Brian, soon you will graduate from Middle School and move on into the High School arena. You are in for a big surprise and I hope you do your best work in High School, like you've done all along! You will be with your friends, and it's easy to get caught up in tom-foolerie in HS but I hope you have enough character to be true to who you are and get those A's. I also want you to have fun and do all sorts of things. Get involved. Be a part of the social activities as well, but remember you are there to learn and to grow and to become an adult. You will graduate in 4 short years, but those years are some of the most important years you will face. It is the foundation for a good future. Don't sluff off because your friends lure you into being a cut-up in class and get yourself a reputation for being a wise guy and a distraction to other students. I was in high school at one point in my life too, and I haven't forgotten what it was like. I was really lucky, I got to go to a brand new school with kids from 3 other schools that were overcrowded. I was a member of the first graduation class of Castle Park High School in Chula Vista. I had a great 12th year there. We had a senior lawn that only seniors could sit on, we had a cylinder full of our predictions for 10 years in the future that was put in the ground of the senior lawn to be opened on the 10th reunion of our class. We had great teachers that were interested in the students and in school spirit and we had one of the greatest school counselors ever. I loved every minute of it. We had a cafeteria of course, but we also had 2 windows where you could buy hot dogs, chilli burgers, pizza, cupcakes, milk and other quick fixes. They made the best chocolate cupcakes ever with about 2 inches of icing on top. They were the bomb! I graduated in 1964. It was one of the best days of my life. After graduation, my Mom, brother and sister and me went with my best friends family and we went to Chinaland which use to be a fantastic restaurant and miniature golf course over in Point Loma. It was great food and we played miniature golf afterwards. Then I got the disappointing news a couple of weeks later, that we were leaving San Diego and moving to Minnesota. I had plans to attend Southwestern College, but that just wasn't in the cards for me. We moved and I spent a year being miserable until I was 18 and flew back to San Diego alone. I lived with my best friend and her family. It wasn't long afterwards that my family moved back to California and I moved back home. I spent a long time being ill, but I finally got better and got a good job with the Federal Government. That's where I met your grandfather and the rest is history. I've covered it in previous postings in this blog. Someday you may be interested enough to read it, but if not, know that you don't always have control of the things that happen in your life. Make the most of your education and persevere in your chosen field. You will never be sorry if you make every effort in high school to be a good student and do your work. Put your best foot forward. You are a smart young man, good looking, and you have a lot going for you. I am here if you need me, and so is Nine and Jack. We all love all of you and will help you in any way we can. I want to wish you luck here and hope that you read this so you will have a heads up about your next embarking into uncharted waters. (The future awaits! Be bold and make a name for yourself!)
Love You,
Grandma Bonnie
Venus, you will be graduating from elementary school and going into middle school. I will give you the same advice I gave your brother. Make a name for yourself as a diligent student who always does her best. You will make new friends and have many new experiences. Middle school is where you lay a foundation for all you will learn in High School. I myself had a ball in my senior year here in California. My other 3 years of High School were spent in Kodiak Alaska and I was miserable all 3 years. I hated it. The kids were nice enough, but the school was small, they had nothing extra curicular to offer other than basket ball and cheerleading and I wasn't into that, so I just ate myself to death and became very fat and unhappy. Then I met someone I fell in "puppy love" with and I started losing weight, and then found out we were moving to California and he was from California too. We moved at the end of my junior year to Chula Vista and later in the year I got in contact with the guy I thought I was in love with, and he wrote back! So we wrote for 3 years. At the end of my senior year, my Dad moved us to Minnesota because he was in the Navy and that was his new duty station. I hated Minnesota, but I found something great there! I found God. I came to know Him in a great way and He has helped me all my life. I flew back to San Diego at 18, by myself, and lived with my best friends family. If I hadn't come back, I'd have never met Jack. If that had happened, none of you would be here and neither would your Dad or Uncle Alex or Sidra. Everything has a purpose and everything happens as it should. Life is an adventure. I hope you have fun in middle school and study hard and make it count. It could be one of the best experiences you ever have! I am here for you if you need me. You are my sweet baby and you are very special! I wish you the best in your future years in school, and forever!
