My dad was a quiet man, much more a listener than a talker. He was an honest, hard-working man who took only one week of vacation each summer to take his family (my mother, brother and me) to Newport Beach, CA.

I was beside myself with excitement for an entire week before this annual event. I saved my allowance, money from babysitting and weeding gardens, to spend on trinkets and candy during vacation. My mother would bake and bring a tin of chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies which only lasted several days!

On the first morning of our stay at the beach I would get up very early, dress and race out to the seashore. The smell and sound of the ocean was so exciting to me! I would then comb the beach for shells, sand dollars, bits of brightly colored glass and whatever treasures I could find.

It was also during this time with my family that I got to see a side of my father that I will treasure forever. He loved to fish, especially surf fish. Early morning and evening would find him squatting in the sand behind his surf pole which was set securely in a sand spike. Dad could squat like that for hours! It was while he was squatting there that I could watch him and see a very different man than my working dad.

It was as though he was in a trance, he was very still and his eyes were fixed on the far horizon or slowly scanning the rhythmic waves. His face took on that of a child, of happiness and serenity. While he fished, I would scramble in the wet sand to find sand crabs for him to bait his hook with. The crabs would scurry to bury themselves in the sand as the water receded. I would watch for the little hill they'd make in the sand and quickly scoop them up and put them into a milk carton at my dad's side.

As long as I could keep that milk carton filled with crabs, my father would continue to bait his hook, cast out into the waves, look out on the ocean, and comfort me with his peaceful countenance.

My mother was a woman of strict routine. Monday was wash day, Tuesday was ironing day, etc. Duty always came before pleasure. It was these duties of hers that were a comfort in my life as a child. On a cold winter afternoon I would come through the back door and through our service porch to her ironing in the kitchen. It always smelled so fresh and clean and homey. She dusted our home each day and always had a fresh rose or some camellias on display in a lovely vase.

Comforting smells coming from the kitchen are memories I will forever love. Frying chicken, beef stew simmering on the range top, cookies or pies baking in the oven, oh, so many wonderful aromas! All these little things that were a part of her daily routine have come to mean a great deal to me.

There was a large age difference between my mother and me and we disagreed on most things, clothing frequently, but the clothes we finally settled on usually made me happy. I can remember many of my dresses in great detail and how much I enjoyed wearing them. Mom tried to teach me to sew, but we both gave up! She also tried to teach me how to play bridge; we gave up on that too!! In frustration I'd usually turn to writing poetry which was where my heart was.

Mom rarely diverted from her daily schedule, but when she did it felt as though the world was off kilter. I'm sure that is why even today as a retiree, I still stick to a daily schedule for many things that I do. It's a comfort to me today as it was so many years ago.

My Brother Tom

My brother Tom was born almost 4 years before I was with dark auburn hair. He turned into a beautiful little tow-headed toddler, and then as he grew, it turned back to dark auburn. The four of us all had the same hair color and wavy too.

He grew up playing the typical games boys do with boys from school and our neighborhood. Another typical thing he did was tease his sister!

We all had household chores and he was never one to shirk his responsibilities.

Some of his friends had sisters my age and we became good friends and remain so to this day. We went on lots of family trips and had a lot of fun growing up together.

Tom began his working career in his senior year of high school as a box boy at the Pantry Food Markets in 1959. He joined the United States Naval Reserve in 1963.

After many years of attending night classes at Pasadena City College, he received his Associate in Arts Degree in 1968.

He began his first “real” job as a Central Office Equipment Installer for the then California Water and Telephone Company in 1961. Tom remained with the company through many name changes and retired after 42 years, in 2003. He probably holds the record with the company for retaining the same job title for the longest number of years.

Tom still lives in Pasadena, owns his own home and enjoys retirement. He still has his friends, me, his sister, two nephews, one niece, a great-nephew and many cousins. He still loves keeping track of fire, police and emergency situations in Pasadena and neighboring communities. For a time he was a member of the Pasadena Fire Department Arson Watch. He would patrol hillside areas in hot weather watching for suspicious persons or situations.

He still loves all things electronic and has his General Class Ham radio license.

Tom has not missed a Rose Parade since it began coming up Sierra Madre Blvd. in the early 1950s!

He took over the care of our parents’ property when they were no longer able to do it themselves, he checked on them daily and did many household chores for them as well. He did all this in addition to taking care of his own home and yard while holding a full time job. He did all this lovingly as it was part of being a family.

