My Birthday #58

Tuesday May 26, 1992

My Birthday #58

Up at Donna & Bob's and ready to go by 9 a.m. but Bob is turning the rotors on our brakes so we leave for Tahoe about 10:30 a.m. When we get to Tahoe, we have a buffet breakfast. It's real good. Of course, we pig out. We wander through several casinos making a total contribution of $24 in 2 hours. We are back at Donna & Bob's about 6 p.m. Jennifer, Leah, & Ron come to dinner. After dinner comes the party hats, noise makers, ice cream, cookies, and gifts. What fun!

Leah has grown quite tall for 11 years. Jennifer looks great. Hard work agrees with her. I'm still feeling great! Thank you Lord!

Donna & Bob live in Pollock Pines, about an hour's drive east of Sacramento, and midway between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. I'm so glad Mom got to celebrate her birthday (her third time!) with her best friend Donna. Donna's granddaughter Leah was born just a week after Justin, on May 24, so the birthday celebration was undoubtedly for both Mom and Leah. Leah's mom Jennifer is a few years younger than I am, Donna's youngest of 3 children.

This birthday was to be Mom's last, so I'm glad she had a big celebration! I am 58 right now and because of that, I am acutely aware of how Mom died way too young. My 59th birthday is just a few weeks away, on April 9. When I reach that milestone I will have outlived my mother. In many ways, I feel like my life is just beginning, and I pray that God blesses me with many more years than my beautiful mother had. Mom did enjoy 12 years getting to know her only grandchild, my son Justin, but she never got to know my other two boys or Gary's twin sons, a sad loss for all of them.

A visit with Donna & Bob

Saturday June 29, 1991

Awoke at 6:30 sleeping on the air mattress at Donna & Bob's. Slept well. Backache is somewhat better today.

After breakfast we take a walk. The sky is partly cloudy. By afternoon it is mostly clear. We are in Placerville for coffee and yogurt with Donna and Bob, Mark & Yvonna and Heather. Heather is so cute at 18 months. A doll! Jennifer and Leah are with us too. Leah is crazy about Heather. They are so cute together.

Back at the house, we all have a nice dinner and relax til bedtime at 10:30.

Mom and Frank are spending the weekend with Donna and Bob at their home in Pollock Pines, just east of Placerville, California. Donna and Bob moved there from Southern California in 1980. It was hard for Mom to be separated by distance from her best friend. This weekend was Bob's retirement party. His son Mark and Mark's wife Yvonne are there, along with Mark and Yvonne's baby Heather. Jennifer is Donna's daughter from a previous marriage and Leah is Jennifer's daughter. Leah and my son Justin were born just 5 days apart.

Earthquake!

Friday June 28, 1991

Up early again to leave with the boat for Pollock Pines at 8 a.m. Frank leaves to get gas in the truck. I'm curling my hair upstairs at 7:45 when a 6.0 earthquake rocks me nearly out of my chair. Frank's mom called all shook up. Frank returns--he didn't feel a thing while driving. The radio says Pasadena was hit the worst so I call Cathy. She says alot has fallen from shelves. Luckily, according to the radio, no major damage except Pasadena, some old buildings.

We're OK with the earthquake and leave for Pollock Pines. It's raining lightly. When we get close to Sacramento, it really rains hard all the way to Donna and Bob's. Marck, Ivana and Heather are all there and we all have dinner lasagna.

The trip was fine except I'm achy all over from the walk yesterday. My back is still bothering me too. Otherwise, I feel fine.

The earthquake was later revised downward to a 5.8 magnitude. It occurred on the Clamshell - Sawpit Canyon fault, an offshoot of the Sierra Madre fault zone in the San Gabriel Mountains. Because of its depth and moderate size, it caused no surface rupture, though it triggered rockslides that blocked some mountain roads. Roughly $40 million in property damage occurred in the San Gabriel Valley. Unreinforced masonry buildings were the hardest hit. Two deaths resulted from this earthquake -- one person was killed in Arcadia, and one person in Glendale died from a heart attack.