Love You,
Grandma Bonnie
Angel, you aren't graduating yet, but I want you to know you are in the process of preparing yourself for new adventures in a couple of years. You have 2 years to go and you will be graduating and moving on to middle school. You are smart, a good student, and you have good study habits. You always do your homework right away and that's great! I am proud of you. I love you so much little flighty bird. You are always having fun and laughing and you don't seem to worry too much about anything. I want you to know I am always here for you and will always give you the best advice I can concerning your life and the many stages you go through while you are in the process of growing up. I loved school and was learning a lot until we started moving around to different states. Some schools were harder than others and I missed the 8th grade altogether because the school I went to after 7th grade, just repeated everything I had already learned, and I missed out on all you learn in 8th grade. Then we moved to Kodiak Alaska where the schools were really hard, and I did very poorly in 9th, 10th and then finally in 11th, I made the honor roll, and won an award in an International Spelling Contest with other countries. I had to spell 100 words correctly and I did it. Words I'd never heard before. I had to sound them out and I didn't make one mistake. I got awards in the Shorthand class I took and the Business classes I took, but if I hadn't missed 8th grade, I could have taken the Academic Classes and been able to take foreign languages and Algebra and Geometry and all the things the "smart" kids were taking. I have a very high IQ, which you have already been tested on, but without the foundation of all my classes, I missed out. Don't put anything ahead of your education. It is one of the most important aspects of your life. I am here with knowledge to guide you and to be of help to you always, and if you ever need me, rest assured I am here for you!
Love You Always,
Grandma Bonnie
Kris, you are too little to read yet, but I want you to know I am crazy about you and will never forget rolling dice with you and playing basketball with you. You are only 5, and you are so little and yet you are so athletic and like to run and play and play football and you are a really good basketball player! You and I roll dice and if we get doubles we get to roll again! You are great fun, and you have a great future ahead of you. Your school is so important and you are already learning a lot about the world around you. I know you will love school and will learn a lot. You love you teacher, Mr. Joe, and he seems to have made a really good impression on you. You will know someday, how much we all love you and the depth of our love. I wish you the best little one, and I will see you later! Be good and pay attention to the world around you! There is a lot to learn!
Love You,
Grandma Bonnie
Annalilia, I miss you honey and I don't know much about your school life because you don't live where we do. I am sorry you live so far away. We all love you and miss you and wish we could be a part of your life. A bigger part anyway. I know you are in private school and you like it. Do your best in school because there you will learn the things you need to know to be a success in all your future endeavors. Pay attention in class and learn all you can. I can't imagine that you are anything less than your best. You are sweet, and you have the direct approach when you make your mind up about something. I hope to see you this year and I hope to make a trip to where you live and see your pretty home and where you live. No one knows the future, and I can't say for sure we will make it to see all of you, but I am hoping for the best. I love you, wish you the best in all you want to do in life. You have a lot of adventures ahead of you. Make the most of your life. You won't regret it!
Love You tons,
Grandma Bonnie
Alex Jr., I can't say I really know you honey! You were only 5 months old when you left, and you have been gone for 7 years. I have seen you a couple of times and I know you are sweet and smart. I miss you and wish I had been able to be a more active part of your life. I want to wish you the best in school and in all you do in life. I want to come and see all of you, but only God knows the future. I know you are smart, I know you are a good boy for your parents, and I want you to take good care of your sisters. I will try to do more to be more involved with all of you.
Love YOU,
Grandma Bonnie
Maddy, you are so little and cute and so sharp! You are one smart cookie! You are precious. I am glad I got to see you when you were just a baby. I got to hold you and kiss you and I love you so much. I know you can't read yet, but this will be here for you when you can. I hope you do well in school and enjoy your life sweetheart. I wish you all the best always and I hope to get to come and see you this year. I miss you and love talking to you on the phone! Be good, and I will keep in touch with you as you grow up. Remember always that Grandma, Grandpa and Sidra and Uncle Brian and your 4 cousins down here in California love you and miss you and want to see you soon! I love you Maddy. God bless you honey!
Love, Grandma Bonnie
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