Looking back, I really only lived in 4 houses growing up; the one on Spruce in Santa Ana where my parents lived when I was born. My dad said they paid about $900 for that house. Then we moved to Escondido and lived at 1468 Valley Parkway. Dad had owned a poultry business in Orange County, so he bought the chicken ranch. We lived there for only about a year before moving to the house I considered “home” at 1468 La Honda in Escondido. Although they did buy the 2 houses at 471 Citrus where this graduation picture is taken with my folks in 1972, I didn’t end up spending much time there; spending most of my time either staying with Laura, or housesitting a house with Laura in Rancho Bernardo, and then getting married. My parents finally moved up to Ranchita and then Valley Center where my mother died. Mom’s ashes are in Borrego Springs at Saint Richard's Catholic Cemetery.
On the other hand, Keith moved a lot. His dad was in the Navy and was stationed in Alaska, Hawaii, San Diego, Long Beach, and Illinois. He attended many, many different schools. I was lucky; never the new kid at school.
This is Keith's mom, Dorothy Jerome in 1953 holding my husband Keith with Jerry Jerome, Camille DeMoss and Paul Jerome. Jerry had spent the early years of the Korean war on the USS John A. Bole. He was an avid card player and won enough playing cards to buy a new car, which I think this was it. His tour during the Korean war was tough; his ship provided fire support during the amphibious assault on Inchon and then was parked three miles off Swatow, China, on the orders of General Douglas MacArthur, in an unsuccessful attempt by him to provoke China into a war with the United States. Armed Chinese junks surrounded the ship, but in the meantime, MacArthur was relieved and the ship was moved away from its "sitting duck" role off the Chinese harbor. USS John A. Bole also steamed with support convoys into Inchon before returning to San Diego in mid-June 1951. At that point, Jerry transferred to Adak, AK where they were building a Navy Communications base. I remember the story of Dorothy having to travel with two small children to Adak via train and ship, and then spend two years in that frozen wasteland. There is a scene in Fiddler on the Roof that makes me cry, thinking of Dorothy traveling so far away from home. But the daughter responds, "When I'm with my Love....I'm Home." There is a lot to be said of those who fought and those who stayed by their side. Jerry earned 5 bronze stars during his service; one for saving a shipmate’s life. After Adak, he transferred to San Diego where Keith was born. Steve Jerome came along much later. Jerry died in 2005, Dorothy in 2010 and Paul in 1968. Camille now lives in Alaska – sort of full circle with Keith's hair looking the same as it does today!
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