I want to take this opportunity to say that Cathy has been the most wonderful life partner I can imagine.  Devoting ourselves to each other and to the family turned out to be not only a very noble ambition, but very practical way to our lives. Making choices and decisions is easy when the options are evaluated against the question: what is best for the family?  I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, and I know I could not have reached this point without her.  She is my best friend and truly my better half, and I thank her for being my wife.

Cathy and I had a professional relationship which blossomed into friendship, then romance in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and we have come to believe there were two places after we graduated from college where we must have crossed paths.  We are the same age, and we both graduated in 1975. 

My first job was with a subsidiary of Crocker National Bank named Western Bradford Trust which was located at 150 Sutter Street (between Montgomery and Kearney Streets).  Cathy’s first job was with Crocker National Bank, at 111 Sutter Street, literally right across the street 150 Sutter.  On the ground floor of the Crocker Bank building at 111 Sutter was a small coffee/smoke/pastry shop called Henry’s.  Cathy and I both remember patronizing that shop regularly, and we have come to believe we MUST have been in that shop at the same time often. 

After I got my first job in SF, my friend from college Alan Feldstein got a job as a salesman at Shreve and Company, a very old, respected, high end jewelry company on Post Street at Grant Street, in SF.  We decided to get an apartment together and found a flat to rent on 2nd Avenue in the Richmond district.  Alan joined the Shreve bowling team which was in a league that had matches once a week at Japan Town Bowl.  Alan and asked if I would be a substitute, playing when any of the regular members was unavailable, and I agreed.  I remember bowling with the team several times.  As it turned out, Cathy left her job at Crocker Bank and went to work at Shreve and Company in the credit department and …. joined the bowling team.  Cathy remembers working with and bowling with Alan, but she does not remember bowling with me.  I don’t remember bowling with her.  Either we were not each other’s types at the time, OR every time I was needed as a substitute, she was the regular bowler who was absent.

We went our separate ways until connecting (re-connecting?) in 1989/1990.  (see Ron’s auto-bio page for the description of how we met.)  We bought a house together in the spring of 1992 and married on November 29, 1992.

The house on Meriam Drive in San Rafael was the “worst house” on the block, so we got it for a good price.  We spent the first week pulling out ugly, dirty shag carpeting left over from the 1970’s, cleaning from top to bottom, and painting every room in the house.  We left the hall coat closet carpet in place for a reminder of what used to be.  We also hired a handy man to repair some dry rot in the sub-flooring in the kitchen and laundry room, and to repair some wiring problems in the kitchen.  We also painted the house exterior.  Overall, the problems with the house were mostly cosmetic.  I like to joke that we bought a fixer-upper, fixed it up, and now almost 30 years later we have a fixer-upper again.  (That is an exaggeration.  We have somethings that are not in perfect condition, and many things that are outdated, but we are very comfortable here.)

This was the second marriage for each of us.  Cathy had a daughter from her first marriage, Hana, who was 10 years old when we were married.  Hana and I had a rocky start to our relationship, which was not surprising.   She and Cathy had a well-established relationship and routine for nearly Hana’s entire life.  It was understandable that she was not as enthusiastic as Cathy was about the change in their life.  I am a patient person, so I never gave up hope that we would work things out, even though there were some rough spots.  Ultimately, all three of us decided as a family that I should formally adopt Hana which was made official by the county court on August 30, 1994.  Parenthetically, Daniel had been born the previous April and we felt it was important to cement the family unit through adoption.  I can’t say just how instrumental this step was, nor if the main factor was the mere passing of time, but my relationship with Hana has strengthened each year.

In looking back at these 27 years of wedded bliss, I don’t have any milestones to relate except for the shared joy of raising our three children.  I know I can speak for Cathy that we have loved every minute of helping these people grow and mature into the adults they are today.  We could not be prouder of them.  We devoted much of our time over the years helping with homework, volunteering at schools, and attending their sporting events.  I believe we saw every single game (and Swim Meet) of every child.  The only games either one of us missed were when two kids had games at the same time.

Cathy interrupted her professional career to stay at home with the boys when they were little.  She got a part time job as a teacher’s aide at Gallinas Elementary School when Daniel was in Kindergarten there.  It seemed like the cost of day care and the stress of drop off and pick up deadlines were excessive compared to the benefits of her staying closer to home.  I think the decision paid wonderful dividends for the kids, for the family, and for Cathy.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that pets have been part of our family from the beginning.  Lots of pets.  At the peak, we had 21 pets not counting the fish tank.  Today we have 4 small dogs, but over the years we have had dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, snakes, rats, birds and fish.

