasilla did for the 4th of July. We went down to the mall parking lot where I work around 7 am so we could make sure we had a really good spot for everyone, we took the RV so we could have a good place for potty breaks and of course we had the refrig and shady place to sit, the parade started at 11 am so you can see we were really early birds, but not having the experience of knowing what time people show up for spots we were not going to take the chance of losing out, so anyway, we get there around 7, walk over to the Sunrise family restaurant and have breakfast then go back, read the newspaper, by that time it is 8 am, time for a snooze, did not really think we would snooze but the next thing I know it is 10 am and people are starting to arrive all around us. We get our chairs out and wait for everyone else to show up, well,,,,that is another story, anyway, Sarah, Olivia, and Shannon get there in time for the parade, they have so much fun items in the parade I just wish I could show you all the pictures but it takes so much time to upload pictures here and I don't have the patience to wait, anyway, after the parade is over Zach and Jourdan finally get to the RV then they all head down to the park where they have a band playing and free hot dogs and chips, sodas, and whatever else, when they leave Cathy and Rick show up and we sit around and talk and watch the people come and go and by that time the kids return to the RV and we head home. I must say, I did enjoy the parade and our visit in the RV but the rest of the 4th sucked. We did not get together for family time or bar b cue or nothing, after we got home it was just another day, boo hoo...oh well I now know what a 4th of July is in Wasilla, for the most part it is fun but not like the family get together we had in Nevada.

As I mentioned before, Wasilla is very patriot minded. We have Veterens out on the highway every Monday waving their flags at the train station and they do this in rain, snow and sunshine, people will honk at them and they wave their flags back and salute, in August the city will put on a picnic in the park to honor the military and they will read off the names of the military personnel who are serving in Iraq and we can fill out a form to list the names and then they will give us the flag with the one star on it to hang outside our house to show we have military in our home.

I love it here but I miss my family in Nevada very much. I will sign off for now. Love and hugs to all my family who will read my blog.

2008 Alaska Samboree

For those who do not know what a Samboree is, it is a large rv campout that includes people from all over the good old USofA and Canada and it is part of the Good Sam Group. We belong to a chapter here in Alaska called the Northern Lights and I get to do the newsletter each month. It has been a way for me to meet people and to have fun. Each Month from about April through Sept we pick a camping spot all around Alaska to visit and then Oct through March we meet at different members houses and we have a pot luck for our meetings. Anyway back to the Samboree, we only had 65 rigs this year due to the cost of gas but we did get some rigs from Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Montanna, Colorado, Texas and California the rest of us all came from Fairbanks, Anchorage and out here in the Mat-Su Valley. We had games, bingo, crafts, Ice Cream Social, hot dog feed, pot luck night and a tea for the ladies,we had seminars on rv safety and almost anything you would want to know about rving, we had dog show oh my gosh we had so much going on, it was a blast. In the tea we had a quilter who wins first place almost all the time, she has over a 100 quilts and talk about beautiful, wow....wish I had the time and the desire to do quilting, she explained all about different ways to quilt. I made a beaded necklace so I can put my badge on it for the meetings, I also learned another dominoe game called spinner, that is about as much fun as the Mexican Train. Next week we head up to a place called Pinnacle Mountain, but this will be just for our chapter so there will only be about 10 rigs this time. The weather is finally getting beautiful and we are hitting the 70's yeahhhhhhhhhh,,,,I am adding a picture of our sunset and it is 12 am and that is as dark as it gets until about 3 am then it lightens up, but we are now on the downside of our summer and now we are losing about 1 to 3 min a day but we will still have our sunsets much later than you do down below, it really does not start getting dark until about 9 in August. We are going to have our first 4th of July in Alaska, it is a bit bittersweet because we always spend it with the family in Nevada and I am going to really miss that, but I also want to experience the 4th up here in Alaska. I am going to sign off for now I hope all the pictures come out ok and that you can enjoy them.

