Tomorrow, Halloween, would have been my fathers 100th birthday and my parents 75th anniversary. It will also be a trip up to Sunset Hills to say hello again.
My dad was extremly against owning a dog. All 6 of us (including mom) wanted one badly and kept pestering him for a puppy. One day mom and dad surprised us with a baby basset. My dad pretended to be upset about it a bit. He was a regional manager for Lincoln Mercury so we always had a sporty new car and a Lincoln every year. We lived in Walnut Creek, CA. which was a very small town back then. One hot summer day, Dad came home from golfing and Maggie had been left outside in her pen. Dad put her on his lap in the front seat of his new Lincoln with the air conditioning blasting. Dad drove downtown where the rest of the family was shopping on Main Street. He spotted us and pulled over to give us a good yelling about keeping the poor puppy outside. Then he said he was going to drive around to cool her down and for us to all get home. We were in trouble. That story of course went down in family history. He loved that dog ever since. Of course this one is dedicated to Dad who left this world far too young. It's also dedicated to my family and to Walnut Creek in the 60's.