Back together in Arizona

My brothers and I grew up in Tucson, but around 1965, we began to scatter. Richard off to PCC, then the army and Vietnam; Dale back to New York to take over Grandma & Grandpa’s farm; Daryl to San Francisco, then Taiwan, then Santa Clara; Don to Phoenix for school, then the Los Angeles area for a new job. I’m the only one who never left the state, but Roland and I left Tucson in 1985 for Mesa, leaving Mom and Dad to wrap things up on our Tucson history when they transitioned to retirement life in an RV.

Daryl moved to Tempe in 1984, just about a year before Roland and I moved to Mesa. After traveling for several years, Mom and Dad settled into a senior mobile home park in east Mesa, before moving to Fellowship Square in the late 90s. That put half of us back in close proximity, but Richard & Dianna lived in New Mexico for many years before beginning full time RV living, Dale was still in New York, and Don & Betty were living in the San Fernando Valley at that time.

Dale was the next of us siblings to make a move back to Arizona when he entered the full time RV life. Granted he didn’t have a permanent home here but the majority of his time was spent nearby, and his official mail residency was Tempe.

Two years ago, Richard’s health forced them to make the difficult decision to come off the road, and they bought a home in east Mesa in early 2020. We have helped them spruce it up over the past year while enjoying having them living nearby.

Don is semi retiring by transitioning to a contractor status with his company, and he and Betty sold their house in Winetka and bought a new(er) one in Queen Creek. They will make the big move next week.

So after 55 years of us being scattered across the country (and around the world), we will finally all be back living in close proximity again. It’ll sure be nice to have everyone in the same state again (most of the time — Dale still meanders across the border from time to time in his little home on wheels.)

We are Arizonans through and through.