getting around the blog

with this blog I am going to play a bit and see what I come up with. My granddaughter tried to show me how to add pictures and how to get around this blog, so I guess I really throw caution to the wind and give it a try. Earlier this month we flew to Reno and the trip went very well, we were pretty tired when we got into Reno because our plane left Anchorage at 12:30 am and we went to Los Angeles instead of seattle which added another hour and half to our travel then we connected to fly back to Reno and arrived at 9:30 am. We were excited to see everyone and were really happy to know that the kids from Idaho made it also, it has been awhile since we saw them and they were looking really great. We went down for Alexander's graduation, wow, Marina will only have two kids at home for the next couple of years, cannot imagine how that will be. We got to see Marcus what a cutie he is, Lorraine and Josh will be moving to San Diego CA, Josh got his orders for Miramar and let me tell you, they were very happy about that. Juliet is quite the girly girl, she is so precious and Eric is growing like a week and he is a very happy boy. I am so happy all is going well with all the kids.
My two brothers were up in Carson this weekend and it was so good to see them, Jim has a dog named Beamer and he runs the obstical courses and does pretty good and Tom came to visit and it was the first time in several (over 10 yrs) they have met up and spoken so I was very happy all went well.
We luck out on our return trip to Anchorage, we were able to upgrade to 1st class and got the last two seats available and the best part was it only cost me $50 because the girl was late to get up the the arrival gate so she only charged me for the one seat but gave us both so our total air travel was only $70.00 because we used mileage for the original tickets how neat is that?
I am going to try and add my pictures now and see what happens. Wish me luck.

more thoughts

I was thinking about our first year together and all the dreams we had and how many have come true, I must say that I have been blessed by a wonderful soulmate and a wonderful and caring family. We used to go and collect bottles and turn them in for the money and I would get a greyhound bus ticket to San Diego and Delbert would hitch hike and nine times out of ten he would meet me at the bus stop hahaha, We knew that if it was inbetween paydays and we were short on funds and food that Nana would send us home with $10 in our pocket and a couple of bags of groceries to tied us over and a return bus ticket for both of us. We did not have a car for the first couple of months but when I became pregnant we got a car and I was learning how to drive,this was before I5 was built and it was only Hwy 101 and it went through an area called Torrey Pines along the beach area and it was hilly and winding road. Well Delbert decided it was time for me to drive to San Diego, believe me I was so scared but I drove the car and when we pulled up in front of his parents house in National City I got out of the car and you guessed it, I let it all out all over the curb hahaha,,,,told Delbert that is what he got for making me drive but you know what? I was never afraid to drive after that. When I was expecting our first child (in those days you did not find out what you were having until you had the baby) but we knew we were having a girl and we only had girl names but I am getting off the track a bit here, I was so sick those first 4 months, not just morning sickness but all day sickness, when I went to the doctors I had lost weight instead of gaining weight. The sad thing about the first 4 months were Delbert made me sick, yes sick when I saw him I threw up, when he made his dinner I sat outside because I could not handle the smell, then he would sit outside and eat his dinner while I cleaned up the kitchen, I made him sleep on the couch and after all that we said if survived this pregnancy nothing would separate us, so I guess you could say Catherine was the glue to keeping us married for almost 50 years.

our first Valentine 1959

Our first valentine in our little trailer on the Marine base, well let me think, hummmmmm we did not have any money because we got paid on the 15th and 30th of the month and of course Valentines is on the 14th and in those days we did not have a checking account so we could not even write a rubber check. I woke up feeling really bad because we could not do anything and Delbert was not in the trailer and I did not know where he went, well he walked to town (about a five mile hike) and he got me a card and I still have it, but I did not get him anything because like I said we did not have any money nor could we go out any place special, but we had hamburger and we had a small grill so we grilled and we told each other that as long as we had each other we had Valentines everyday. Isn't young love great? and let me tell you old love is better.

