Dad Welcomes Actress Carroll Baker to Superior Court 2, Downtown LA at First & Hill Streets, 1969.

Unsure who she is? Check this out.  Here are some treats of her on YouTube.  And don't forget Wikipedia to learn more of her.

Mom's & Dad's Handwriting. I Love It.

Matthews' Malt Shop

Dad's products used at local restaurants in Alhambra.

A birthday wish from Dad on my 24th birthday.

Wow!  I wonder if anyone knows where this photo was taken.  Probably the LA County Fair.  L-R, we've got Charlen, Chuck, Dan, Sally, and Mary on my dad's knee.  How cute!  The year, I am guessing, is 1956.

What I Loved About My Mom

Photo courtesy of Tom Walgenbach.
From that seat, Mom would enjoy her hot coffee and miniature 3-Muskateers bar as the morning news shows played on the television.  She would bite into her candy bar and chew, a luxury she could not enjoy with harder foods like nuts.  In fact, whenever she asked for See's Candy, we all understood to get her the chews, a synonym for the rich creams.  From that seat, her phone was within reach, so was her LA Times.  The remote to the TV was on the long coffee table we'd inherited from Marilyn.  In retrospect, Dad made good contacts, lifetime friends--Marilyn, Nora Pfaffle, Bob Smith, Bill Conroy, Joe and Bernice Sullivan.  From that seat, Mom loved taking in the view of the foothills a few, short blocks to the north of her.  

Those hills seemed like they were just outside your door; they were!  Peering through that large, front, clear window, Mom could take in the goings-on on her culdesac.  From that seat, she could track who was going and who was coming.  Across the street was Bruce Lyons.  For years we called them the Ramseys.  But Bruce preferred to be incognito.  Bruce was Bruce.  Next door to him were Linda and Al.  As a couple hosting, there may be none better.  Together they complement each other.  Linda's great smile, long hair, affirming tones were great in a conversation.  We had some great neighbors in the old days.  There was Mr. Ken Blazier on the northwest corner of Elda and Bettyhill.  There were the Pollocks immediately to our west.  Chuck says that they gave him and Dan some Dodgers ticket once; no, in fact, Mr. Pollock took Dan and Chuck to a Dodgers game.  That's something.  I loved Frank and Brenda Flannigan and Kelly, their only daughter.  I ran into Brenda in the years that I was working at UPS.  I ran into her in the McDonald's on Foothill Blvd. in Arcadia in the Vons and Sav-Ons parking lot.  I was happy to see her; the feeling was mutual.  I could tell that she missed the old days, the old neighborhood and her years of being a young mother to Kelly.  I loved Brenda Flannigan.  I remember as a child growing up how she often worked in the rose bed of her front yard and talked to me, a kid.  I was six years old and here she was talking me as if I were older, as if I were important.  I loved her for that.  It was easy to love her.  In our house, love got complicated.  Loving those outside of it, loving those alien to our house was easy.

Mom loved lying on the sofa in her front room watching TV or stretching her legs for greater circulation.  I used to love and watch Mom eat lunch, her typical lunch, in the kitchen, wrapped in a blanket, her hair tied in scarf made snug by the tight knot under her chin.  She had pink tiles on her kitchen counter, her absolute favorite color.  She was so proud of and delighted by those tiles that she protected them against the rougher treatment that her boys gave them.  On her pink countertop, she would place the tray of butter, saltine crackers, cheese, and peanut butter, pulling a banana from a bunch resting on the counter behind her near the stove under the cupboard.  On a single saltine cracker, she would place a slice of cheddar cheese.  She loved butter, too.  On some days, she would mix it up.  Instead of the Nabisco Premium cracker, she would use a dinner roll and stack the butter on that, would layer 3 to 4 slabs of butter and enjoy and indulge.  My mom loved ham.  She bought store-bought deli ham.  Not as good; too much sugar.  But she loved ham.  She'd fix herself a ham sandwich out of that roll, layer the cheese and butter.  She was in heaven.  That was her main meal of the day.  She lived to 89.  On a banana, she would layer peanut butter and enjoy that as well.  So she got some pretty good fats in her diet.  She was healthy most of her life without major chronic illness.

In her later years, she began doing more work in the backyard, picking up wind-blown leaves and pine needles from neighbors' trees.  One of my favorite memories of Mom is that she loved watering her yards in the summer.  She was vigilant with her lawn all day long during the hot summers. 

Mom's favorite place to eat.  She loved their cheese bread and their split pea soup.  I miss my mom terribly.  She brought the most tender, thoughtful feelings amongst the Walgenbach siblings.  I was nicer because of her, Chuck was nicer because of her, Tom was nicer because of her, likewise with Joe, Sally, Mary, Dan, and Charlen.  We were all better people because of her.  And when I stopped to think about her influence, it amazes me that one person could soften the hearts of so many people.  Amazing.