Photos......

I forgot the photos on the last blog. Above is the West Shore of Llandudno - taken from the Orme that we went up with my parents.
The above is my mother and father and Dick on the same trip - on the other side of the Orme where there is a cemetery that my father's parents are buried.
Dick with Mair and Norman taken outside their home in Southport, England
Myself with my brother Gerald, his wife Kitty and three of his four children - Martyn, Ian and Sarah. Gareth was born a couple of years later.

Meeting the Thomas'

Some time early December, I can remember leaving my job with Dr. Kuhn and going over to the Motel 6 offices to help with whatever I could with Dick's job. This was something I always did, but when I walked in, Dick's assistant and his wife were there and they were obviously excited about something. Dick waited until everyone else had gone home except Jim and Betty and told me he was giving me a trip home for Christmas. I had not been home in nine years and had only seen my parents the one time during that period when they visited me in Canada. I was speechless. It was quite a deal to get my passport that quickly, but we made it and a couple of days before Christmas we arrived in London. Dick had wanted me to surprise my family and not tell them in advance. I had reservations about this, but went along with it and in retrospect it probably wasn't the best idea we ever had.

We rented a car in London and Dick drove to Llandudno. That was an experience in itself, driving on the wrong side of the road, in the dark, with narrow roads, heavy traffic and the somewhat scary rules of the road there (first come first served attitude), it's a wonder we made it in one piece. Dick actually did a remarkable job, except for bumping the sidewalk often (hard to judge the car when you are sitting on the wrong side of it). And to make matters worse, it was standard shift - they didn't have automatic in those days.

I'm sure a lot of you have seen the series of movies about a man meeting his future wife's family (in fact I think there is a sequel coming out this coming week) - but poor Dick had his own version of this!!! We called my sister from London and she was really upset at the lack of notice and I could hear her floundering on the phone.
Mair had 'protected' her 'little sister' over the nine years and had not told her of the conditions with various members of my family. I would love to be able to write this part of my 'history' telling of the fun we had with Dick meeting the various members of my family and my first return after nine years and Dick's first visit to Britain. We DID have some great memories to take back with us and a lot of private things to laugh about, like how cold my parent's house was and our sleeping in a feather bed with sagging springs so that we both slipped to the middle of the bed and remained there. We kept our heads under the mounds of bedclothes just to keep warm. Dick said it was the first time he had ever experienced going to the bathroom inside a house and see the steam rising!! We laughed at his driving round the infamous British roundabouts the wrong way (fortunately late one evening and no other car around). We laughed at my sister asking him what time he wanted to be knocked up in the morning (in Britain, this means what time do you want me to wake you). We laughed with my father sitting in the back seat of the car giving Dick directions and having never driven a car himself never learned that you tell someone to turn left BEFORE you get to the corner, not when you are in the middle of the intersection.
We laughed at my father telling every relative we visited that Dick ate a pork chop while he was cooking the rest of them. My Dad never had never had more than one pork chop at a meal. We laughed at Norman (Mair's husband) taking Dick down to the pub and walking his usual amazingly fast pace. Dick came back, ten paces behind normal, panting! And we laughed at my sister-in-law Kitty who had to leave occasionally during the visit as she was the local 'bookie' and had to collect the bets (a perfectly legal occupation there).

But the tears came with the discovery of not only my mother's alcoholism, but also my brother's; to my sister being ailing and in a depression after surgery; and other family issues that I'm sure made Dick think he had married into the most dis-functional family. Thank goodness the years and many more visits did a lot of erase the bad memories of this visit - but it was certainly a growing experience for this 'little sister'.

Thanksgiving Weel

Digressing from our 'history' for a moment, we just wanted to share the Thanksgiving week we had.

Thanksgiving is all about family and being grateful for what we have and the people in our lives. It was really lived out this week.

Tricia and her friend Belinda kicked off the week for us with dinner at Belinda's on Sunday - a wonderful salmon dish!
Monday, Denise, Jill and Jamie took us out to lunch and then visited most of the afternoon. What a sweetie little Jamie is!
Monday evening Frances and Patrick arrived from California and they stayed with us until Friday morning.
Tuesday was Frances' actual 80th birthday, so we met Jerry and Bev in Casa Grande where Jerry treated us all to buffet at Golden Corral. We had a great visit at their place afterwards.
Wednesday we spent the day at home - Grandpa barbecued his good chicken, and we ate early as Karen and Ashley came and spent the evening with us. Karen is Jerry and Bev's second daughter, and Ashley is her daughter.
Thursday, Tricia joined Frances, Patrick, Dick and I and we had a really great day together. We ate out in a small family restaurant Dick and I like in Florence and they really did serve an excellent meal. Jerry and Bev stopped by on the way home from dinner with their family.