our first home

ok, in the last blog I told you about our trailer and how small it was now I will tell you about the area we lived in, it was just above the front gate to Camp Pendleton, we had a small shopette and a laundry and playground for kids, they even had an outside movie screen with bleachers, we used to get our blankets and pillows and watched the movies on Friday nights, they were free, you see we did what ever we could for free, my first allotment check was $97.00 and Delbert was paid $47.00 twice a month our trailer rental was abut $45.00 but we had all of our utilities paid and it seemed we were rolling in the dough, hahaha little did I know. All the trailers were the same color and from the back you could not tell which one was yours, believe me it could be a bit embarrasing when you opened the wrong door, hahahha....The first time we went shopping at the commissary we had a basket overfilling and I was so worried we had spent so much but after adding it all up it came to under $50.00. Now mind you, I had not cooked before, I did bake before we were married but my mother did all the cooking and I did not get to help her beside, she was not the greatest cook either, but bake, oh boy could I bake. The first time I tried to make spaghetti I got all the fixings out and guess what, I did not have tomato paste or tomato sauce, but I did have catsup and isn't catsup made out of tomato's? yep you guessed it, I used the catsup in lieu of sauce or paste, uk uk uk...please don't try it I can tell you from experience that it is not tasty. My first experience with searations was during this time, we supplemented our meals with that and we had a lot of vienna sausages wrapped in bisquik and we had lots of hamburger stews, but we survived it. There was a vegetable truck that used to come around to our place and we could buy on credit but sometimes it was hard to pay and when we were desperate we would walk about 10 rows down to another section and hope the guy would not recognize us and pay cash for what ever we needed at at that time because we just did not have enough to pay the bill and get what we needed, it never occurred to us that if we paid the bill then we could re add what ever we needed to a new bill duh,,,,,In the next posting I will write about when we were starting out our family.

memories of 1959

ok, I am through with rewriting the diaries entries and now will try to write from my tired memory of 50 years. This is what I remember of what happened after the wedding.
We did not have a car so after the reception my brother took us to the greyhound bus terminal and we caught the bus to Oceanside, we spent our first night in a rundown hotel which looked quaint from the outside but oh my gosh after we checked in it was what did we do? I think it really was a hotel that catered to the cliental that rented rooms by the hour if you know what I mean, well the next morning Delbert left for the base and I checked out of the hotel and wandered around Oceanside waiting for Delbert to come back, I left our baggage at the USO, we thought we were going to get to go on a honeymoon, where? I don't know, we did not have much money but we figured we were going to get to spend some time together, but that was not to be. When Delbert finally got off the base that afternoon and caught up with me, he said a couple said we could stay with them until we found a place to rent and that it would be good for me because he could not get leave and on top of that he was going to have to go out in the field for 30 days, what a bummer. Before he left we went and put our name on base housing, they have an area for the enlisted personnel and they were 26 foot trailors and then there was a section with the longer trailors for families and then for big families they have double wide trailors, we thought it would be a long waiting list but we were lucky and got one right away, so while Delbert was gone I moved into the trailor and set up house, it was so small that the bathroom you could go potty, shower and shave at the same time. the bed was surrounded by the 3 walls, you had to climb into the bed to make the bed but it was our first home. I will write more later.

wedding Day, January 25, 1959

Today is our official wedding day, Up until 2 days ago I had long hair but I was upset and so I decided I needed to change my hair so I went into my bedroom and I took each bunch of hair and twriled it around my finger 3 times and snip,,,,there it went, I kept my hair in pincurles for 2 days because I did not want anyone to know I had cut my hair, it sure was curly.....
Today we were married in the Catholic Church in the chapel on the Navy base in Coronado, CA. My Dad walked me down the aisle and he had his Navy uniform on with all his medals, all his hash stripes in gold going up his arm and Delbert had his Dress Blues on with his one stripe, I think he had a heart attack when he saw my Dad, but oh my gosh he (Delbert) is so hansome in his Dress Blues my heart just started beating..I had my veil over my face through the whole ceremony and when the Priest announced we were married Delbert turned to me took my arm and started down the aisle before lifting my veil and he kissed me at the entrance of the Chapel, he later told me he did not think it was proper to kiss at the Alter, I think he was just nervous and forgot hahaha..anyway, here is the rest of the diary for the 25th.
Dear Diary, Today has been a wonderful day, the wedding and reception turned out really great and there were a lot of pictures taken of us, I hope I can have some. I and my husband received a lot of gifts, there was a elect. frypan, a everwear pot and pan set, a lot of towles, a blanket, 2 bed spreads, 2 sets of silverware, lots of dishes, table settings, a nic nac. We left the reception about 5:30 and came to Oceanside on the greyhound bus for a night in hopes to pick up Delbert's leave papers so we can leave for a honeymoon-went to a show it was pretty good also went out and ate a chinese dinner - I love Delbert very much.

