A Visit Down Memory Lane

We spent our Labor Day weekend in Fresno this year and enjoyed visiting with Dad, Barbara, Krysten, and Lauren - although our time with the twins was way too brief! It has been nearly a year since Dad's back surgery, and though the progress is much slower than he likes, he is getting better.

Les and I were reminiscing that it was 20 years ago this weekend that he made his first trip to Fresno! We've come a long way, baby!!


Of course we were in Truth Tabernacle on Sunday. Three of their Sunday school buses pulled up just as we were arriving Sunday morning. From a single bus in 1960 there are now seventeen buses and eleven vans active every Sunday morning!

It was wonderful seeing my Truth Tabernacle family. There are too many friends to name - just know I love you all! Thank you to those who read my blog for telling me so. I got to meet SheGazelle's "Baby Huey" - he's absolutely adorable! I also got a hug from Sis. Irene Wilkinson - she's a favorite and I won't even try to hide that fact!

Saturday was a special day - we traveled to Visalia to visit Grandma Ruby and Grandpa Clarence (Dad's mom and stepdad). Grandma will be 90 in January and is becoming frailer all the time. She seemed almost fragile when I hugged her, which made me want to hold on to her a little longer. I'm sad to see her health failing, but so thankful that her mind is still sharp.

Grandpa Clarence had a Cochlear Implant put in in May. He had lost all hearing in his right ear, had very little hearing in his left ear, and can now hear again! It's an amazing device. He also showed me his tomato plants. There were about 4-5 feet high this year and they were disappointed in the crop!


When we left Visalia we took the long way home by going through the little town of Woodlake. This is the town that Dad grew up in. Avenue 332 to be exact!! Grandpa Edgar Fultz died in 1982 and Grandma moved to Visalia a couple years later, so I had not been out to the old home place in about 25 years.

Great-grandpa Fultz bought 40 acres of farmland in the late 1800s or early 1900s. For some reason one acre was sold. The remaining acreage was divided among the seven siblings - six received five acres each, and Uncle Everett, the oldest, received nine acres since he was the one who helped raise all the kids after Great-grandpa passed away.

The house pictured was built by my Grandpa Fultz in about 1953 or 1954 after the original structure burned to the ground. Their family of six lived in the garage until the house could be rebuilt. We spent many Saturdays playing in and around this home, being loved by our grandparents and catching lizards! The porch was a favorite spot of ours.



These are fruit trees that Grandpa planted. Dad couldn't remember what - they are either peaches, plums, or nectarines. This was a great place for Hide-n-Seek and riding bikes, Grandma's 3 wheeler and Grandpa's motorcycle. At the back of the property is a river - a great place to catch tadpoles!



These are Grandpa's olive trees. He was quite the grower and had a contract for many years with one of the olive canning companies. I am an olive lover to this day but none compare to ones that Grandpa would cure himself!


This house belonged to Uncle Kenneth and Aunt Opal. Kenneth was Grandpa's brother and Opal was Grandma's sister! I know these cousins loved growing up next to each other along with all the other Fultz cousins on Avenue 322.


For the first time that I remember, I saw pomegranate trees. Lots and lots of pomegranate trees! And for the raisin lovers out there - we saw lots of grapes on the ground being dried!

I guess I'm just a bit of a farm girl at heart because I love looking down a row of trees and seeing how straight they are. You can look any direction (even diagonally) and see a straight line if the farmer has done his work correctly!

It was a wonderful trip down memory lane and it reminded me to be thankful for such a loving family!