So at the end of the week, we are quietly alone, reflecting on what a warm, loving week it was. We are truly grateful for all who came to see us. Our only regret?
I forgot to take any photos!!!! What a dummy!

Love you all out there........................

Here we go again

While Margaret was in Las Vegas obtaining her divorce, Sue and I came to an agreement regarding terms of our divorce. The agreement was I would assume all liabilities and she would take the assets (auto, furniture, etc) with the exception of our home. It would be sold later and we would split any equity from the sale. I agreed to give her one half of my net salary, tax free to her and Katrina. This figure was approx. $550. Sue's share would end on her marriage and Katrina's would end at 18 years of age or completion of her education. My half left me $40 a month SHORT of paying the payments that were due. While Margaret was in Las Vegas, Sue stayed in Santa Barbara and took a job. This didn't work our for her, so I moved her and Katrina to Fresno and put the house up for sale.

Back to Motel 6, Ralph my first assistant had been promoted and was controlling our furniture and supply warehouse and I had hired a new assistant - Jim Campbell. Jim and his wife Betty and their 17 year old daughter were needing somewhere to live. He was newly retired military as a major. He had been involved with the Nuremburg trials of German officers for war crimes (World War 2). With several of us having housing needs (Jim and his family, myself and Margaret) I managed to hustle up some furniture and we all moved in waiting its sale. Thank goodness the home had four bedrooms and 2 baths. That way we each had a bedroom and no one had to sleep in the living room. We shared foot costs and utilities, so that helped.
When Margaret came back from Vegas, she went job hunting and went to work for a Doctor Kuhn (orthodontis). He called me prior to hiring her and asked about her ability. I told him she was the best I had ever had and I would recomment her for any job. With Margaret working - the financial picture improved considerably and we could afford to eat! We were able to sell the house that Fall after we were married.In the meantime, after work, Margaret would come by my office and help me with whatever I needed. We had decided to set up a motel manager training school, and advertise it as a free course. The whole course had to be set up , organized completely and submitted to the State of California. I roughly laid out the training format and schedule and Margaret took it from there, typing up all the instructions including the tests on each phase. We received full accreditation from the State of California for our school.
Margaret and the Mustang I got her, and below in the studio apartment we moved into after selling the house.
We ran a class a month at the school, ranging from 6 to 10 couples. We were able to pick the best and offer them jobs.

Margaret worked more free hours for me and Motel 6 than she did at her regular job.

Sue was to go to Nevada for our divorce but she started to resist the six week resident requirement. So I checked out the infamous Mexico divorce and the State would accept it if both parties signed and had it notarized in the State of California. So to make it easier on Sue, this is what we did.
I got a phone call one Friday afternoon (August 5th) saying the judge had approved it. I called Margaret at work and asked her when? This weekend or next? She said Now, Now! I said Yes! Yes!. Margaret, Jim, Betty and I left late Friday afternoon for Law Vegas. We were wed August 6, 1966 in the Little Chapel of the Flowers and became 'One Forever".
Margaret told you about our problem with the Palm Desert motel and how we handled that the next day, but she didn't tell you about her boss Doc Kuhn when she asked for the Monday off to get married. He said yes - and who are you marrying. She told him. He stated "No wonder you got such a good recommendation!".
We took a few short trips so I won't add to that, except the photo of her with the Mustang.
We got lucky and sold the house, so Sue and I got a little money and I got a lot of the debt removed. We found this small apartment over a garage consisting of a bath, kitchen and one large room (living, dining and bedroom) with a walk out deck on the hillside 900 feet above the city of Santa Barbara, the ocean and the offshore islands. We loved it. Total cost with utilities and cable TV was $95 a month. With my reduced payments and Margaret working we were doing better.

