99 Years – And Counting

 

Growing up, Aunt Evie was my very favorite relative. She was the youngest of three girls. My mother was in the middle. Evie was six years younger than Mom and seven years younger than Aunt Muriel.

Mom and Muriel were raised as proper Victorian children—to be seen and not heard. They had to behave, and Grandma was very strict.

Mom, Evelyn, Muriel

Evelyn on the other hand, was quite spoiled, both by her parents and her older sisters.

She was tiny and cute and was of a different generation than her sisters. She was twenty-three years old when I was born. She and her husband, Uncle Frank, were the fun relatives.

When I was in my early teens, they hired me to babysit their kids. The twins, Karen and Kathy, were only three years younger, but they wanted to be sure they weren’t alone in the house when they went out for their Friday night “Date Nights.”

I have always believed they also wanted to give me some extra spending money, and this was the only way my mother would have allowed it. In addition, they recommended me to their neighbors, and I babysat for quite a few children on their street. Another reason they were important to me.

They conspired with my cousin, David, to plan a surprise party for my fifteenth birthday. David, who was a year older, brought all his friends—several of whom were guys. They also invited my girlfriends. The party was held at their home around and in their pool. Uncle Frank barbequed. This is a very special memory.

Not long afterward, they moved to the bay area. The first Thanksgiving week after they moved, my younger cousin, Eileen, and I took the train to visit them. While Eileen and the twins played, Aunt Evie helped me to make two wool dresses—one for me and the other for my mother’s Christmas gift. Since Evie was a fabulous seamstress, the dresses turned out perfectly. (This dress was one of the few garments I ever made for myself that I actually wore. In fact, I wore mine out as did my mother.)

After I was married, we tried to visit Evie and Frank at least once a year. When she knew we were coming, Evelyn always tried to find a new and fun place to share with us.

Although I was not fond of seafood, we always went to Berkeley to Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto (now closed). They had halibut Florentine, and it was delicious!

My very favorite place was Allied Arts in Menlo Park. This place benefits the children’s hospital at Stanford, and their restaurant was always a delight. I often bought gifts when we visited the little artisan shops on the property.

For several years, Evie was a docent at Filoli, the former home of the Matson family. We visited several times, and once she took us on a private tour.

We often drove over to Sausalito for brunch at the Alta Mira Hotel (now closed). I have many happy memories of this place, including taking our “kids” Silvia and Kazue there.

Aunt Evie suffered a stroke in 2011. It left her with some speech and balance issues, but her mind remained sharp. I created this video to celebrate their 72 years of marriage. They loved to dance, and I think it kept them both young. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4H05UpTFoM 

70^th Anniversary

Aunt Evie and Uncle Frank were married for over 73 years when Uncle Frank died in 2016. My cousin, Karen had planned to move them to her home because their split-level home had become too much for them to manage. After Uncle Frank died, Evie moved in with Karen.

I created this video for Uncle Frank’s memorial service. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x89KAWHlfaQ&t=4s 

On August 28 of this year, Aunt Evie turned ninety-nine. We decided to visit her. Karen has now moved to Reno, NV. So, we drove the Tesla there and spent a few days. What a wonderful trip!

We first spent a day with Karen and Evie going over several books of family photos. I may be the only one left who could identify who they were! What fun to see all the familiar faces.

Karen’s home is like a museum of my childhood memories―jam packed with Evie and Frank and Grandma’s things. So nice to see them all again.

The next day, we took our great-niece (who also lives in Reno) out for lunch. Since I had told her all about Aunt Evie, I wanted them to meet. Both Evie and Karen were very impressed with this young lady. (Of course, we are biased, but we think she is truly special.)

The next day, we picked up Evie and Karen and took them to Sheels in Sparks for lunch. Afterward, we went to the indoor Ferris wheel. Aunt Evie LOVES Ferris wheels! Karen won’t go on it with her, but Larry and I both bought tickets. I went with her first, and she was like a little kid. On the last revolution, the car stopped at the top. She gave a fist pump and laughed. Larry changed places with me, and again, the car stopped at the top. She was thrilled! Of course, we had to have ice cream before we went back to Karen’s house.

We returned home with great memories of my precious aunt to add to those we had accumulated through the years.

For her actual birthday, Karen continued with the Ferris wheel theme.

August 28, 2022

I can’t finish without mentioning Karen once more. She is one of the most loving, giving, generous people I know. She takes exceptionally good care of her mother. Both in her former home in California and in her current home, she has given Aunt Evelyn the master suite so all of her familiar furniture fits. Karen is constantly thinking of things for her mother to do to keep her engaged and interested. Her twin sister, Kathy still lives in California, but she visits whenever possible.

Karen’s daughter, Heather, and the grandchildren live around the corner and spend quite a bit of time with Karen and Evelyn. I can’t imagine a lovelier way to live at her age! Many thanks to Karen for loving your mom, my very favorite relative.

