maddash

Tomorrow May 26 is my mother's birthday.  She would have been 95 years old. Many years after she passed away,  I was scanning some old photos and found a picture of our farm barn.  I vaguely remember taking the picture, probably around 1985.  On closer inspection of the scan, there was a hidden image of my mother.  She always sat by the window in her rocker and looked out at the barn yard.  I bought her a few Bantam Chickens one year and she would spend hours watching those birds in the yard. I think my mother was thanking me for the chickens in this picture.  She always told me that the three greatest, most relaxing things in life were: watching a crackling fire,  watching moving water and watching birds. You are welcome Mom.

  Linda grew up in West Los Angeles, near Santa Monica. Her family doctor was William L. Mortensen. Dr. Mortensen's father founded the Santa Monica Hospital and his son was president of First Federal Bank. He treated all of Linda's family and technically was our daughter Lisa's doctor in the womb. Oh.....and he was married to Beaver's Mom.  Barbara Billingsly.

I first met Linda at a party in Thousand Oaks, California.  I was in the Navy, stationed at a submarine base in San Diego and Linda was in her senior year at California Lutheran College.  Linda's father had been transferred to Moorpark and they had a home built in Thousand Oaks. This world was all new to me.  Suburbs of Los Angeles were popping up all around LA and each one became a new town.  EVERYTHING was new.  Linda lived just off the exit of the Ventura Highway, famous in song by the group America. Where Linda lived was once the ranch of Joel McCrea, famous cowboy and motion picture star.  Walter Brennen owned an adjoining ranch and in 1971 there was still an abundance of wide open spaces.   Hollywood took advantage of this area and most of the westerns, TV and Movies were filmed on the ranches surrounding Los Angeles and the old sets of buildings still stood in Thousand Oaks and other towns. 

 Want to complain about how hard it is being a parent?  Read this first: this young lady in the orange was a mother of many children. She worked and took care of her kids and home.  Can you guess what makes her special? She was blind. She never got to see those smiles of gratification or the mocking faces from her kids. But what she saw was pure love for each of her children and worked hard to raise them right. She lived to be 94 years old and I can still remember her carrying a smile around for no reason other then God had given her another day. I'm proud to say that this amazing human being belongs to my family. Although she's not alive today, her hard work and love for life helps me push through struggles. In loving memory of Edna Peterson. By Andria Peterson This was written by a great grandchild of Edna.  I am a grandchild of hers.  I took this picture in 1982.  That is our house in Hoagland in the background and the young girl is Carrie Peterson, a grandchild.  Carrie was