Christmas Eve in Pasadena

Thursday December 24, 1992

We all sleep in and take it slow all morning. About 2:30 we leave for Gene & Cathy's. We have dinner there and all open gifts. Gene dresses up like Santa Claus and gives a gift to each of his grandchildren. All his family are there except Cathy and Brittany. Brittany has the flu. It's a lovely evening and I feel good. Guy, Lisa and Lynne make me feel quite special.

Mother does well. She's holding up real well and looks lovely after I curl her hair.

We eat turkey.



When I was a young girl my Uncle Gene & Aunt Cathy lived on Sierra Madre Blvd in Pasadena, right on the route of the Pasadena Rose Parade, which we watched from their front yard every year. In 1967 the State of California took their property by eminent domain to build the 210 Freeway. They bought a beautiful large lot tucked up against the San Gabriel Mountains in Pasadena and built a two-level house where many birthdays, holidays, showers, weddings and anniversaries have been celebrated over the years. In fact their granddaughter Alyson is having her wedding and reception with 400 guests in their backyard on July 20 this year. Alyson's parents Guy and Lisa Thomas, shown in the photo above, were married there in 1986.

Mom was close with her nieces and nephews, especially her niece Lynne, Gene and Cathy's youngest, who now lives in Seattle. She is pictured above with Mom at my baby shower in 1992. Lynne spoke at Mom's funeral. Such a beautiful spirit!

Rose Parade Floats

Thursday January 2, 1992

We have a lazy morning. It's not raining after all so we decide to go to Pasadena to see the floats from the Rose Parade. It works out well for us to pay to park in the church lot. Their van shuttle takes us up the hill to where the floats begin. It's great! Frank's first time to see a float in person.

Afterward we go a few blocks to Gene & Cathy's. They are not at home. We call Guy--Cathy is in Hemet. We leave a note and go to Gary's. After 15 minutes he, Maria and boys come home. They are glad to see us and are happy to go out for Mexican food with us. We enjoy! We're home at 8:30, relax and watch TV.

It may have been Frank's first time to see a float in person, but Mom had seen many over the years. My Uncle Gene (her brother) and Aunt Cathy lived on Sierra Madre Blvd in Pasadena for many years. They would invite their friends and relatives to join them every year to set up chairs on the front porch or sit on the roof of their storage shed to see the parade. It was fun, but I hated getting up at 4:30 in the morning to make the drive to Pasadena. Fortunately, one of their neighbors let us park in their front yard for free, as parking was at a premium. Some time during my teen years, the state bought their house to build the Pasadena Freeway and they moved up to the hills overlooking Pasadena. They are now 83 and 81 years old, enjoying life, travelling the world, and entertaining friends in that same home. They even drove up for my son's wedding this summer, a 400 mile drive from Pasadena. Young at heart, both of them. Here is a photo of them in their younger years:

Frank's Mother Has a New Year's Birthday

Happy New Year!

Wednesday January 1, 1992

We sleep in til 9:30. We get up and watch the Rose Parade. Frank's nose is much better. I feel great except for my wrist and some cold symptoms.

We take down the Christmas tree and all the decorations around the house. We sit down often to watch the football games. We have the dogs in and give them some long overdue love. I take a couple of 10-minute naps during the day.

We call Frank's mom and wish her Happy Birthday!

Frank's mother, pictured above in blue at Frank's daughter's wedding to Steve in 1986, lived well into her 80s.

I'm glad to know that Mom and Frank occasionally let their dogs in the house. Every time we visited them the dogs were confined to a dog run on the side of the house. Mom did love her dogs, but she loved a nice clean orderly house too. When I was growing up, we had dogs, but they were never allowed in the house.