WE SHARE A BIRTHDAY―AND MORE

 

Today my dear friend, Marilyn Meredith, shares everything we have in common.

Tomorrow, the 24^th of August, is Lorna’s birthday—and it is also mine. I’ve come to think of her as a close friend, almost as another daughter. We’ve known each other for a long, long time. The majority of time we’ve spent together has been at mystery conferences all over the country, for EPICon we’ve been to Virginia Beach, VA, Las Vegas, NV, Portland, OR two or three times, San Antonio TX three times, and New Orleans. [Possibly others.]

EPICon 2008 in Portland with Marilyn & Hap Meredith

My husband and I also spent a weekend with Lorna and her husband Larry in their beautiful home in Dana Point. While there, we did a book event with them at their church and one in their home to celebrate the launch of Larry and Lorna’s mystery novel.

The more often we’ve been together, the more similarities we’ve noted. We like many of the same things. Of course, we are also different in many ways, but when we’re together it’s like we’ve known each other forever.

For obvious reasons, we haven’t seen each other in person the last couple of years. However, we’ve spent a lot of time together through emails. Lorna convinced me to become self-published, though I knew I couldn’t do it myself. She offered to help—which meant she became my editor and did all the work of publishing my books on Amazon. Her husband, Larry, did the covers—even redesigning the ones for the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, and creating the last few of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series including the latest, The Trash Harem. The cover is perfect for the story and fits in with the other covers.

The development of The Trash Harem didn’t come easily. Because of the pandemic, I couldn’t meet with my critique group, who have always been my first editors. I reached out to a librarian friend who’d once offered to look for typos in a manuscript. He did and found several errors. When I finally thought it was ready, after going through it several times, I sent it off to Lorna.

She’s a wonder. Not only did she find the usual kinds of errors, she also had questions about some of the plot threads. Changes needed to be made, and I was thankful for her input. More work was done, and another edit by Lorna. Finally, we had a manuscript ready to go.

Making the move to self-publishing was a big step, but also a positive one that wouldn’t have happened without the wonderful help of Lorna and Larry. I thank both of them with my whole heart.

ABOUT THE TRASH HAREM

Deputy Tempe Crabtree has retired from her job in Bear Creek when friends, who once lived in Bear Creek and attended Pastor Hutch’s church, ask her to visit them in Temecula. The husband, Jonathan, is a suspect in what might be a murder case. The retirement community includes many interesting characters, any of whom might have had a better motive than Jonathan. There is also a connection to Earle Stanley Gardner as well as the Pechanga Old Oak. What is a trash harem? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

The Trash Harem is available in ebook and paperback on Amazon.

Marilyn Meredith is the author of over 40 published books including the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, and writing as F. M. Meredith, the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. She’s a member of two chapters of Sisters in Crime and the Public Safety Writers Association.

Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com/

Blog: https://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.meredith

Another Birthday!

 

Yes, I’m getting old. Next year I will reach the ¾ century mark. And you know what? I feel thrilled and blessed to have made it this far. Many in my family have not.

My father, Henry LaRay Lund, died at 37 when I was seven years old. He went to work one morning and never came home.

His mother, Margaret Imelda McNamara Lund, died at twenty-five when my dad was six. She left three children. My dad was the eldest. His sisters were three- and eighteen-months hold. Her children were raised by other relatives.

My maternal grandfather, David Methven, died at 54. He also went to work in the morning and never came home. Grandpa died in the old Broadway flagship store in downtown Los Angeles at closing time. Dad (his son-in-law) was with him. His last words were about me.

Dad died in the same store at opening time just over five years later.

My paternal great-grandmother died at 38 after giving birth to thirteen children. My grandfather was eight-years-old when his mother died. He was raised by an older sister—the same one who raised my dad after his mother died.

On the other hand, some of my ancestors lived a long time.

My mother lived to ninety-three, and her youngest sister will be ninety-seven on Friday. She is still sharp and a lot of fun.

 This year, with the pandemic going on, Larry still managed to plan a wonderful day. He invited two other couples over for dinner. He put up the awning in the back. It was the first time we had used this one. We haven’t done any in-person events since we bought it. Festooned with fairy lights, it looked magical after dark.

 We sat at separate tables spaced well apart. The canopy is ten feet square, so our chairs were close to the edges.

Larry ordered food from my favorite restaurant, The Harbor Grill, picked it up, and brought it home. Delicious!

He ordered beautiful flowers! They smell marvelous! He also got me a Chico’s gift card for when the pandemic is over.

Our Japanese son, Toshi, sent gorgeous flowers. I have both of them trained to go to my favorite florist. And they both know my taste.

 So, despite the situation this year, I had a marvelous celebration! And I celebrate my birthday all month, so the party continues.

