Gary is Wishy-Washy

Sunday January 26, 1992

Up early. Gary and Maria will come at 10 a.m. to look at this perfect house we found.

Frank still has lost his voice and feeling too punk today to walk. I feel about the same, maybe a little less mucous.

Gary and Maria arrive with the boys and nephew Brian. Brian is sick and throwing up so we take a towel for him and pile into our car to meet the realtor to see a house like the one I want Gary to buy. We look at that and 2 others to convince ourselves that he should buy the one on Emerald. Gary is wishy-washy now, not sure he wants to live in Simi. They leave at 1 p.m. We go out to lunch, get 2 movies, and veg out trying to cure our colds.

Poor Brian having to drive around when he is throwing up! That cannot have been fun for the others in the car either. With Mom and Frank both sick, riding in that car was virus city!

I can see why my brother was hesitant to move to Simi Valley. He already had a long commute to work for the DWP in Los Angeles, and moving to Simi would add another 20 minutes. Would it be worth it?

That's a Smart Skunk!

Thursday July 4, 1991

Another night of laying in a puddle of sweat. The skunk came back and tore the bottom out of Bob's trash bag--what a mess! It was hanging up in the screened in tent. The skunk stood on the table bench to reach it. The others were tied up high enough.

I didn't ski today. Too much ache all over especially the back. We spent most of the day in the water. We had fun playing Frisbee. Everyone took a ride to the marina. Frank and I stay in in camp to avoid the sun.

Justin is swimming and skiing very well. He seems a natural athlete. Junior is skiing well. Joe does pretty well. Little Brian has learned to love the water. The boys are so good to him.

Jennifer and Ron arrive at dinnertime. Chris and Ric cancel due to Ric's back. The Murphy's don't show. Don't know why. I'm OK except for the heat.

Looks like Ric and I missed this trip in 1991. Ric has always had chronic back pain which has only gotten worse since I have known him. The year before on Memorial weekend we launched the boat in a thunderstorm and spent the weekend camping in the rain. As I was driving the boat onto the trailer the wind blew the boat in too fast and Ric strained his back to keep it from hitting the truck. When we finally got back home I had to unload all of our wet camping gear in the rain by myself because Ric was in too much pain. I slipped on a wet stepping stone and broke my foot. In spite of his pain Ric had to take me to the emergency room where I got a plaster cast. I still went to Lake Don Pedro for the July 4 weekend that year, where I was hot and miserable and unable to get in the water due to the cast. Looks like a year later, it was just as hot or hotter.

Michael Landon Died Today

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Monday July 1, 1991

Michael Landon died of cancer today. He was 54. He had it in his liver and pancreas. I feel terrible. Michael's cancer was announced 6 days before I knew I had cancer. I felt that day a bond with him. I somehow knew then I had it too.

We arose at 6 at Donna's to leave early to meet Gary and Maria at Don Pedro Lake at 11:30. We took Justin to Carl's Jr. for breakfast. The 2-1/2 hour drive took us through old gold rush towns on Highway 49. The day is beautiful.

It is hot at the lake. Probably 95-100 degrees. The water is very warm. Gary makes 3 trips in the boat to get Rosa, Brian, Joe and Jr. over. It's a hot job setting up camp. I help some, but I'm not supposed to be in the sun says Dr. Bix. We spend most of the day in the water.

We skiied late and ate in the dark. The water was good all day.

Keep in mind this is the first time I have read Mom's journal. It is 20 years later. It gives me chills when she says she knew she had cancer before she was diagnosed. I too remember the day that Michael Landon died, but not that he was so young. 54 is so very young, especially now that I am almost 58. As Mom is writing this entry in her journal she was 57. I was always a big fan of Little House on the Prairie, both when it was originally aired from 1974-1984 and later in reruns. It was filmed at Big Sky Ranch in Simi Valley just a few miles from where mom lived.

Lake Don Pedro was a family tradition for over 30 years, starting when I was about 10 years old. It is located 20 miles east of Modesto, California and is one of the few lakes in California that allows camping anywhere on the shore. Every Memorial Day weekend, July 4 weekend, and Labor Day weekend, large groups of family and friends met at the launch ramp at 6 am with all our camping gear. We usually had several boats, and it took 3-4 trips to get all our gear and friends to the campsite, which mom always picked out. It varied almost every time because the lake level would fluctuate, but once she picked out a nice flat area with a good beach (and hopefully some trees if the lake was full) the camp set-up would begin. We had a dining screen tent with folding tables, boxes of food and dishes, and the Coleman propane cooking stove. We usually ate inside the screen tent so as to avoid the flies and bees landing on our food. Each family had a sleeping tent as well, and we all shared a communal potty tent. It was often over 100 degrees so we would spend our day in the shade of an awning or sometimes just set up our beach chairs in the water to stay cool. The boats would take out the first skiers around 7 am every morning while the water was glassy calm, and by 9 am after everyone had a turn, we came back for breakfast. Later in the day the wind would come up and more boats would arrive so we would just visit on shore, go swimming, or take a boat ride up the river. In the evening, everyone got to ski again when the wind died down and the water became calm again. Often we would ski until it was dark. This family tradition continued after my brother Gary and I were grown and had our own children to bring along. His boys Junior and Joe were 10 and 12 in 1991, and my son Justin was 10. They have great memories of playing in the water and skiing or tubing behind the boat. On this trip my sister-in-law Maria brought her sister Rosa and Rosa's son Brian.