Tom did the same for our two elderly aunts (our mother’s sisters) who lived separately, but nearby. He cared for their properties and homes when they weren’t able to do so, shopped for them and checked on them regularly to be sure they were safe and well. He never complained and always gave generously of his time and help to family and friends.

I am so very proud to be his sister and to call him my big brother. I would do anything in the world for him, as he has done so much for so many!

Those Were the Days

In fall, the weather was still warm, even hot, when school began. I couldn't wait to get my shoes off after school, I loved to be barefoot, even to this day! Fall brought new school clothes, school supplies and new flannel pajamas for winter weather. It was hard getting back into the swing of the school year after a fun, lazy summer.

Then the days became shorter and cooler, autumn was in the air. Mom began cooking hotter, heartier meals. Coming home from school, I'd love to smell stew simmering on the stove, sometimes mingled with the smell of freshly ironed clothes. Fried chicken sizzling in the frying pan was another favorite smell, and freshly perked coffee!

Lighting the furnace pilot was a fall ritual, that dusty smell from the first blast of warm air was actually pleasant as I knew I'd be standing on the furnace grate many mornings to warm myself.

Halloween was always fun. Mom sometimes made a costume, sometimes I made one myself. Three or four of us would band together and scour the neighborhood for treats.

As Thanksgiving approached, I loved seeing the leaves turn colors and blow in the wind, seeing porches decorated for the season and most of all on Thanksgiving Day all the wonderful smells from my mother's delicious holiday meal.

December was a great month. Time off from school, all the sights, sounds, and smells of the Christmas season. I loved getting our Christmas tree and decorating it. We always bought a toy for our cocker spaniel and he always sniffed it out from among all the gifts under the tree!

We had lots of aunts, uncles and cousins living in the area and we would host a big Christmas Eve party. My brother Tom and I were allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve, so as the evening went on, we were almost anxious for everyone to leave!

New Year's Eve was a special time at our home. Living on the boulevard, the Rose Parade passed right in front of our house!!! For days ahead, campers, trailers and cars would mark a spot to camp out for the big day. The day before the parade people were allowed to put out blankets, chairs, benches, etc. to mark their spots to view the parade and at midnight were allowed to put one row of seats down into the street. It was really fun at midnight when people were bundled up in sleeping bags, had bonfires, played cards, roasted hot dogs, etc. At midnight the yelling, singing horn blowing and partying would begin and last to early dawn. No one got much sleep! We had family and friends stay over at our house.

My mom would fix a big breakfast for everyone, but people brought food with them too. We'd then head out to get our seats and wait for the parade. Finally, around the bend in the boulevard would come the first official cars of the parade and the fun would begin. 2 1/2 hours of horses, floats, bands and good old-fashioned fun.

When it was over, we'd take our chairs and benches back to our house where my poor mom had been putting together a big lunch, again people helped by bringing food. We'd have ham, baked beans, drinks, chips, etc. This was all in preparation for the Rose Bowl Game which was the next big event of the day. Everyone would crowd around in our living room to watch. Outside the streets and sidewalks were filled with people going up the street to the park to view the floats. This would go on for about 3 days. Then the floats were take away.

January, February and March were months of wintry weather and getting the soil ready for spring planting. Our dad did a wonderful job of growing flowers, especially sweet peas. He was well known for his huge arbor of them. We always had a bouquet of them in the house and oh, that wonderful smell. Our mother always had fresh flowers in the house, even if it was just one rosebud. She loved to float camellias in flat dishes too, they were lovely.

June was a wonderful month, it meant school would be out soon! I always joined the Summer Reading Program at the Lamanda Park Library. I think I loved the library itself just as much as reading. It was a big wooden structure that smelled of wood, oil soap and books. Summer was fun too because I could skate, ride my bike, play with friends, vacation at Newport Beach, read, play badminton, basketball, cards and watch TV. I had many chores to do to, but that was fine, I still had plenty of time to play.

Summer also meant rootbeer floats in the evening on the back patio swing.

As summer would draw to a close, I'd treasure all the fun I'd had over the summer and look forward to seeing friends back at school and starting the fall season all over again.

As the years go by, I cherish these memories more and more and am so happy to have lived them.

~ Family Memories ~

Ann Winter

A Gift from the Sea

The Comforts of Home

My Brother Tom

Those Were the Days