Since I love giving presents to others on my birthday, the Kindle version of my book, Romance in the Time of Social Distancing, is FREE through the 28th 

 How do you feel about birthdays?

Jamboree Mulligan

Today is Millie Stratton’s 102^nd birthday. In her honor, we had Jamboree Mulligan for lunch.

This recipe came from the Boy Scouts. Larry attended the 1957 BSA Jamboree in Valley Forge. All the troops made Jamboree Mulligan. Millie’s husband, Jack, was one of his leaders, so I always think of them when I make it.

Larry’s other leader was Don Nafius. Don was an excellent cook. He tried to teach Larry how to make this dish to pass his cooking badge—three times. Don finally passed him, despite his third failure, if he promised never to cook again. Larry agreed.

It took him years, but he now cooks a bit. His specialty is breakfast. Our Japanese kids always expect him to make breakfast when they visit. They were very surprised that he cooked at all since Japanese fathers generally don’t.

I remember Millie’s daughter saying she could easily become a vegetarian except for Jamboree Mulligan.

It is definitely a 1950s dish. Here’s the original recipe. I think I got it from Millie.

1 lb. ground beef (I substituted ground turkey.)

1 onion, chopped (Larry can’t eat onions anymore, so I used some dried onion.)

1 can condensed tomato soup

1 cup uncooked egg noodles

Brown onion and ground meat while bringing water to a boil in a separate pan. When it's boiling, add noodles and boil for ten minutes. Add soup and cooked noodles to the meat/onion mixture. Heat through.

That’s it.

Still tastes about the same as I remember.

So, we lifted our forks and toasted Millie on her special birthday.

One more story from the 1957 Boy Scout Jamboree:

In 1957, a new influenza virus emerged in Asia, triggering a pandemic—Asian Flu. One of the troops brought it to the Jamboree and infected most of the boys and leaders in attendance. Larry was so sick they left him behind in a hospital for a couple of days while the rest of his troop moved on. Then, he caught up with them when he improved.

Of course, all the kids and leaders spread throughout the country, infecting their families and friends.

So, today the circumstances seemed entirely appropriate for bringing back the Jamboree memories.

I just finished the first pass at editing Millie’s memoir. Getting excited about seeing it finished. She has spent a lot of time since 2012 writing it—in lots of bits and pieces. The challenge was going through all of them, reviewing them for duplication (and there was lots of it), putting the stories into some sort of order, and then editing it. It contains lots of family history as well as the history of Alhambra, California during her lifetime.

So, happy birthday, Millie!

France – Day 6 – 4/3/18

After breakfast, we headed out on the Metro for Musée d’Orsay. After seeing the lines the first time we went, we made sure to arrive early. The museum was supposed to open at nine-thirty, and we got there a little after nine. We still had our museum passes, so we didn’t have to stand in the line for tickets. The entry line only serpentined for two loops instead of the dozen we’d seen before.

So, we waited…and waited… Nine-thirty came and went. The line grew even longer than on our previous visit. Fortunately, we were near the front of the line. Finally, the people ahead of us started moving. We got through security and entered the museum a little after ten o’clock.

To begin with, the building is a converted train station. (If you saw the movie Hugo, it was supposed to be set in this station. Instead of one huge clock, it actually has three.) The architecture alone is worth the visit. The building also used to house an elegant hotel with a restaurant.

We headed straight to the top floor for the Impressionists and soaked in the gorgeousness. Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, Pissarro, Sisley, and many others are represented.

The museum featured a special show with Van Gogh, Gaugin, and the Neo-impressionists, Seurat, Signac, etc. We took our time and enjoyed our favorites.

Since it was Larry’s birthday, we had already decided to have lunch at the museum restaurant. We had eaten there on our last trip and enjoyed it. They have replaced the chairs with very modern ones. They look a bit like shattered glass, but they are comfortable. We enjoyed the food—and the desserts.

We took our time exploring the whole place. This is probably my favorite museum in the world. Unlike the Louvre, which is overwhelming and crowded, the Orsay is accessible and easy to maneuver. I also love their collections.

By this time, Bob had become our navigator in the Metro. I had told him how easy it was, and he figured it out. Since we left the museum in the afternoon, the trains were pretty full. We nearly lost Bernie on the return trip.

Quite a few people got off, so we didn’t have much time to board. Larry and I got on, Bob followed. As he reached back for Bernie, the doors closed. She was left on the platform looking terrified. With her total lack of sense of direction, being lost in a foreign city represented her very worst nightmare.

As we pulled out, Larry held up one finger. He hoped she’d get the message: get on the next train and meet us at the next station. But we weren’t at all sure she’d understand.

All the way to the next station we worried about her. I expected her to be in full panic mode. But she surprised us all when she was on the next train. We joined her and made it back to the timeshare together.

Since we’d had a delicious lunch, we decided to have apples and cheese again for dinner. We decided on an early evening since we planned for a busy following day.