A History Lesson of Sorts

Yesterday the boys and I went to the cemetery where my dad was laid to rest. I wanted to set flowers there from my family to remember my dad's birthday. We stopped at the flower shop where we picked out 3 blue flowers from the boys, 3 yellow flowers for my brother Paul, Andrew and Curtis, and 3 pink flowers from me, my mom and Brandi (his dog). It is so much easier to go there with the boys than it is to go by myself. We sat and talked about grandpa and how he loved the boys and how he loved cars. They helped polish his headstone. My dad would be proud! The cemetery is relatively close to where I grew up. I decided I was going to take the boys on an adventure from my past. I wanted to show them where I grew up, went to elementary and high school, the park I used to go to and the pool that my brother and I basically lived at during the summer. We also made a stop at Carl's Jr. where my brother used to work to have lunch. It was a memorable trip with the boys and it was good to be back in La Mirada.

This is the house I grew up in. It used to be yellow and white but with no shutters. The gate used to be wood and this is where we were greeted daily by our dogs Brownie, Kabin, Stryker and Corkie. My dad would only let us have 2 dogs at a time though. I can still remember the time when the brick was put on the house. The front window you see in the picture was my room for most of my childhood. There is another window in the front but it is blocked by the truck in the driveway. That was Paul's room and I moved in there when he went to college. My family moved into this house when I was less than a year old and my parents moved out of it when I was 17 years old. I sure have a lot of memories here.




La Pluma Elementary was the school that I attended from Kindergarten until the 7th grade. We didn't have a middle school in our district. There are alot of teachers I still remember from this school: Mr. Moore and Mrs. Ansley were two of my favorites. I met my life long friend Dina here. Her and I are still friends after all these years.



La Mirada High School is where I attended school from the 8th grade until the 12th grade. Gosh I was so happy to graduate from this school! Ms. Farber was by far my favorite teacher. She taught the computer classes at the school. This year will be my 20 year reunion and I'm not sure if I will go.


This is the park across the street from the high school. My brother and I spent a lot of time at the park. We would go fishing or play at the playground. I remember this rocket ship that we would climb up in and just sit for awhile. For the 4th of July, the park would host a family event and then put on fireworks at night. I remember going down the make shift toboggan ride they had for the kids. Fun times! They didn't have this great jungle gym that the boys played on for an hour or so. It was cool to take my boys to the park where my brother and I spent so much time. I think we would still be there if Grant didn't have to use the potty!

And finally this is the "plunge". It is the local swimming pool which is next to the park. We were lucky to have everything so close to our house! Paul and I would walk there everyday in the summer and swim. We would be there from when they opened up until they closed. We were also part of the swim team so we would be there until after they closed too! I don't know what I would have done without the plunge. I loved it there! It's not there anymore but they had a high diving board. We called it the "high dive". Paul was the master of the high dive.

It was a great trip down memory lane yesterday. I was so happy I could share it with the boys.