OUR FIRST REAL HOME IN A SIMPLE LIFE

While we lived in Anaheim, in the two-bedroom apartment, Dad and Mom saved as much money as they could. They had their eyes set on buying their first real house. They found one that was new and in a central location for Dad to make veterinary house or barn calls in an efficient amount of time. He would use his truck that had a veterinarian pack on the back of it, filled with all the medical supplies needed to give the appropriate care to each animal.

He again went to the bank for a personal loan and used the cash as a down payment on their new house. Off we went to Palos Verdes Peninsula!

It was a beautiful hill that over looked the ocean, set on a little cul-de-sac street. To me, as a kid, this street was so steep and a mile long. We were a couple of blocks away from the local high school and below the local shopping mall. The junior high school I would soon attend was on the other side of the shopping mall.  The entire hill offered a wonderful lifestyle.

The home was not large, but it did have four bedrooms. In the middle of the house was an atrium. We used this area for our desert tortoise that Dad had found walking across a busy street. He didn’t want it to get hit by a car so he stopped, picked it up and brought it home. We have had this tortoise, Touché, for over forty years.  He is a simple, loving being. Calm yet filled with personality. We are lucky to have Touché in our lives.

Mom decorated this home very minimally since they did not have a lot of money to furnish it. We had a phone radio system in the family room so Mom could radio any horse calls to Dad.  People who needed veterinary care would call our home’s business line.  Dad would be out and about in his truck and Mom would radio the call to him.

One of my childhood memories is in Dad’s truck. The main box for the radio rested between two bucket seats. It became the third seat in the truck for me. On weekends, especially on Sundays, Mom, my sister and I would pack into the truck with Dad driving. My sister would sit on Mom’s lap and I would sit on the phone box, with dad driving and no seat belts! The box would overheat as I sat on it so the warmth made me fidget. I sat so high on this box my head hit the top of the roof.  We would take off to our destination barreling down the freeway. Our family’s life began to grow in a fun, exciting but simple way.