This photo was taken in 1958, not exactly sure when though the baby in my arms was born at the end of 1957 and he only looks a few months old. The handsome fellow next to me of course is the one I always refer to as hubby, and the two girls are now grandmothers.
We were standing in my parents' front yard in Los Angeles where I grew up.
At the time, hubby was in the Seabees (he made a career of it and did three tours in Vietnam) and we lived in Oxnard near the Seabee base.
Most of my memories of this time period are wonderful. Not all of course, it wasn't easy raising kids sometimes alone when hubby was overseas. I was fortunate in having supportive parents and grandparents who didn't live all that far away.
The baby in my arms was our first son and hubby was really proud of him. Unfortunately Mark died of cancer when he was in his early forties. We both feel blessed we had him in our lives for that long. He was a fun kid and grew into a remarkable man. He was always happy with whatever he had--which never was a lot. He never envied anyone. As a kid he had all sorts of jobs: dishwasher in restaurants, fileting fish on a fishing boat, janitor at the Navy base. As an adult, he worked as a janitor in two different hospitals, a gardener at a golf course, a bus driver for a camp for developmentally disabled children and adults, was an instructor at a sheltered workshop, ran a forklift at a Wal-Mart Distribution Center, and his last job was in a box factory. He helped raise his second wife's three children and dearly loved his two grandchildren.
I didn't mean to spend so much time talking about Mark, but talking about the good old days made me remember a lot about him.
Going back to the photo--I can see that hubby and I seriously need to go on a diet. Back in those days we could eat and drink what we wanted and still stayed skinny--may have had something to do with taking care of those kids. We had two more after that picture was taken, another girl and a boy.
Yes, I have fond memories of the good old days. And now you know I'm really as old as I've been saying.
Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com/
Marilyn: I'm really glad that you offered so much reflection about Mark. He sounds like he was a lovely man. But then of course, he had you and your hubby as parents! Thanks for sharing. You have a great set of legs, sister. Maggie
ReplyDeleteVery touching blog. Thanks for sharing bits of your life with us.
ReplyDeleteRhonda
aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David
What a wonderful post! Thanks for sharing all of that - I think that's the good part about the good ole days - reflecting back on that time and celebrating the specialness of it.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn, I think it's lovely that you talked so much about Mark! What a nice tribute to him, and I, for one, am always glad to hear about good people. He sounds like he worked hard and loved hard, and I'm sorry he had to go so early. Your reflections always remind me of what's important, and I need that a lot these days with so many distractions. BTW, love the pic!!!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Susan