This is a picture of Dan and Darrell when they were in Grade School. The house was one we were renting. It was an old two story house with a full basement. It was right on Auburn Way South across from Market Foods. Behind us was Les Gove park and the Library. We spent lots of time at the Park and the Library.

You can see the fireplace in the front room. One of the boys got a Parakeet in a cage from a friend. His mother didn't want it anymore. We had the cage hanging from the ceiling fairly close to the fireplace. We had a cat. The cat was always getting on the fireplace mantel and would jump and swing on the cage trying to get the bird. We were forever after the cat about it. One day we had gone somewhere and when we came back, the cage was empty and there were just a couple of feathers on the floor. Everyone was very sad. We didn't get another bird, which was probably just as well.

Later, Darrell got a white rat. He kept it in a cage in his bedroom. He had it for quite awhile. He would let it out of the cage and let it run around in his room. I never wanted to touch it and Darrell was always trying to get me to pet it. Finally, one day I did pet it. It wasn't that bad. He was a nice friendly, clean rat. One morning when Darrell woke up the rat was dead. I don't know what happened. Darrell, Dan and Richard were all big pet lovers.

While we were still living there, I finally had to have a Hysterectomy. The doctor discovered I had a Fibroid Tumor after I had Darrell. I refused to have anything done for years. Finally the doctor said it was growing so large, I just had to have it removed. I was in the hospital on the Fourth of July. Every Fourth of July there was a big Celebration at Les Gove Park. There was always a band there. Dave went to the park and recorded the music. He brought the tape recorder to the hospital so I could hear the music.

Your dad was in Ketchikan, Alaska at that time. We sent Darrell and Dan to stay with him for a couple of weeks. Your dad decided to get both of the boys haircuts. The barber managed to nick both of Dan's ears. Before they went to Alaska, Dan was never crazy about getting his hair cut. After they came back, I could not get Dan to get his hair cut. Anyway, it was beginning to be the time a lot of boys were letting their hair grow long. Dan let his hair grow long for several years. In the picture I have on the blog with us in the Convertible, you can see his hair is still long.