saga continues 1959

Now you all know that I ran off and got married but now I will lead up to our 2nd wedding, the one that everyone recognizes as our official Anniversary date and we have never admitted to my parents or my family about our 1st wedding even when they tried to trick us by trying to tell us they knew about it.
January 18, 1959
Dear Diary This morning I woke up in my husband's arms- I am really happy now - Delbert's mother came down and woke us up after we fell asleep again-she told us that my father was looking for me last night and she said she would go and ask my parents if they would let us get married in the church and not for Del and I to say anything to them about us being married already-so I came home today, also today is the March of Dimes parade and Del took me and tonight my new cousin-in-law treated Del and I to the movies and after the movies they went and changed to go back I waited at the bus stop for the bus with my husband.
one of the things I did not mention in the diary is what my father said to my mother-in-law so I will tell you now, he did not know I had ran away and when he questioned my mother she kept telling him I was staying with a friend but I guess he knew I ran away and he went to Virginia and asked her if she knew where I was, she told him she would check with Grandma and ask around, that is when she came and found us and he had also told her if I did not come home soon he was going to call the police, so that is why she said that she would go and talk with them and tell them that I said I would not come home unless they agreed to let us get married and that I was over at Grandma's and that Delbert would be coming down to San Diego later that day from Camp Pendleton, so now you will see why in the next postings of my diary that things sorta went on as usual.
January 19th
Dear Diary today I went to the dentist for my teeth and when I got back Mom was talking to Virginia and I was to go and get my blood test today so I went and I got a ok test then I came home and went to work I worked from 3 to 6 I made $2.25 now when I get paid I will get $15.00-my husband came home from Camp, I am pretty sure we will be getting remarried Sunday, if nothing goes wrong-tomarrow I am going to the office to tell them that I am quiting, this page is sloppy but I am very tired-I love Delbert very much
January 20th
Dear Diary, Today I didn't go to school, Mom get me up at 8:30 and we got ready and went down to the church to see if the Priest would sign a note saying that I could get married in a military wedding, he said ok then Mom went and had her signature noterized so I could get a license then Del, Mom and I went to talk to the Priest over at Coronado, we are getting married Sunday at 1:00 pm Del brought us home - then Del and and I went down to get our license but had no money so while he went to hock his gun I drove the car around the block a couple of times, first time alone, I was a little nervous at first but I liked it.
Wed January 21 st
Dear Diary Today Delbert and I rode the school bus to school and I checked out, I got all passing grades except for history oh well - when we got home Mom said "well I was in TJ today and you can hear some of the silliest things" I think she knows that we are married and is trying to slip us up - I went to the hospital today but before I went, I stopped over at Del's, I have nothing wrong with me at all - I am all better...Jim, Jennie, Tom and Mike are coming down for the wedding - I am going shopping tomorrow, Del went to Camp tonight.
Thur, Jan 22nd
Dear Diary I got up about 9:45am Mom and I went downtown and I got a new coat, 2 bras, pants, shoes, nylons, 6 pairs, a veil for the wedding. I got home about 2:20, before I got home when we were downtown after shopping, my Mother embarressed me so badly, while waiting for the bus to go home my Mother starts in on me and telling me that the only reason I wanted to get married was so I could sleep with him, she said this in front of all the people waiting for the bus, I was crying so hard, I left her there and I took a later bus. I went to work - I got paid $18.00 but I keep only $10.00 I think I will put it in with the honeymoon so we can have more money, we are going to Oceanside Sunday night and Mon at 4:30 Del gets leave, tonight Mom has argue with me until she has me all confused and her too, I wish she would quit worring about me, She keeps asking me why we didn't wait 2 or 3 weeks, I just told her we didn't want to wait but she keeps on.
January 23 rd
Dear Diary all this morning I tried to clean out my room but it still looks like hell,I went down to make an appointment at the hairdresser for tomarrow for Mom, this afternoon I went and fixed up my room over at Grandma's and then came home ate and went to the show, after awhile Delbert came, I left before him and I came home, while writing to you Mom came in drunk and she told to me and told me how she went to TJ and knows we are married and started crying "God please help her"-I hope everthing will turn out fine Sunday. Tom came down tonite and Jim and Jenny, Mike and Jeannie will be here tomorrow about 1:30 in the afternoon.
January 24th
Dear Diary Today I cleaned up the house this morning while Mom went to the hairdresser, this afternnon I went downtown and picked up my coat and went stright to church it was 3:00 but confessions weren't until 3:30. Del came to church then we went home-Mom and Mrs Slater and Kathie were here and already fixed up the table and cake is beautiful 3 layers with pink bells and love birds on it - tonight at 11 Jeannie and Jenny, Jim and Mike blew in we sat around and talked but now I am awfully tired, Jeannie is sleeping with me-I love Delbert very much..
This is it for now, the next story is of the wedding day......

