Today is Rich's birthday This first son born in our family came along about the same time we were buying a house in West Seattle because Charlie Rook had just gone to work for Boeing and he thought we should live over there. So we were getting settled in and one sunny Saturday (or Sunday) afternoon Charlie Rook wanted all of us to go for a drive with him. All three girls piled into the back seat and off we went toward Elliott Bay. He had talked for several years about someday buying a boat, so we did a lot of window shopping on docks on the Sound, but agreed that we had too much on our plate to get a boat very soon. He saw a boat shop, B&B Marine on Admiral Way in West Seattle and said let's just go in and take a look. We wandered around the boat yard admiring the sleek looking boats, mostly Bryant, and came to a brand new 17-footer with a black hull. While we were oo-ing and ah-ing I happened to see ATKINSON-SOLD on a tag hanging from the bow. I almost went into labor! I remember being angry and asking him how he thought we could afford a boat with so many debts and a new house with a mortgage attached and our 4th child on the way.

All he said (mumbled) was "Our credit is good, I'm making more money now." He didn't want the shop owners to hear me chewing him out. Well, Charlie Rook always seemed to get his way (knew where my buttons were and pushed them often) so we bought the boat. The shocker to me was that the price on the boat didn't include an outboard motor and a trailer! We live and learn. We called her Honey Bee and I made the kids black and yellow striped shorts from the material left over after making the curtains.

I have to say that was one of the best purchases we ever made. But the old saying about boaters: They come down with two-fit-itis before the first boat loan is paid off. We finally bought a boat large enough to carry most of our kids (there were two more after Rich) if we could get Auntie Anne to baby sit the wee ones. I was happy with that old boat we called Sandpiper. The malady (two-foot-)set in again when a friend at the Yacht Club put his boat up for sale because he was building a new one. The bank said he had two many boats and wouldn't give him the loan until one of them was gone and Charlie Rook decided it was too much of a bargain to ignore.

That one, a 33-1/2 foot Monk bridge deck cruiser was our home away from home every summer for about 40 years. When we finally sold the Puget Rose to a rock musician with Soundgarden, just before we sold our old house on the water, I was the one who shed buckets of tears. I was sure that nobody, especially a bass guitar player in a rock band, would know how to scrape, paint and varnish that beautiful old boat as well as me. I was despondent for weeks. But about then we started thinking about all our retired relatives and friends going south in trailers and motor homes we began another wishful-thinking shopping routine. We finally settled on a 27' PaceArrow for sale by a guy who worked at Boeing. We went over to close the deal and take it home and the owner couldn't figure out how to raise up the step at the entry door. About a half hour later I was beginning to have second thoughts about this deal. Charlie Rook was reading the manual and said: "Says here there's a rocker switch on the dash". I said to myself, here we go again, learning how to operate yet another new mechanical toy!

Three motor homes and two new houses later We finally had to give up those beloved toys. After Charlie Rook had his stroke he had to learn how to do many things that came natural to him before. He is still in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home next door to Ridgemont Terrace Senior apartments where I now live. The other day Mary, an ombudsman for the facility, came by and asked Charlie Rook, "Do you have any complaints?" He said no, but then as she was leaving he said, " As a matter of fact I do have a complaint." Mary did an about face and asked what it was. He said "My family won't let me buy a new boat and truck and motor home". Daughter, Teri, was standing nearby and said, "Dad, you're in a wheelchair. How would you drive them?" CR shot back, "Oh I'll be walking soon". Teri said, "Okay, let's concentrate on the walking part!" Mary, who wasn't there to address family matters, said, "Good idea" and left.

I walk over to see him when my legs will let me, or get a ride from one of the kids. Teri and Rich live close by and he takes his Dad the morning paper and usually some just baked oatmeal cookies. We do everything we can to get his mind off of the things he can't do anymore and talk about the good times. And there were many!

Rosie