A 90th Birthday

Jill's Journal: It’s a long, long trek from Paso Robles to Northridge in the L.A.-area, about three hours and 40 minutes each way, to be exact, but it’s not every day the girls’ only surviving Great Grandma turns 90.

We spent the special day yesterday with this sweet and feisty lady, even talking her into donning a birthday tiara for a few brief moments. It was so fun to see her enjoy the girls, her only great grandchildren, who seem to innately know they must be on their very best behavior at her house.

Ninety years old. That’s nothing to sneeze at. Great Grandma Lili has certainly earned a few birthday Oreos (her favorite cookie). Every time we’ve visited, she has made absolutely certain the girls shared a few Oreos with her and this day was no exception. She jokingly said she wants them to remember her for her Oreos…I think they will!

Fallbrook Memories

Jill's Journal: About 50 miles north of San Diego is the sleepy little town of Fallbrook, which just so happens to be where Rob and I got married 15 years ago. We thought it would be fun for the girls to see it for themselves.

To the left of the girls, in the far background, is the pond and gazebo where we officially tied the knot.

Our reception was held inside this adjoining mansion.

The girls were very intrigued and wanted to see pictures of the actual day, so for fun, I’ll share a few here too. Oh, memories!

This has always been one of my favorite photos. My parents are on the left; Rob’s are on the right. I absolutely love this picture! Sadly, Rob’s Dad passed away two years later.

These leggy ladies, from left to right, are Rob’s sister Wendi (now in Kentucky), Bridget (now in Arizona), Jennifer (now in Texas), and my sister Kristi (still in, or actually, returned to California).

Not to be outdone, but sporting slightly hairier legs, are my baby brother Adam (who was truly a baby at only 15!) and Rob’s longtime friend Pat, whom we recently got to see.

I will forever love my friend Elizabeth for capturing this shot of all our surviving grandparents at the time. Those are my Dad’s parents on the left, my Mom’s mother in the middle of the three ladies, and Rob’s maternal grandma (Great Grandma Lili) on the right. My two grandmas have since passed away, but I’m so thankful our girls have gotten the chance to know my Grandpa and Rob’s Grandma on this RV journey.

Family Dynamics

Jill's Journal: The girls have probably visited with their Great Uncle Punior (loosely rhymes with “junior”) only six or seven times in their young lives, which is actually quite impressive considering we’ve always lived on the opposite end of the country. Last year and this, they haven’t been able to share a word with him as he has been deaf since spending about a month in a coma nearly two years ago. He’s still recovering, but one thing is obvious: he loves these girls. And they can tell; look at the smiles on their faces.

Dinner at Great Grandma Lili’s –featuring her famous, authentic Armenian pilaf– also gave us a visit with Punior’s long-time partner, Patti, and the girls’ Great Uncle Brian. All these people may appear meek in this photo, but they’re always surprisingly rowdy, especially when gathered together during meals. It’s fun for the girls to get a taste for different family dynamics.

Notable Valley Resident

Jill's Journal: One lovely benefit of being in the San Fernando Valley is our proximity to Rob’s grandmother and the chance for the girls to get to know her a little better. This feisty little lady is just a few months shy of her 90th birthday. Great Grandma Lili is so petite – jockey-sized petite – that I’m pretty certain the girls will pass her up by the time they’re teenagers. What she lacks in size, she makes up for in “orneriness” (her word, not mine!).

Great Grandma Lili may be Boston-bred, but she has been in the Los Angeles area since her 20s. She’s also Armenian by heritage, but way classier than those darn Kardashians all over the media these days. We took her to dinner tonight and will see her several times while we’re here. It’s such a special gift for the girls to know great grandparents.

On another note, we’ve been getting to know “the Valley” over the last few days and the only way I can think to describe it is suburbia on steroids. There’s hundreds of thousands of homes and every shop or service anyone could possibly need or want, but, truthfully, it’s very bland. It all looks alike. Luckily for the Valley, it's super convenient from here to the really good stuff: the tremendous, vibrant city of Los Angeles is just minutes away (unless, of course one gets caught in traffic, which is likely).

I came across a fantastic snippet online that says it much better than I can:

“The San Fernando Valley is 260 square miles of suburbia. Actually, make that suburbia on nutritional supplements. And antidepressants. With perhaps a little cosmetic surgery south of Ventura Boulevard, where the big money is. Or maybe – now that it’s grown to more than 1.7 million people -- …the Valley isn’t even a suburb anymore.

“…The Valley is the home of the oldest Bob’s Big Boy diner and perhaps the only porn-star karaoke night in North America. (After all, the Valley is widely known as the nation’s porn production capital). This is where Bob Hope and Ritchie Valens rest in peace, where ‘Friends’ was shot, where Disney makes movies (but doesn’t give tours), where the ageless phrase ‘gag me with a spoon’ was born, where the papa of Patagonia honed his climbing skills.” --Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

Well, gag me with a spoon, but bland or not, we're going to enjoy our time here.