Moving on to another day in January 1959

ok we are getting to some good parts of my diary, now remember earlier I spoke of my mother's drinking problem and my running away because of her drinking, I had been running away from home since I was about 13 when I could not take her drinking and what went with it, but my brother Tom always knew where to find me and would let me know when I could come home but this time, I had a girlfriend who was black and my parents did not know of her or where she lived, she had permission to go to my highschool which was out of her area.
January 12, 1959
Dear Diary today I went back to school, it was boring, I am begining to hate school but I have to go-Delbert told me that it would be better if we waited until he gets out of the Marines, I know he's right but we don't want to wait but we will-Del said he wants to go to Alaska to join the Airforce when he gets out but I don't see why we have to go to Alaska-Today Delbert started on his 110 mile hike I hope he makes the whole 110 miles God willing. I love Delbert very much that every night I get lonely because he isn't near me during the day my thoughts always seem to wander toward him and I miss him even when he is out of my sight for a few moments. I love him so it hurts not to be able to hold or love him.

January 13th
Dear Diary today I went to the doctors to find out my tests which were taken Dec 19th 1958, (I had been ill for awhile) the blood test shows that I had a low blood count and that I have a slight case of anemia so the doc said he wanted to find out immediatly why had anemia also the urine test showed I have a small infection so he loaded me down with 6 bottles of pills-soon,, vitimin,and some other kind and then I got some terrimicin and codine for my cough then some mineral oil for my bowels and some other kind I also have to take my temp 4 times daily and then next Tue I have to go back to find out what becomes of these new test the Dr thinks it might be TB , I wrote Del a 7 page letter, I really love Delbert and if I have tb I have to go to the hospital for a year, I hope nothing happens to Del , I don't think I could take it. I love Del (later no TB yeahhhhh)
January 15, 1959
Dear Diary well today is another day except that I have run away, I called Delbert but he wasn't back yet he will be back tomorrow at 1:00 am we left a message for him to call me as soon as he got back, I am staying at Vickie's until tomorrow until I decide what to do because I am staying there until Del comes or calls me, oh I am all confused, I don't know what to do - God Help, I love Delbert very much I wish we could get married very soon my Mom said she was getting a divorce but I told her I wasn't going to go with her. I love Delbert.
January 16th Friday
Dear Diary Well Diary today I stayed all day at Vickies except this morning we went over to my house to try to get my purse, we made it and tonight Del came over - we went to Jeannies and then we went to the Brown Bear to get some Chow Mein and then we got some cola and got a taxi and came back to Vickies. We might go to L.A. tomarrow or Sunday, I almost became Mrs A. L. Feliz tonight but we couldn't get a car so we didn't. I feel lousy I have a headache and a jaw ache my whole face feels horrible. Dear God Please help us - I love Del very much.
January 17, 1959
Dear Diary, Well today I and Delbert became Mr and Mrs A.L. Feliz in TJ, Delbert's Mom and Grandmom brought me a real pretty white dress with a lace over the satin and a white satin bow in the front also white shoes and a white purse, I also got a white slip and a white night gown and a duster - also some nylons, peds, and pants. We spent the night in a motel right off Division Street, I love my husband very much and I always will - the only thing I regret is that we ran off and got married without my parents, Del's mother signed for me and Del's grandpop signed for him, I love Del.

