several drills, including an emergency dive. As we were diving, a water pipe in the torpedo room burst open and water was spraying everywhere. Tod and the crew sprang into immediate action and quickly stopped the leak. They were quite impressive.
Vicki tried her best not to let her motion sickness get the better of her but she was losing the battle. Tod had her lay down in his berthing area. She was happy to be given the opportunity to lie down until she saw his bunk.
His bunk was the middle of three high and looked to measure 3-feet deep by 6-feet long by 3-feet high with a curtain for privacy. Vicki now worried which would be worse, the motion sickness or the claustrophobic berth!
After a short nap, Vicki held up well and was able to walk around during the rest of the trip. The crew prepared a great lunch for us and gave us a tour of the boat. We were able to look out the periscope and just before returning to port, we were able to climb up to the crow’s nest to meet the Captain. Vicki survived and this was a wonderful opportunity that few people get.
For an early summer trip, we returned to Yosemite for a camping trip. We took Jason and brought Vicki’s sister Kari along. We loaded up Vicki’s little car and had very little room left to breathe. We set out for the high country and found a beautiful campground to stay at.
After camping for several days, I was in need of a shower. Not finding any campgrounds with shower facilities, I decided to take a dip in the river. Vicki told me I was crazy but I wanted to feel clean again. I immediately realized why she thought I was crazy as I lowered myself into the freezing water. I thought to myself since I was already in, I would wash myself quickly and get out!
After I thawed out, I did feel cleaner but I do not think I will try that again. My whole body really hurt from the frigid cold water! We then went to the Yosemite Valley where it was much warmer.
A view in the Yosemite Valley
My Grandma Todd had a heart attack while at home and when my Grandpa Todd discovered her, he too had a small heart attack. He called me and I rushed down to their house. They both refused to go to the local hospital and said they would prefer to see their doctors in the city near my parent’s house. I loaded them up in the car and drove the 2 ½-hour drive to their doctor’s office.
We were told my grandmother’s heart attack was serious and she should no longer live at home without around the clock care. We were told if my grandfather attempted to try to take care of her without round the clock help, he would probably suffer another heart attack and would be of no use to her.
Long ago, they promised each other that they would not put each other into a ‘home’. They promised to take care of each other no matter what. Promises aside, if my grandfather attempted to care for my grandmother by himself, it would surely be the death of him. Since I was so close to them both, I told them they had no choice and I made the decision for my grandfather to put my grandmother into a convalescent hospital.
We found that the convalescent hospitals near my grandparent’s home were all full and we had to place her into a hospital not far from my parent’s home. We did this and my grandfather moved in with my parent’s to be close to my grandmother. I kept an eye on their place while they were living away.
Vicki, Jason and I went to Rosarito Beach in Baja California, Mexico for a one week vacation and stayed at a hotel on the beach. Having worked in the jail for as long as I had and dealing with a lot of Spanish speaking inmates, I picked up enough Spanish to get by. While we were in town looking to buy souvenirs, the merchants were trying to take advantage of Vicki while she did her best to haggle. Just when she thought she was ready to buy, I would tell her I had already heard the merchant say in Spanish just how low he would go and the price he last quoted her in broken English was not his rock bottom price.
Apparently some of the merchants just assumed that us Gringos understood no Spanish and tried to get more money. Vicki quickly picked up on this routine and when she thought she was done negotiating; she looked at me and asked what they said. The merchants also quickly picked up on this routine and stopped haggling with us.
While returning home from Rosarito, we attempted to get back into the US via customs. When the customs agent asked us if we were US citizens, I simply replied by saying, “Si”. Evidentially the agent did not appreciate my sense of humor and directed us to park our car. We were then instructed to exit the vehicle while they tore it apart. I won’t do that again!
Chapter five
1988, Our 5th Year Together
Having never found Vicki’s ex, the adoption was finalized in a courtroom ceremony. With Vicki’s parents as witnesses, the judge announced that Vicki, Jason and I were a family. Words cannot express how proud I felt at this moment in time.
Vicki and I decided that now was a good time to enlarge our family. After several months without success, Vicki urged me to go to the doctor to see what “my” problem was. When I asked her why she thought “I” was the problem, she told me that since she already had one child, I must be the problem.
After undergoing several tests, the doctor called me and said he needed to see me and Vicki right away. When we arrived, he sat us down and started off by asking me about my “drinking problem!” Vicki looked at me and I looked at her and I asked him, “what drinking problem”? The doctor told us that “denial” was normal in this situation and I could get help. He told us he found damage to my liver, that it could have been caused from alcohol abuse and he was concerned.
Vicki and I assured him I did not have a drinking problem, in fact, I rarely drank alcohol and I had never been drunk before.
The doctor then asked several medical questions at which time he learned I had contracted Hepatitis when I was 16-years old and this could have caused the damage to my liver. Now that his mind was at ease, he told us the Hepatitis must have damaged me further, to the point it may be nearly impossible for me to father any children.
This news devastated us. It had always been Vicki’s desire to have more than one child and we were now concerned about Jason being an only child. We spent many long hours discussing our options. We discussed adoption and even in-vitro fertilization with donor sperm. We decided that we did not need to have all the answers just yet and we would take time to plan our next move.
For our summer trip, Vicki and I dropped Jason off with his Aunt Molly and Uncle Ed and we headed for the Pacific Northwest. We drove through California, through Oregon and into Washington. Vicki’s parents were already in the area while on vacation and we gave them a surprise visit.
We bought a red truck prior to leaving for this trip but did not tell them what we were driving. They assumed we were driving my brown Camaro and when we drove into the park where they were staying we drove right up without them even realizing it was us.
We visited Mt. Saint Helens and could not believe our eyes as the devastation was amazing. It looked almost like a bomb had been exploded, destroying everything. We saw the before pictures of what the mountain looked like and it was nothing like what it looks like now.
With Vicki driving, we left Washington for British Columbia, Canada and Vancouver Island. When customs asked us our citizenship, Vicki replied, “Californians”. I leaned over and said, “U.S. citizens”. The customs guy was not sure if Vicki
