Gracious Hosts

Tuesday September 17, 1991 & Wednesday September 18, 1991

Tuesday was a last day at Lemona planting some small bushes.

Wednesday I am having my nails done when Frank comes to say Michele called and they are free to come to dinner tonight. Whoa! The house is dreadfully messy--no food, no plan. Oh what the heck, we'll do our best. Call them back, dinner is at 5:00. Fortunately they can't arrive until 6-6:30. We rush into action and at 6:00 the house is clean. So is the patio. Chicken and baked potatoes are in the oven. Two pecan pies and a salad are made. The dining room table is lovely with our new tablecloth and crystal wine glasses.

We have a great time with Pete, Cloe (Frank's cousin), daughter Michele, her hubby Dieder, his French-speaking only parents Annie and Rogier. The young people are kept busy translating except when the men play pool.

So the mystery of Who is Michele and Dieder is solved. Michele is the daughter of Frank's cousin and Dieder is her new French husband. I wonder how they met?

Grandma's Home Away From Home

Monday September 16, 1991

Usual laundry and house cleaning day. I called Michele and Dieder inviting them and their parents to dinner this week. It's a maybe. They are doing a lot of traveling and sightseeing.

Frank poured cement at Gledhill and did yard work at Lemona and got home in time to relax and clean up for square dancing. We really enjoyed square dancing with Marty and Cathy and Robbie and Dolores. It was tiring for us but at least my little toe left foot didn't bother me. I whacked it on a brick while barefoot this morning. It may be broken. No big deal. After dancing we all went to Hudson's Grill. Robbie and Dolores enjoyed comparing notes with the Turners about their trips to Alaska.

Spoke to mother tonight. She's 83 and doing fine or so she says. She's coming up this weekend for the family reunion potluck in her truck and camper.

Frank must be in great shape and absolutely tireless. He comes after a full day of manual labor at the rental houses and almost every night either entertains or is off square dancing.

Grandma Helen outlived mom. She was 89 when she passed away of a stroke. The last couple of years she lived in an assisted living home and did not like it at all. Up until then she lived on her own in Desert Hot Springs in a mobile home park. She and her husband Al bought an Alaska camper similar to the one shown above way back in the 1950s. It was ancient and tiny but functional. She and Al travelled all over the United States and Canada in their camper and they belonged to the Alaska Camper Club. The Alaska campers were known for their pop-up pop-down roof that made them compact for driving. After Grandpa Al passed away in his sleep in 1976 Grandma continued to drive the camper and use it as her home away from home when traveling. She was a strong and independent woman, much like her daughter!

The Wedding of Michele & Dieder

Sunday September 15, 1991

Frank stays home today and I go to Lemona house for 3 hours. A few people stop to look at the house. Frank has lots he wants to do at home today before we leave for the wedding at 3:30. It will be fun and good to see all the relatives we haven't seen for some time. I can personally thank them all for their prayers. They'll be happy about my good news.

The wedding couple are Michele and Dieder. They took us sightseeing in Paris in April 1990. We feel a special bond with them. We had a great time at the wedding. We were seated with Diane and Nancy and their men. Loved seeing Mimi (Michele). She's 14-3/4 and 5'7". She came with Mom Lorraine. We had a good talk.

I never heard Mom talk about Michele and Dieder. She mentions Paris, so perhaps they lived there in 1990 and they became friends traveling there. This is one of those times I so wish Frank had not thrown out Mom's photo albums. I'm quite sure she took pictures of their trip to Paris and undoubtedly Michele and Dieder were in the photographs.

The Neighbor is a Child Molester

Saturday July 20, 1991

Walking 1 hour again this morning is 4 days this week. Stopping at Helen's we find out our neighbor Herb has been found guilty of child molesting. He will be sentenced on August 21 to up to 18 years. Herb is 64 years old. His wife Michele is 40 or so. She'll be OK without him and surely won't miss the way he treated her, or rather mistreated her.

More yard work and house work. I'm very achy in my joints and back. I do my back exercises and lay on ice but little helps. I feel much better if I keep moving about, so we go square dancing. It is our second "real" club dance. We do very well remembering the calls. We have lots of fun and feel so welcomed.

Wow, I don't think I ever heard about this. It must have felt kind of scary that the neighbor on their cul-de-sac was a molester. Everyone on that cul-de-sac was quite close and mom hosted a potluck every year for the neighbors. At 64 years old, I doubt he survived an 18-year term in prison. He would have been 82 when released 2 years ago. How awful for his wife. I hope she was able to make a new life for herself.