This is it for this installment, I will write more later.

More Diary entries Jan 1959

I have decided not to write everyday entries because they really are boring to me so I know it will be boring to you so I am going to pick and choose some of the ones that might bring some interest. This one is from Monday, January 5th, yesterday was our 6 month anniversary and Delbert was back at camp but today was the first day back to school after Christmas break so here goes....Well today I had to go back to school it was boring-but I really liked all the remarks about my engagement ring and after school I went to work (baby sitting) and I made $1.50 for 2 hours- tonight I came home and everyone (Dad) was in a grouch. I got a feeling I won't be seeing much of Delbert the way Grouch was talking but then it will probably be just talk-I wish Del & I could get married soon-if he goes overseas we are going to try to get secretly married but if he doesn't then if luck and God's will holds out I will get married when I graduate. Well all I did tonight is to watch TV I really liked the Desilue Westhinghouse Playhouse tonight. I already miss Delbert, I love him so that I miss him a lot.
January 8th Thursday
Today I got up at 6:30 for school and Mom was real grouchy. So I left as soon as I could-I didn't feel to very good today & 5th and 6th period I spent it in the nurse's office. I stayed after school to work on my picture in art class. When I got home I found out I had to go to work but it was too late. The man told me he would call when I had to come back so it wasn't my fault. I got a real nice note from Delbert today with the mail. I miss him very much I wish we could get married soon, for I am very much in love with him &I don't care how much my Mom belittles him & trys to tell me that Del has nothing but bad faults but I know different. She says I know nothing about money & that I need someone to take care of me instead of me taking care of Del & that he is not suited to me. I don't care.
January 11th Sunday
Dear Diary Mom got me up at 9:45 to watch Debbie, Boy am I bushed-I didn't get to sleep until 3 this morning. I got up read the paper, puttered around-fed Debbie put her to bed at 11:30 for her nap then I took a bath. Started to iron my green jumper & white blouse to wear to church, I didn't know whether Del was going or not but if he didnt call by 10:15 I was going without him but he called in time and we went to church-after church we each had 2 hamburgers & a coke then we went to his house, watched TV and worked crossword puzzels-at 5:30 went to his gr.mom house for dinner then came back, played chinese checkers & at 7:30 went to the laundry to pick up his jacket, Del lefted at 10:00 pm he is going on a 110 mile hike tomorrow. I hope nothing happens to him, I love Delbert.
That's it for this posting. Hope you enjoy reading it, I still love Delbert more than I ever thought I did in 1959, love can and will grow and it is amazing how we grew together through all of these years.

December 1958

Remember I mentioned that my ring set that I loved was sold to a young couple, well here it is Christmas eve and Delbert was over at my house and we were kidding around and of course marriage came up and I get smarty pants and I told him that I had been stringing him on and I really had no intentions of marrying him, he gave me that look that said hummmmm and then he said I guess you will not want I have for you now, I just knew in my heart and of course talk about back peddling I did that very well and he pulled out the black ring box and there were my rings the very rings that the Lady told me a couple of months back that were sold to a young couple, well I guess we were that young couple. The ring looked beautiful on my finger and I thought my diamond was the biggest shineynest (new word) and sparkled the best in the whole wide world. It was only a 1/4 caret but you would have thought it was 10 times that big....
When I went back to school in January I didn't mentioned it to anyone but I fluttered my hand all over and in class the ring went flying off my finger hahahahahah yep it was too big but I did not want to let go of it for one second to have it sized, I wrapped tape around it after that so it would not fly off my finger, but I did get the attention in class hahahahaha.....
Now we are in January of 1959 and I will take some writings from my little diary that I kept for a whole month and then there were some entries here and there that I will share later.

