A lovely family story, Sue. And a beautiful woman you raised -- smart and strong. I do hope she lives near by now. I am so very grateful that my own son never wanted to move away from Santa Cruz. He travels the world and always comes home. Thank all the gods. Beautiful writing, kid.
Thank you, Sharron. Fortunately for us, Val never made it to San Diego. Instead, she followed us eventually to Nevada, but ironically married a man who grew up in Santa Cruz and even attended her elementary school in Boulder Creek ... although not at the same time. It's crazy how things work out, but this is an old essay and I decided to keep it fairly original. At six pages, though, it was too long for my Substack taste, so I cut a lot of stuff out, nearly halving it in the process.
The kids will be okay. Generation after generation proves that, because here we are, still kicking.
But things change. I went from worrying about my little butterfly to my little butterfly worrying about me. She and her excellent hubby took a day off of work and drove up a couple of weeks ago with a big commercial weed wacker they rented to cut a firebreak around our house.
I can relax a little now that I know the kids are okay.
WOW! That's quite a gift of service to "the old man," Switter. Are they also the kids who went tubing down the Boise River last month (July)?
We couldn't have gotten our house in Truckee sold ... finally ... had it not been for the months of labor and expertise my son-in-law put in with us to remodel extensively. We'll never be able to repay his generosity, but he did learn a boatload of stuff in the process. Now he's building his own house for our daughter and the grands. We're both lucky
My daughter searched for years to find a guy, as she liked to say, who was more of a man than she is. Basic stuff, such as fixing a flat, knowing his way around Home Depot, doing oil changes, loving the wide open spaces, and able to start a campfire. She set a fairly low bar, but she finally found a farm boy who exceeded her expectations with a marketable degree and real skills. She felt like she won the guy lottery!
A lovely family story, Sue. And a beautiful woman you raised -- smart and strong. I do hope she lives near by now. I am so very grateful that my own son never wanted to move away from Santa Cruz. He travels the world and always comes home. Thank all the gods. Beautiful writing, kid.
Thank you, Sharron. Fortunately for us, Val never made it to San Diego. Instead, she followed us eventually to Nevada, but ironically married a man who grew up in Santa Cruz and even attended her elementary school in Boulder Creek ... although not at the same time. It's crazy how things work out, but this is an old essay and I decided to keep it fairly original. At six pages, though, it was too long for my Substack taste, so I cut a lot of stuff out, nearly halving it in the process.
Oh gosh, just gosh. This story is beautiful from beginning to end. Family is everything. xxx
Thank you, Rebecca. Glad you enjoyed it.
The kids will be okay. Generation after generation proves that, because here we are, still kicking.
But things change. I went from worrying about my little butterfly to my little butterfly worrying about me. She and her excellent hubby took a day off of work and drove up a couple of weeks ago with a big commercial weed wacker they rented to cut a firebreak around our house.
I can relax a little now that I know the kids are okay.
WOW! That's quite a gift of service to "the old man," Switter. Are they also the kids who went tubing down the Boise River last month (July)?
We couldn't have gotten our house in Truckee sold ... finally ... had it not been for the months of labor and expertise my son-in-law put in with us to remodel extensively. We'll never be able to repay his generosity, but he did learn a boatload of stuff in the process. Now he's building his own house for our daughter and the grands. We're both lucky
seniors, aren't we.
Yes, they are wonderful.
My daughter searched for years to find a guy, as she liked to say, who was more of a man than she is. Basic stuff, such as fixing a flat, knowing his way around Home Depot, doing oil changes, loving the wide open spaces, and able to start a campfire. She set a fairly low bar, but she finally found a farm boy who exceeded her expectations with a marketable degree and real skills. She felt like she won the guy lottery!
Good for her.
Beautiful
Thank you, Wendy.