Christo's Umbrellas

Friday October 25, 1991

Up early. Shirley & Jim Turner pick us up at 8 a.m. We have a great breakfast at Eggs & Things and head for Gorman to see Christo's Umbrellas. Nice to ride and Jim to drive. The umbrellas are wonderful. There are 1770 of them everywhere, all over the hills, valleys, ponds, and mountains. We drive to the bottom of the grapevine, stopping often.

We stop to visit Fort Tejon. It is really an old fort and a national park now. So nice we had the time to finally stop after all these years. Jim knows the area really well so takes us on many side roads going home. It's very interesting.

We have a late lunch at Magic Mountain Marie Callendar's. We arrive home at 4:00. I'm tired but OK, ready to lay on my back to rest my straining incision.

Christo is well-known for his strange artwork that is set up outside. The yellow umbrellas that were set up along Interstate 5 through Southern California known as The Grapevine, were set up for 18 days simultaneously with blue umbrellas that were set up in Japan. Fort Tejon is at the summit of the grapevine, and even though I have passed by it dozens of times, I am always traveling between northern and southern California, so have never stopped there.

After I moved to Sonoma County in 1974 Mom and Frank visited during Christo's exhibit along the coastal hills here called "Christo's Fence", pictured below, in 1976. We actually went up with a pilot in a small plane to fly over the fence all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Dinner with Marty & Kathy Murphy

Thursday October 24, 1991

Marty & Kathy Murphy have invited us to dinner tonight. We are out and about only to go to lunch. I felt ill at lunch and couldn't eat it. I spent the rest of the afternoon lying down. I guess I overdid it this morning moving all my summer clothes to the other room closet and moving all my winter clothes in. Then I went outside to water all my patio plants.

By 4:30 I'm feeling well enough to go to dinner. Kathy has prepared a lovely dinner and we really enjoy it. My appetite has really returned. We stay to watch the world series game and head home about 9:00 feeling good.

Marthy Murphy worked with mom before she retired and they both continued to be friends for many years. In fact Kathy was at mom's bedside at Kaiser Hospital in Woodland Hills almost everyday for the last 2 weeks of her life. That is a faithful friend. I heard that they moved to Arizona a few years after mom passed away, but I have been unable to find them. I love Facebook for finding old friends, but a friend with a common name like Murphy is hard to find, even if they are on Facebook, which of course many are not.

Exchanging her closet full of summer clothes for her closet full of winter clothes was indeed a big undertaking. Mom had a huge walk-in closet and it was full. One of the guest bedrooms had a closet holding all her off-season clothes, plus a rack devoted just to her square dancing outfits. Mom always loved to shop, and she usually dragged me along with her when I was a little girl. Perhaps that is why I hate to shop!

The Cross

It's been a busy month with vacations and Justin's wedding. Today there will be no post from Mom's journal, but this post has everything to do with her. June 21, 2011 my son Justin married his true love Briana Maughan. An hour before the wedding ceremony was to begin Justin approached me and pulled a large silver cross on a silver chain from his pocket. This is the story he told me about the cross, which I had never heard before. 20 years ago or so, Justin gave this cross to his Grandma Dolores as a gift. He must have known how important Jesus was in her life. A few years later she passed away and the cross was put around her neck at the funeral. Afterwards Frank returned the cross to Justin and Justin held on to it for the past 18 years. Justin and his grandma loved each other so much. He asked if I would wear it on his wedding day. Tears flowed freely. Several members of my family made the trip for the wedding. My brother Gary and his son Austin flew into Sonoma County Airport from Los Angeles, my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Gene, who is Mom's brother, drove up from Pasadena, and mom's husband Frank drove from Lincoln, California, with his new wife Carol, who knew mom since grammar school. I had not seen Frank in many years, and since reading mom's journal and posting this blog, I appreciated more than ever what a good man he is and how good he was to mom those last few years. It was so good to see him. At one point in the reception, Justin's dad, Briana's dad, and members of their wedding party took a microphone and spoke about how much Justin and Briana mean to them and how happy they are for them. Finally Frank approached me and said "We've heard enough from these men, we need to hear from the women in Justin's life." I said I was too shy to speak in front of an audience (about 85 people) and Frank said he would go up with me. I introduced Frank and then told the story of the cross I wore around my neck, how Justin had given it to his grandma and then to me to wear at the wedding. I told Justin it broke my heart that Grandma Dolores could not be here on his wedding day, then congratulated him and Briana. No one spoke after that.

Justin, I know I cannot fill your grandma's shoes, but I hope this will be the beginning of a deeper relationship between us, and that someday when you and Briana have children, I can be that special Grandma to them. I love you so much, and I am so proud of you and the man you have become. You have chosen a beautiful woman to be your wife, and I wish you a lifetime of happiness together.

Out and About

Wednesday October 23, 1991

Out and about in the car a good part of the day. At 8:00 we leave for 8:30 dinner at Jim and Shirley Turner's house. It's Jim's birthday. Many of our square dance friends are there including Dave and Judy. Judy is amazed that I am out and about only 2 weeks and 2 days after hysterectomy surgery. She had it last year and could do nothing for 3 months. I believe it's really a difference in people and attitudes and a difference in doctors.

I manage to eat two helpings of Tony Roma ribs, beans and salad. It's great and so is the cake. Great to be out with friends. Sorry we could not have danced with them in Newbury Park tonight as well.

Mom and Frank always had lots of friends and a busy social calendar, but after she retired in 1987 she and Frank decided to join a square dancing club to expand their circle of friends. This groups of friends became very important in their lives. They met for camping trips and other social outings besides the dancing. When mom passed away, the ladies from her square dancing club prepared food at the house while the family attended the funeral. It was like an extended family.