Dear Diary, will this year found Delbert & I dancing at the San Diego Hotel, I had 2 slingapor Slings and 3 tom collings plus some of Delberts. I had a wonderful time it started at 9 pm on Wed night and ended at 3 am Thurs Morning by me walking home by myself from Delbert's house because he fell asleep and this morning at 11 am Delbert calls and then the whole day was a messed up one. We had dinner over at Delbert's grandmother's house and then we went out with Ester and Gil. Gil broke up with Esther and I was knocked out when I tripped and fell when I started to chase her, we finally all come home, Gil gave her back the ring and Delbert went back to Camp. What a hoot.......I have to laugh at this entry... This was January 1st
On January 2nd I wrote
Dear Diary Delbert came over at 12:30 in the afternoon. I was going to fix him something to eat but Esther called & told him Gil wanted to see him & for him to be outside of the house, so he waited & all Gil wanted to do was to golf, so Delbert went & I didn't see him until 4:30-Ileft the house around 3 to go to the store with Roxanna, she bought a new dress & shoes and on the way home bumped into Delbert he was riding Tudy Boy's bike. Tonight we went to the movies and saw Houseboat and some of Party Girl then at 10:30 we went to Oceanside to pick up Delbert's gun then came home, stopped and ate got in at 2 am...
What I writer I was or I should say was not...hahahahhaha...I will write more later of this diary, maybe it will get interesting later on....

sometime in 1958 after July 4th

Like I said before, I will probably be jumping all around from time to time as I try to remember things. In this blog it is about starting back to school in my junior year and I will be writing some things about the way my parents first treated Delbert but I don't want anyone to get upset with them, they were just being parents and being afraid that my relationship with Delbert would really not last or work out and in that era race played a bit part. Also during this time my mother had a big problem with drinking and I ran away from home a lot and if it had not been for my brother Tom taking care of me, well that is another story and it really does not belong in this blog.



My little sister was about 3-4 years old when I started dating Delbert and everytime he would come over to the house Debbie would run up to him and throw herself in his arms and wrap herself all around him, we called her little monkey. Sometime she went on our dates with us when we went to the movies or to the zoo or out to Mission Beach where they had an amusement park. We were always going somewhere and doing something that did not cost a lot of money. One time Delbert came and picked me up on his Dad's motorcycle and we tore off, you can imagine the reaction to that date.



Well school started and all the "Chicana Chicks" did not like the idea that I was "stealing" their man and they called me out to fight, hahahah,,,,I told them I did not fight for any guy and if he wanted them he could have them, well you all know now how that turned out, I kept him hahaha, they decided to try and make a friend out of me but I knew they were just up to no good so I tried to stay clear of them for the most part. When I finally told Delbert what was going on, wow it mysteriously stop and I was never bothered by them anymore. On Saturday's at the Navy hospital in San Diego they use to have USO dances for the military guys and my mother made me go, my mother also used to invite the Sailors home for a nice home cooked dinner and served up her daughter for dessert talk about embaressing it was not a fun time but we made the best of it and after awhile she stopped making me go to the dances and trying to make me go out with other guys.



On the weekends I used to go over to Delbert's grandmother's house and she would try to teach me how to cook and sew but it never sunk in but I enjoyed going over there, they made me feel so welcomed, we called her Nana and his Grandpa was called Tata. They were the best people in the whole wide world and their door was always open to anyone.



In Sept of 1958 Delbert gave me my first corsage, I still have it saved it was on the 20th of Sept and it was white carnations. The next corsage was given to me on the 9th of November and it was a white gardina with orange carnations, I love gardinas. He was always bringing me little presents and he even wrote me a couple of poems, he knew how to make my heart go pitter patter..



I am rambling so in my next post I will go right into January 1959 and I will take some exerts from my diary leading up to the day we were married and then from there I will try to remember some things that happened when we started our family.

The next step

In my previous blog I told you how we started our lives together, in this blog I am going to take some parts of a diary that I kept for a couple of months while we were finding out that we were truly meant for each other. Can you belive it, we lived just around the block from each other growing up, I lived on First St. and Delbert lived on 2nd St.

