My Grandmother's Journals: February, 1995

Yvonne in the 1960s.

Every day my grandmother wrote down what time she woke up, where she ate breakfast, what movie she went to see, what mail and phone calls she received, then what she read and what she watched on TV before going to sleep.

In 1995, she was 79 years old and living alone in a mobile home park. I wouldn't describe her as lonely; she was an extremely independent and persnickety woman whom I never knew to live with another person or even a pet.
 (I wrote more about her life in this earlier blog post.)

A short walk from her home in Santa Cruz, Calif., was the famous surfing spot called Pleasure Point. One of her favorite things to do was to walk along the cliffs above the waves and watch the surfers. When she died at 97 in 2013, I took her ashes to Pleasure Point with a friend of hers and we each dropped some at the shore. A moment after I dropped mine, a surfer emerged from the water where I stood.

That was cool. 

In February of 1995, my grandmother was watching the O.J. Simpson trial, studying French before her next trip to Paris in April, and seemed very concerned about the landscaping being properly maintained at her mobile home park.

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 1995
Up at 9 a.m. Breakfast at Jack's. Library, got tapes of French.
Saw movie "Before Sunrise," enjoyed.
Sunny day, some weed work. 
Papers, French. Bio of Sammy Davis. Bed 10 p.m.
No sleep til 3 a.m. Up, took aspirin.
Wake 8:20 a.m., noted dog droppings in yard.

Thursday, Feb. 2, 1995
Up 8:20. Mark cutting grass. Breakfast McDonald's. Trader Joe's.
Home 10. Some weeding. Watched trial.
Mail 12:45 p.m. 1099s, report on pension fund. Worked on girls' accounts {by girls she means me and my sister} and taxes. 
Watched trial, news, Mad About You. Bed, news. 82 degrees! Warm.

Friday, Feb. 3, 1995
Warm. Up 9 a.m. Breakfast Burger King. Albertsons.
Worked in yard. Weeds, got avocado out, (Larry helped), put dirt in brown tub.
Mark cut grass, terrible!
To Kmart, got Boxwood bush, Xmas plant, garden gloves.
Trial, Denise Brown. Cried. 
To masonry place, got .75 sand. Back 4 p.m.
Planted Boxwood. Transplanted noble plant, dead?
Watched X-Files, Homicide, Taped Under Suspicion and Picket Fences.
Bed 11 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 7, 1995
Up 8:30 a.m. Breakfast at McDonald's. Service terrible! 
New employees, back-ups, no coffee on stand.
To bank, got balance.
Home, called Pro Cuts, haircut. Home 11:45 a.m.
Some yard work in back, read. Some trial, news, French.
Good program "Cracker" on A&E. Watched Frasier, bed after news.
Read Casanova a bit, cold in night.

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 1995
Up 9:30. Breakfast Carl's Jr. French toast! 
Walked in mall, looked for pink turtleneck. Lane Bryant has one, $9.99. 
Read paper, book til 2 p.m.
Read at library until 4:20 p.m. Got muffin at Rebecca's, juice at Trader Joe's.
Movie: "Madness of King George."
Mail: Receipt from elder hostel.

Monday, Feb. 13, 1995
Mary and I had breakfast at Kmart.
Home. Yard work. Larry cut, doesn't sweep.
Wrote Mercury News regarding left to right?
To mailbox, Mary says Larry gave two-weeks notice. He finally swept back walk in front.

Tuesday, Feb. 14, 1995
Cold in night. Mary called, go to Live Oak for Valentine's Meal.
Breakfast at Lyon's, no gas. Went to Longs, walked Capitola.
Home 12:30 p.m., read papers. To Live Oak for dinner.
Songs, chicken, talked to some ladies. Alice Campbell died.
Home 4:40 p.m. Watched news, Frost Mystery, French 1 hour. Frasier, NYPD Blue.
Bed, news. Tired.

Thursday, Feb. 16, 1995
Awake 12 a.m., 2 a.m., 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. Breakfast at Burger King. 
To Kmart, got sunblock. 30 SPF. Bank, home 12 p.m.
Watched some trial, French. Read papers. Watched Morse, ER, Mad About You.
Mail, letter from Carla.

Saturday. Feb. 18, 1995
Up 9 a.m. Breakfast at donut shop. Got Lotto ticket.
Drove {Highway} 17 to San Jose, bought salmon t-shirt. Macy's for cologne, Estee Lauder.
Got gas, fast food. 
Home 2:30 p.m. Watched figure skating. Bed, read.

Sunday. Feb. 19, 1995.
Up 9:30 a.m. Mall for coffee + muffin. Lilli there, talked. She has a daughter and son. He is Mormon, has seven children in Boise, Idaho. She is going to Hawaii in April.
Went to show, "Hoop Dreams." Good, sad.
Lucky, home. Called regarding bank account. 
Watched Murder She Wrote, taped Voyager and Silence of the Lambs.

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 1995
Couldn't sleep, took aspirin. Up 9:45 a.m. Breakfast Carl's Jr.
Went to mall, looked at Mervyn's, Ross, JCP. Got gloves at JCP for $21.11. 
Gave young man $1.
Longs, home. Called bank. Watched O.J. trial.
Owners cut grass, swept and watered lawns, raked and swept.
Watched Morse. Carol called, talked 1 hour.
Watched Mad About You, Frasier, NYPD, Morse again.

March entries. 

January entries.