November 1947: November is the beginning of the rainy season, the month the weather pattern shifts and brings rain-filled clouds to end the long, dry California summer. I am sitting at my desk in Mrs Bellows’ room at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School. Rain is hitting the glass on the tall windows that line the … Continue reading 10. School
9. Post-War
No, California would never be the same: not after the federal government had spent more than $35 billion in California between 1940 and 1946 …, multiplying the manufacturing economy of the state be a factor of 2.5, tripling the average personal income between 1939 and 1945; not after some 1.6 million Americans had moved to … Continue reading 9. Post-War
8. The Bomb
“For three years, Camp Stoneman remained one of the best-kept secrets of the war. All in all, a million soldiers were processed en route to the Pacific through Camp Stoneman between 25 May 1942 and 11 August 1945. Covering one thousand acres, Camp Stoneman…billeted an average of thirty thousand troops each day of the war” … Continue reading 8. The Bomb
7. Vallejo
Gas and tires were both rationed during WW II, but somehow my folks managed a surprising number of trips to see Dad’s family. Most of those trips were to Dinuba, about 130 miles south of Stockton, but I remember at least one trip to Vallejo, one of the towns on the east shore of San … Continue reading 7. Vallejo
6. Stockton: WWII
“When Lowell and I quit Junior College we went to Lodi and lived with your parents until the war. We enlisted shortly after. Your parents made several moves before they lived on 21 West Third Street in Stockton. While on Third Street your dad and I got jobs driving dump trucks at the Stockton Airport.” … Continue reading 6. Stockton: WWII
5. Grandma & Grandpa Young
Margaret Armbruster Young (1892-1973); Adam Young (1888-1972) Even when I was a little girl I thought Grandpa Young was a nice looking man. He had a nice nose and blue eyes, a mouth that always looked ready to smile. It was a kind face, a face I trusted. His heavy German accent felt like a … Continue reading 5. Grandma & Grandpa Young
4. The Youngs
The Adam & Margaret Young Family (November 1941) My mother stands at the left end of the photo above. It was taken November 1, 1941, the day Mom’s brother David married Jane Weston. The parents sit on dining room chairs taken from the house, their four sons and six daughters stand around them. It … Continue reading 4. The Youngs
Chapter 3: The House on Highway 99
The photo below was taken November 1941. I was two months shy of my fourth birthday. My father was twenty-seven. In less than a month, Japan would bomb Pearl Harbor, and the United States would enter World War II. Jacob & Loretta Willems, November 1941 I have a dim memory of this photo being taken, … Continue reading Chapter 3: The House on Highway 99
Jack Willems: “Truck Driving Exploits”
Truck driving was my father’s default occupation, the job he turned to when other projects didn’t turn out. It was a default occupation because he was good at it, and though he disliked working for other people, he did enjoy driving and took pride in his skill at handling the big diesel rigs. Below are … Continue reading Jack Willems: “Truck Driving Exploits”
Chapter 2: The Christmas Tree House
My parents lost the little farm in Navelencia, the place where memory began for me. Dad got the place by buying out another man’s interest in the farm and assuming the mortgage, a deal done without the original owner’s permission. When Dad couldn’t make the mortgage payment at the end of the grape harvest, the … Continue reading Chapter 2: The Christmas Tree House
Heritage 