Category: Thanks

Thankful # 15: I’m thankful for my granddaughter Stella! She is one beautiful young girl! When she gets older, her parents are going to be tossing boys out of the house all the time, or they will have to keep her locked in her bedroom! All she has to do is look at me with those eyes, and grandpa melts, and I let her do whatever she wants to! She loves to play Minecraft, to me it is such a weird game, but she loves it. She is very helpful, and is always helping her mom around the house. She and grandpa like to shoot nerf darts at each other! She loves to draw! Jump on the trampoline with her dog Jack! She loves to swim, and slide down on the water slides! She loves going on the rides at Lagoon, and grandpa is so looking forward to going on some rides with her next year! Love you my Stella Girl!!

Thankful # 14: I’m Thankful for The Home Depot! When we lived in the Portland area I worked as a Mainframe Operator for Oregon Health Science University. When we moved to Utah, I could not find a job, all the mainframes were being replaced with servers. I went three months without a job. One day my little grandson said, you have to apply at The Home Depot Grandpa! So I got on line and applied at The Home Depot. One week later I got the call for an interview, and a week after that I started working for them. I had worked for them for 7 and a half years and then I got sick. During this time we had the master bedroom torn apart, getting ready to put a new floor in. I was so sick I could not work on the floor.
While I was in the hospital recovering from the operation, my daughter Inez went to Home Depot and ask for instruction on how to lay the floor. The flooring guy asked her, where’s your dad, haven’t seen him in a while. She told him I had cancer. The day after I got home from the hospital, a bunch of people showed up from Home Depot and they worked two and a half days installing the new floor in the bedroom and closet. This was a big shock to me, because my family did not tell me they were coming! I will be forever grateful and thankful for The Home Depot, and my Home Depot friends! You Guys Rock!!!

Thankful # 13: I’m thankful for MacKerricher State Park and the Glass Beach! During the 80’s my family and several other families use to go camping at MacKerricher every Memorial Day weekend, and spend a week there. So many great memories: Setting the Teepee up! Playing on the beach! Hanging on to a log in the ocean with seals popping up all around us. Looking for sea creatures with the kids, when the tide was out! On Sunday we always did a treasure hunt for the kids! The water fights, boy did we have some great water fights! Most of the time it was me against all the kids, and I always got the worst of it! Eating Abalone. Chasing skunks out of the camp site! Spending hours at the glass beach! Going to the Redwood Cookhouse in Fort Bragg for dinner on Saturday night. The Uno games and popcorn after we got the kids to bed! The Hiking and bike riding, and the beautiful sunsets each night. Tossing the football and throwing the Frisbee with the guys! Walks on the beach with my wife, and sitting around the fire visiting with great friends! We had a big round blanket with handles all around the edges. It’s used for tossing people way up in the air. Everybody in camp got a turn being tossed up in the air, Loved listening to the kids and the moms scream when they were high in the air! A lot of fun times at that park!

Thankful # 12: I’m thankful for my dad! My dad was a hard worker, and he taught me how to work. On Saturday’s we would go wood cutting. Sometimes I would get home at 3 AM, and at 5 AM dad is waking me up to cut wood! When it snowed we would shovel driveways and sidewalks. He was always doing service projects for the older people in our church. If someone needed firewood, dad would grab me and we would cut them a load of wood. I remember painting, doing yard work, and helping people move. I loved every minute of it because we were helping people, and I enjoyed working side by side with my dad!
Before my dad died Ralph and I drove him up to the airport, he wanted to watch the planes take off and land. We told the guy at the airport who my dad was, and he called the Forest Service/CDF Tanker Base. We were then escorted to the Tanker Base, and all the workers came out to meet dad. The first thing they said was: So this is the famous Ernie Cummins! A Legend around here in firefighting! You should have seen the smile on my dad’s face! Then dad told some of the stories of experiences when he worked there! Ralph and I were both proud of dad that day!
I’m so thankful for everything he taught me, and I really miss his fire stories! Love You Dad!

Thankful # 11: I’m thankful for my Mom! She was my best friend the whole time I was growing up! When I walked into the house mom always wanted to know how my day went. She always enjoyed what I had to say, and when I was done she would tell me about her day. Sometimes she had some crazy things to talk about when she worked at Bradley’s Clothing!
Mom was the greatest cook in the world, all of Grass Valley knew it, because they were always over at our house eating! Nothing better than her home made tacos!
Mom’s also my hero! There was a group of boys who called me ugly all the time. Mom and I were driving down a road, and we drove by the boys. One yells out, hey Ugly Face! Mom hits the brakes hard, and jumps out of the car! In a loud and mean tone she says: Go home and look in the mirror and you will see what Ugly looks like! She gets back in the car and we drive off! Now mom never laughs, it comes out as a little giggle, and her hand always goes up in front of her mouth! She let out one of her giggles, with her hand in front of her mouth saying, did I really just do that? Then with a big smile on her face, she started laughing and said, we really scared those boys didn’t we! At that moment my mom became my hero!
I have always been so very thankful for my mom! Love You Mom!!!