I'm going to back up a bit here and write a little about myself and Bill Ripley. My brother Bill and Don Ripley were buddies and I was close to both Cecil and Bill Ripley. While in school Billie would come by and we would go to sporting events together. After Sue and I were married and had Katrina, Billie would visit. We got along fine. When we were out of town, about once a year, during a work break, Billie would show up and usually stay a day or so. he watched Katrina grow up. He was part of our family. Right after Margaret and I married, one Saturday afternoon he showed up in Santa Barbara. He came in, we were talking and Margaret entered the room. I said, Billie I would like you to meet my new wife Margaret. I thought I would have to hold him up. Apparently no one had told him. He was truly shaken. He stayed overnight and the three of us went out to dinner and finished the evening off by bowling a few lines. This was Margaret's first ten-pin bowling attempt. He was working on the dam at Los Banos and was living up there but still bowling in a league in Fresno weekly.
I suggested he top by and visit with Sue and Katy. I was sure they would enjoy it.
In October we were at the Caruther Fair and looked up and saw Billie and Sue walking hand-in-hand laughing. I said to myself "God Bless you Both".

My memories of our beginning......

I loved my job - every day brought something new and I found I loved all the ins and out of the motel business. I looked forward to going to work each day and was never in a hurry to leave at night. Listening to Dick interview the managers was amazing - he would somehow manager to bring out the 'real' person and get to the core of whether they would make good managers or not. But as the unemployment figure got less and less, his screening system didn't seem to matter so much - it was just a matter of getting the bodies! I can remember one time his saying - "I'm to the point that I'll even hire someone with a wart on his nose". Within a few minutes, Mary ushered in the newest applicants and in walks this man with the biggest wart I have ever seen on his nose. Dick and I didn't dare look at each other!

I can remember when Dick called me dear, but have to be honest that I simply thought he had absentmindedly said it - like one calls someone by the wrong name. But when the day came for me to leave for Monterey, I was beginning to question some things. But to go back briefly to the event leading up to that - Dick told you how we were suddenly out of managers and the problem came up in Monterey. I always remember his saying - "Well it looks like I'm down to me or thee - and it aint going to be me!". This was in the morning, lunch time I headed down to the local motel and had a two-hour mini-training session on how to rent a room and run the front office! Fortunately I knew the bookkeeping system, so just needed to know how to manage the rest.

As told, Dick drove me to the airport and there was an outside area at the Santa Barbara airport in those days where one could go outside and see the planes leave. That's where Dick was so as we took off, I could look down and see him. I felt awful, which made me very confused. I hadn't seen John in almost two weeks and yet here I was sad at leaving Dick. After the motel bit, we returned to Santa Barbara for a few days and then John and I went to Sault Ste. Marie, Canada to be with his family for the holidays. I think my ex-mother-in-law picked up on a strain that even I didn't realize was there with John. She said something when we left about staying close which I didn't quite know where she was coming from. I do know that my conversation during that holiday was work, Mr. Topper, work, Mr. Topper.......

I have often been amazed how strong 'denial' can be and when we came back, routine took over with John gone, my working life being my whole being, until the infamous Palm Desert trip. Dick and John had arrived ahead of Sue, Katrina and I, and when we checked into the motel we were told that Mr. Topper and Mr. Marsh were in the restaurant. We walked over there and sure enough, across the restaurant sat Mr. Topper and Mr. Marsh (John). My heart leapt - but for the wrong person.

There are now words that can express the emotions, the pain, the turmoil when I got home. I didn't sleep that night, wept and wept, and made the decision to call John. Regardless of anything else, I could not disrespect him by staying with him when I loved another person. It was not an easy time for any of us. The rest is history. That was 44 years ago and both Sue and John went on to very happy marriages and I know that Dick and I have been the soul-mates that fate intended us to be.


We sealed it with a kiss - In Las Vegas on August 6, 1966. I had left Motel 6 and was working in an orthodontist's office (Dr. Kuhn).
Dick's assistant Jim Campbell and his wife Betty went to Las Vegas with us and stood with us.
We were married in the Little Chapel of the Flowers. We went to the Aku-Aku restaurant for our wedding dinner - all very Hawaiian. When we went back to the motel it was to learn that there has been a big problem at the Palm Desert motel - apparently the motel manager and the restaurant manager had gotten into a big fight and one of them had thrown the other one in the pool. We were needed there asap.
Early the next morning (Sunday) the four of us drove there and put out that fire. My boss had given me the Monday off, so we were able to stay there overnight and then drove home on the Monday. What a honeymoon!!
We did manage to take a short belated honeymoon a little later. Dick had bought me this 1966 Mustang that I loved and we took a quick trip up the coast and spent one day in San Franciso. There was a little bit of Motel 6 business along the way, but mostly just fun time for us.

