Stroll Down Memory Lane Part I

Lloyd and Dale (Myrtle) Vaughan

This is my father and mother, I suspect while they were dating, guessing 1948. He was tall and thin; she short and petite. My father was last-born into a family of 5 boys. His brother Charles was hit on his bicycle and killed when he was 15 years old, riding back from a day in Watsonville, CA to his home in San Jose. It was a very tragic event for this family, and I often wonder if this was the reason for the stark somberness of Grandma. I have few memories of her, except that she always seemed so sad. My mother had a brother (Harmon) who was 8 years older. Her mother died from pneumonia when she was just 3 years old, leaving her to be raised by her father, her maiden Aunt Myrtle Harmon (we kids knew her as Aunt Mia) after whom she was named, a short stint with a step-mother, and who knows who else? Somewhere I have a photo of a 'pet' bear chained to a log out in front of a lodge that her father owned for awhile. I believe it was in Mariposa, CA

They met after Lloyd was released from the army at the end of WWII. He was ready to settle down and start a family and Dale was finishing her RN course. Her good friend and fellow-student, Georgia, introduced Dale to her brother-in-law, Lloyd. You see, Georgia was married to Lloyd's brother, Leland. Over the years, the cousins my family were most familiar with on the Vaughan side, were the children of Leland and Georgia.

Dad and Mom were married on September 4, 1948 in Santa Cruz, CA at Twin Lakes Baptist Church. Mom passed away from cancer in November of 1973, after 25 years of marriage. I have missed my mother over the years, especially when I got married, and when I had children. I know she would have enjoyed being a grandma. My kids are looking forward to meeting her in heaven some day, as am I. I never had the chance to know her as an adult, and have missed that friendship relationship that develops in those years, versus the parent-child relationship.

My father has been remarried twice since then, both of those wives having since passed also. Dad worked at Hewlett and Packard for many years, starting with the bosses when they were just beginning the small business venture in their garage, until his retirement from the huge conglomerate in Palo Alto, CA. He was responsible for doing all the environmental testing of computers and equipment built by HP. I remember visiting him in his lab my senior year in High School, and being very impressed with a wall-sized computer that he had programmed to say 'hello' to me (in written form). That sure ages me!

Here and there I think I will do a bit of family posting for the enjoyment of my children and my siblings' families. I have tried to put together family history over the last 5 years, but it is such a huge project. Too over-whelming. Maybe this will be easier, though not as complete.