Why Spoil a Nice Day?

Sunday January 12, 1992

Hard to get out of bed today. All my joints ache. Maybe two nights of dancing in a row are too much. We eat breakfast at IHOP.

We decide not to dance today 2-5 p.m. I suggest we go to Palmdale to see Paul, Judy and Taylor. I call Gary to see if he and Maria want to go too. They have never seen their house. Today is Junior's birthday so they have company coming.

We have a great visit with Paul and Judy for a couple of hours. We then go to see Roz and Richard. We stay a couple of hours talking about my cancer and her great weight loss.

We stop to see Joey and Sara for an hour or so before we head home. It's a good visit. Deb and Phil are at church.

We eat great Chinese food in Palmdale before we head home. What a nice day!

At 9 p.m. we watch a movie. The woman has ovarian cancer and dies a terrible death.

Yikes, didn't Mom and Frank know what this movie was about before they rented it or watched on TV? How depressing!

Bob's Big Boy Restaurant

Thursday August 15, 1991

We all sleep in a bit. After breakfast we drive to Kaiser for my appointment with Dr. Bienstock. He is pleased with my progress and will schedule my surgery for early October. That means I'll be in find shape for Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays.

After lunch at Bob's (Big Boy) we take the children home to Palmdale. We have a nice visit with Deb, then go to see Paul, Judy and Taylor. Taylor is growing so fast and is quite animated now. She coos and blows bubbles. Paul is still enthralled. Judy is still not relaxed with her.

When Mom found out she had ovarian cancer, she agreed to participate in a study to compare chemo first followed by surgery, or surgery first followed by chemo, to see which method of treatment had better success. By draw it was decided she would have chemo first. By October she would have had 6 months of chemo treatments and then would have her ovaries and uterus removed.

From the time my brother and I were little, our big treat on Saturday night was to go to Bob's Big Boy drive-in, where my parents ordered the classic Big Boy hamburger and my brother and I ordered grilled cheese sandwiches with fries. We all had cherry cokes. When my brother and I were older we actually got to go inside the restaurant. Each of us was given a Big Boy comic book where we solved puzzles and read comics of the adventures of Big Boy while waiting for our food. Bob's Big Boy Restaurant was established in 1936. The Burbank restaurant built in 1949 is the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy Restaurant and was designated a California Point of Historical Interest in 1993. It has a table where The Beatles dined and sat while on tour in California during 1965. Movie stars like Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney, and Debbie Reynolds were regulars there in the 1950s.

Rubber Ducky

Friday July 19, 1991

Dr. Russack is very happy to see how well I'm doing. He's my G.P. and the one who admitted me into the hospital in April. He seems to have a real interest in me. He asks how Frank is doing. He makes me feel good. We do some shopping in the valley, then head for Palmdale to arrive at Paul and Judy's at 3:30. Paul comes home at 4 p.m. We have a very nice visit. Taylor is 3 months old now. Judy loves the stuffed koala bear hand puppet and Taylor loves the yellow rubber ducky for her bath.

Judy and I walk the baby. I push the buggy. I help bathe and feed and change and dress Taylor. It's fun! We stay til 9:30 and really enjoy.

Frank's son Paul commutes from Palmdale to the Los Angeles Water Department everyday, an hour-long commute. His day starts very early. Their daughter Taylor was born just a few days after mom's cancer diagnosis.

Daisy and Pumpkin

Tuesday July 16, 1991

We're home! Up at 7:20 and off for a walk with the dogs. Our goal is to lose 10 pounds in 10 days. That's when we leave on our Alaskan Cruise. We plan to eat and walk alot on the cruise and hopefully not gain weight. Walking should be no problem as the weather will be cool enough. I just can't bear to walk when the temperature is 72 degrees or more. I perspire when we walk at 60 degrees or less. The dogs love the walk and are very well-behaved on leashes. They heel and halt and stay just like they learned at obedience school years ago.

We call our families. We try to call everyone at least twice a month and when we return from trips.

I'd like to go to Paul and Judy's to see Taylor.

Paul is Frank's son. He and his wife Judy recently had a baby girl they named Taylor.

From the time I was a little girl we always had at least one dog. Mom loved her animals and lavished them with her love and attention. I think it took some persuading on my mom's part to get my dad to agree to our first dog, but I remember being about 7 years old when we got our first dog, a springer spaniel named Cinnamon. Our next door neighbors had a cocker spaniel and those two got together every year and we had a litter of puppies, at least 8 or 9 in each litter. What a mess they made, but so much fun. The dogs that Mom and Frank had in 1991 were both mutts. Daisy was a black and white short-haired terrier of some kind and Pumpkin was a scruffy ball of fur with his hair in his eyes. This photo looks a little like Pumpkin:

This photo looks a little like Daisy, except she was white and black.