Sue and Katrina had moved to Fresno, but we would try to get over there when possible and spend time with Katrina. She and I always got along well and I always remember being really touched when she said to me that she had a hard time thinking of me as a step-mother, but thought of me as the big sister she had always wanted.
Looks like Katrina was a lot braver than I was in this picture - I look as if I'm afraid to get too close!

The next leg of the journey by Grandpa

Six months since Margaret joined us. We have grown from 14 to 20 operating motels. She is doing an excellent job and has developed into more of an assistant than a secretary. She is basically running my office when I am gone, which is at least half the time. I always thought that Bill's wife Frances was very sharp. I now knew she had serious competition.
We were hiring manager couples so that we could have two to three couples being trained. This gave us some backup in case they were needed as temporary replacement managers in case of death in the family, illness or multiple reasons. All interview usually consisted of two hours plus. I had an image of the manager I wanted, but at this time the unemployment figure was 2.4% - poor quality and only about 50% made it through training (usually four weeks). Our better managers did the training and it gave them extra help for a while.
I had developed a sense of appreciation for Margaret in her work and her being a nice person. This is what I thought, until one day, late November or early December, she brought over something to check if it was right. I looked it over and answered "Yes Dear". I sat at my desk dumbfounded. What am I doing? I say yes dear to Sue, not Margaret. I tried to put it out of my mind. Shortly after that, a problem arose with our coverage of our motels with managers. We had only one couple trained and available. My assistant Ralph Playle was tied up and unavailable. We had one set of managers walk out on us. This used up our trainees. Then the Monterey managers advised us that one of their parents had died and they had to go out of town for a funeral and would be gone four or five days. There was no one but me or Margaret. I chose her and called John who was doing a job in Sacramento for us, to meet her at the motel and help her so she wouldn't be there 24 hours/day with no other help except the maids. Since John had a company vehicle and was driving to Monterey, that gave them transportation. The company flew her there and I offered to take her to the airport so she wouldn't have to leave her car out there. At the gate, I told her goodbye and 'call if you need any help'. I stayed at the gate, watched her board, watched the plane taxi to the runway and I watched it take off and fly away. I stood there and felt a heatache like as if my wife had left!!
Margaret and John completed that job and after a few days in the office when I was away on business, they went to Canada to be with his family for the holidays. Sue and I spent Christmas in Fresno with our families. Margaret and John returned after New Years.
I don't know about Margaret but I was living with a troubled heart, not knowing what to think, or what to do. I knew I had lots of problems. At this time I had no idea what her feelings were. I had not knowingly indicated my thoughts or feelings.
We worked closely together and showed no signs of anything.
The first week in February, a problem arose at the Palm Desert location. We were operating the motel/bar/dinner house for the lenders and the managers had major bookkeeping problems. I was going down to take care of this over the weekend. John's company car was in the repairs and had driven to Long Beach on a job with my assistant Ralph. I needed to get a car to him so Ralph could leave him. I was juggling these issues and invited Margaret and John to spend the weekend in Palm Desert. This way I could drive a vehicle to John and he and I could drive to Palm Desert. He would then have transportation for his work. Sue, Katrina and
Margaret drove down after work on Friday. This gave me her help on the books, which we did on the Saturday morning and part of the afternoon. That evening all five of us went out for a fancy dinner. We came back around midnight and both couples spent about an hour in the heated Jacuzzi. Sunday afternoon, John returned to Long Beach and I drove Sue, Katrina and Margaret back to Santa Barbara.
After spending that weekend with Margaret away from the office, I knew where my love was and who I wanted to live the rest of my life with. This was the biggest problem I had ever faced and I was severely torn up. After work Monday, Margaret and I met and acknowledged our feelings and problems. Margaret told me she had already asked John to come home, she needed to talk with him. She had done this before knowing my thoughts or decision.
The next morning I drove to L.A., flew to Phoenix where we were operating a motel. I went to my room, was torn up and was beside myself. I couldn't stay and work. So I flew back to L.A., got my vehicle and drove back to Santa Barbara. During this return trip, at almost every roadside barrier and embankment, I fought a strong urge to solve my problems all at once. But I realized what that would do to Sue, Katrina and Margaret. I couldn't take the easy way out.
I saw Margaret and she had already advised John, I went home and advised Sue. Margaret left her position with me and went to Las Vegas to become a resident for her divorce. I moved into Margaret's house and shared it with my food and beverage Manager, Ron.
Margaret was granted her divorce early spring of 1966. I was to receive my divorce mid summer as agreed upon with Sue.