Let me be totally honest…I really can’t wrap my brain around a BIG BIRTHDAY like this! The years have sped by so quickly. As with anyone there has been the occasional zig and zags, high mountains to climb, and a few rivers to swim without drowning. I couldn’t have made it this far without Marla who is often my coach, therapist, and expert spirit guide on this amazing journey. A love supreme. My children and grandchildren have done their beautiful part to keep me moving forward on this path as well! I’ll actually celebrate the whole year, happy and blessed.

I’ve assembled photos and collages of events, activities, and special people who are integral to my journey. The photo above is my Mom and yours truly.

AND IN THE BEGINNING…

Top row, left to right: In the front row of my 1st grade class with my giant cuffed jeans, looking ready for…action, styling up in the neighborhood with my new hat. Bottom row, left to right: With my grandmother and grandfather on the Russian River, fishing at Lake Temescal with my dad and grandfather, Dad in his Air Force officer uniform and me with our dog, Sugar.

With Gary, my baby brother.

Pleasant Hill High School. I’m excited for the next adventure!

Running track was incredibly important to me! In my high school junior year, I was ranked 18 in the nation. I was recruited at UC Berkeley, USC, Oregon, and Stanford. My track coach thought his alma mater, The University of the Pacific, would be a good choice where I received a scholarship. I would never have met Marla without track and U.O.P.!

With my dad and brother Gary who was in middle school.

And this happened! A party at The University of the Pacific with Marla. What a beauty she is, then and now! I’m wearing a Madras shirt which I later sold at “shirt auctions” in my dorm room, always selling them for more than I paid!

School money was very tight! My track scholarship was only for tuition, so I had various jobs besides academics and track. I was a “hasher” (houseboy) at the Delta Gamma and later the Theta house. I worked in a men’s clothing store in town. I often had to give blood to come up with extra money for dates! In the summers I did various jobs like landscaping, washing dishes in a hospital and a restaurant, working in a metal fabrication shop, pumping gas in my uncle’s gas station in Lafayette, installing TV antennas, driving for a caterer, and bartending at parties.

Having a picnic on a date with Marla at the Beringer Brothers’ winery in St. Helena.

Two photos,1968 and 2022 at Vista Point next to the Golden Gate Bridge near Sausalito, a very special place for both of us!

“Let the good times roll!” At a fraternity party with Marla.

After graduation I worked as an industrial engineer at a paper mill in Stockton. I started searching and digging up 19th century antique bottles with friends in the nearby “Mother Lode” area of California. I felt like an amateur archeologist! It became a lifelong love and passion for…glass. The photo above is at a flea market in Alameda, California, selling some of my bottle collection. One of Marla’s favorite cars, a GTO, is behind us! Fun times.

Basic training at Fort Campbell Kentucky during the height of the Vietnam war. I luckily got into the California National Guard rather than being drafted. This was a period of major national turmoil, political upheaval and turbulence, anti-war demonstrations, and the rioting in Watts. And also, the rise of the San Francisco music scene with the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company…and a favorite band for Marla and I…“The Sons of Chaplin” from Marin County.

A kiss to celebrate our engagement!

When Marla’s parents heard we were engaged, they drove to the Bay Area from Denver. Harry offered me a job with… a pay cut from what I was presently making! I actually accepted his offer, thinking it would be an opportunity to see whether I would thrive in the “family business” of wholesale decorative fabrics and window coverings! Also, with talk of my infantry unit in Walnut Creek California to be called up for active-duty in Vietnam, I found a National Guard military police company in Denver!

Our beautiful wedding day. I was so nervous I cut my chin shaving before the ceremony!

Marla is with Lisa, our first child, and my sister Patty and her baby, Suzanne. Patty and Suzanne flew to visit family in California from the island of Guernsey. Click on the link to read about “A Love Story On The Island Of Guernsey”: https://gentryconnects.net/?p=1560

Our first home!

Our Lisa on a boat ride around Stow Lake in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

With little Stacy in Aspen. Someone should say something to the guy with the hat!

Marla and the Girls in Tilden Park in the Berkeley Hills. I love her hippie jeans with leather appliqué.

The family near Big Sur. Marla and I both had a closet full of Nik Nik shirts which were very popular in the late 70’s.

Marla took this of me in front of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. We were visiting our largest decorative sheer supplier. We always visited Frankfurt in January and Brussels in September for fabric trade shows.

Next week I’ll post PART 2. As Jerry Garcia almost said…“What a long strange (and fun) trip it’s been.”

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.