actually I did not start the diary until January of 1959 so I will try to jar my memories of almost 50 years ago. It will not be in any type of order, just some of the things that we did together. Delbert was already in the Marine Corp and had been for over a year. That is why I really did not see him too much in the first part of 1958. Delbert was a ladies man and he had all the girls following after him and of course being male he had to brag to his fellow Marines that everyone in National City knew him all they had to do was ask any girl on the street and they could direct them to where he lived. Well let me tell you a story about that one. It was before the 4th of July and before we became a couple and I was very low on his radar, remember I was not his type of girl. There was a liquor store up at 8th and National and they had a section for magazines, books and comic books, instead of going to church like I was suppose to, I used to head over there and read comic books, well anyway, in comes about 3 Marine's and of course they flirt with me and out of the blue they ask me if I knew a Feliz who lived somewhere in National City, He was a buddy of theirs. And of course I said I sure do, I can even take you to his house....you can imagine what that did to Delbert's big head, yep it got bigger and it was "I told you so" hahahahahha......it was several months after that we met up in July.
When school started in Sept we were going "steady" and on Friday's he would get off work and drive about 75 miles home (he was stationed at Camp Pendleton CA) and he would make it just in time to pick me up, sometimes he did not have a vehicle and we would take buses to downtown San Diego and go to the movies. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself a bit. We started talking the "M" word but I was a junior in high school and knew we would not be able to be married for at least another year, but that did not stop us from dreaming and planning. There was a little jewerly store that I used to stop at on my way home from school and the older couple in the store used to let me try on this beautiful solitare wedding set, I loved that ring, well I finally talked Delbert into going to the store and showed him the ring, he wanted to buy me a ring with lots of diamonds and he used to bring rings home from the PX to show me, but I had my heart set on this set. One day I went in the store to try on my ring and the lady said I am so sorry, but this young couple came in and they fell in love with the ring, I was so broken hearted over that. Well guess what I got for Christmas that year? MY RING,,,,,,,it was official we were engaged.

During our dating period in the summer it was not easy for Delbert, everytime he would come to the house to pick me up my father would yell out Pancho is here for you, Delbert never said anything, just smiled his little smile and he was always polite to my parents even though they were really rude to him. That went on for several dates and finally Delbert could not hold it in anymore and he asked me if I knew what Pancho meant in Spanish, of course I said no. He laughed and said your father is calling me Frank, yep, Pancho means Frank and my father's name is Frank, so of course when I went home I asked my father if he knew what he was calling Delbert when he called him Pancho and of course I had to tell him that he was calling him Frank, well let me tell you that was the last time my father called him Pancho.....
This is all for today, I will write more tomorrow now that my blogger is working again.

The begining

In the beginning of our lives together it really all started around 1956-57 era. Delbert aka Beto was my girlfriend's next door neighbor. She used to date him off and on and I used to tell her "how can you stand him" well let me tell you, oops getting ahead of myself, I will tell you later. My first real dress up dance was a home coming dance and of course I did not expect to attend, but by this time my friend was into a serious relationship with someone else and her family would not let her go alone to the dance so she talked me into going with Delbert who reluctantly agreed to escort me. Well we went and when we got to the dance he went his way and I went my way. You see, he is Mexican and his friends were from the other side of town and I was this square Irish lass with friends from this side of town and neither were suppose to meet in that era. At the end of the dance he came and collected me and that was when I leaned how to shift a car, we parked but not cuddled this time and he taught me the first thing about driving in front of his Grandmother's house, after about an hour he took me home, said thanks and drove off. One other time we went to a formal dance but again my girlfriend arranged a date for me, no it was not Delbert, but he was one of the 3 couples who went and he drove. We ran into each other from time to time but never really dated. Then, now here comes the good part, one 4th of July in 1958 I ran into him at Kimball Park in National City (our home town) while I was baby sitting two brats oops did I say brats? oh well...anyway I saw him and I walked up to him and said hello long time no see then next thing he is walking with me and really talking to me, my goodness what a thrill, a big bad Marine and the most popular guy in National City was walking with little square me wow wow.....Anyway, when it came time to go home I gathered up the b....oops kids and we caught a ride home with him and his friends (who by the way were driving), we dropped the kids off and then we all sat in the car across the street from my house and we were just talking, then the next thing I knew he had his arm around me, wow double wow,,,I kept thinking how it would be to kiss him, mind you I was 16 getting ready to turn 17 in August, but the kiss was not coming, so when I said I had to go into the house he did lean over and kiss me, wow wow wow......6 months later we were married...I knew that night he was my soul mate. This is all for now, I will go on with our beginning in another blog