During the coronavirus shelter in place, I have been finding my gardening hobby to be a great source of relaxation and happiness.  I’m working full time Monday through Friday (and very thankful to be working for a company that can operate successfully with us all at home).  Gardening has been a hobby for longer than we’ve been in this house, but with sporting events to attend, social activities, and family gatherings, it was always hard to find enough time on the weekends to make progress in the garden.  Until now. 

And now, a recap of the kids’ timelines:

Hana

• Hana was born May 26, 1982.

• Played Volleyball and Basketball for San Rafael High School Bulldogs

• Played Recreational softball and swimming through grammar school, middle school and high school

• Played Club Volleyball in High School

• Bachelor of Arts, University of California, Berkeley 2010, Anthropology

• Bachelor of Science, Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles, 2018, with honors

• Registered Nurse certification, 2018

• Works at Regional Medical Center Hospital in San Jose, a division of the Good Samaritan Hospital

• Lives in San Francisco with Domestic Partner Mikayla Lyles

It should be mentioned that Hana did not take the typical route to her current profession.  After high school, I’m not sure if it was a poor choice of college, or a bad case of home sickness,  island fever, or the aftermath of a gruesome, tragic accident at the residence where she lived in Hawaii, but Hana came home after her first semester.  (A balcony collapsed – two people were seriously injured, and one young man was killed.)  After a few months with the family, she moved to San Francisco and worked as a waitress.  After a few years, even though she earned a good living, she decided to get her college degree.  She enrolled in City College of San Francisco and while she continued to work, achieved her AA with a 4.0 grade point average.  She applied to and was admitted to UC Berkeley as a junior transfer and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cultural Anthropology with a 3.7 grade point average.  After working as a contract employee for Genentech and not being able to secure a full-time position, she got certified as a Birth Doula and started working with families and volunteering with the SF Birth Center.  She next decided that she wanted to be an RN working in a Labor and Delivery unit and started her pursuit of a Nursing degree.  She set her sights on one of several accelerated programs but to qualify, she had to pick up her Science and Math pre-requisites which she did at Laney College.  Once she completed all the science classes, she entered the nursing program at Mt. St. Mary’s in Los Angeles and graduated with honors.  She passed her RN certification on the first try and landed her first nursing job in San Jose. 

I know this is supposed to be my autobiography, not Hana’s biography, but I wanted to make sure to provide a record in the family history site, just how much drive, patience, and hard work Hana had to put in to get to where she is as of this writing, in June 2020.  It is difficult to express in words how very proud of her I am.  Cathy and I are very worried that she is working in a hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic, with infected patients in her daily case load, but she seems to be doing fine.  I have no doubt she will find the labor & delivery job she seeks.

Daniel

• Daniel was born April 27, 1994.

• Played Baseball for Little League, Terra Linda Trojans and Joe DiMaggio League Barbarians of San Francisco.

• Graduated Terra Linda High School 2012, with honors

• Lifetime CIF Member

• Learned to play piano while at college

• Bachelor of Science in Biology from Boston College in 2016, Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

• Works for University of California, Berkeley in the Lab of Jeffrey Cox.  The lab studies Tuberculosis and Daniel is a researcher.

• Self-taught painter in Watercolors

• Published writer of fiction

• Avid Surfer

Daniel has plans to obtain a Master of Fine Arts in Literature – for fiction.  As preparation for this step, he is considering teaching English abroad, either in Spain or in Asia.

Lives at home with Cathy and me during Coronavirus Shelter in Place order, and in preparation for his next venture.

Andrew

• Andrew was born August 15, 1996.

• Played Baseball for Little League, Terra Linda Trojans and Joe DiMaggio League Barbarians of San Francisco.

• Played Recreational Soccer

• Played Basketball for Miller Creek Panthers, and Terra Linda Trojans

• Played Saxophone for Miller Creek and Terra Linda bands, Trombone for Terra Linda Trojans

• Jerry Russom Leadership award winner

• Graduated Terra Linda High School 2014, with honors

• Lifetime CIF Member

• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Northeastern University in Boston 2018.

• Works for Tesla, first in Boston, now in Peabody, New Hampshire

• Lives in Manchester, New Hampshire with fiancé Adna Glusac