Alice Courtney

• My Mom was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to Olive and James Hunter who would later divorce and my Grand Mother Olive (Mipi her nickname) became a single working Mom, Life was tough on her and her sister, but they got through it OK.
Going to school and doing what kids do.

• At the age of 16 or 17 depending on who tells the story. My Mom met James Courtney (Jim) and fell in love with him. Each will tell the story of my dad who lived in Kentucky and how he crossed the bridge over the Ohio River to see my mom in Cincinnati in the snow with holes in his shoes, eventually crossing with no shoes, enhancing the story every time. Each time either of them told this story, it got more difficult to cross that bridge. They got Married on February 24th, 1957, and well, Here I came a year or so later in August.

• They continued to live in Cincinnati for another 3 or so years but the job market there sucked, so they decided to move out west. Their friends Bob and Harvey followed along. So, they all drove west to California and landed in Los Angeles near Macarthur Park arriving with $26.00 dollars in their pocket. My Dad worked for Manpower in LA doing odd jobs and assignments, while my mom took care of me. Harvey and Bob, it is not known where they went but it was said they had traveled back to Cincinnati.

• My Dad finally landed a good job at a company in Vernon called National Can where he would stay for the next 20 years while my mom who could type very well got a job at Atlantic Richfield and then Standard Oil.

• My Dad decided they needed to move, and they did, to Glendale, California. Where they would remain for the next 30 - 35 years. During this time, my mom wanted another child and they tried and tried but my mom would have to wait for about 12 years. Looking back, she was very sad at times and now I know why. Well 12 years later after me, she was able to carry the little girl she always wanted; this was the happiest time of her life. My Little sister Linda was born. I was very excited as well. My mom ordered a blue-eyed blonde little girl and that is what she got. I had a huge hand in helping take care of my little sister in those years.

• My fondest memories are of my mom and I sitting in the living room on the floor playing rummy and eating Reece's Peanut Butter Cups all day. A 10-pack was .50 cents or a nickel a piece, occasionally we'd go through two ten-packs of Reece's peanut butter cups and a lot of Diet Rite Cola. Sometimes when I should have been in school but it was OK with me. My mom never drove in those days, so we would walk up Brand Boulevard to Kress, Webb's, and Woolworth for a bite at the counter. When my sister was born, we would throw her in the stroller and go as well, just window shopping, looking at stuff.

• My mom would always sing while doing the dishes (there were no dishwashers back then) johnny Mathis, Bobby Vinton, Rosemary Clooney, Jo Stafford - Jambalaya, etc. Same tunes for years.

• My mom went to work at JC Penny and continued to work there for almost 32 years. She was one of the last employees in the country to get a salary and commission when she transferred from one department to cosmetics, which is where she spent about 30 of those 32 years. They sent her to the Revlon School of beauty in Beverly Hills for a course in Cosmetology, where she applied her skills at JC penny for the rest of her years there, she had many friends and loyal clients that would wait for her to return before they would buy anything. She was very proud of that.

• My Dad would soon be forced out from National Can as they had burned down so he took a couple of years off. They paid him those years, but he liked to play the ponies and he did well but got bored and his hobby became work, so he applied and got a job at Glendale Unified School District, (GUSD) and stayed for the next ten years and retired from there, all the while my mom was still doing her thing at JC Penny.

• By this time my sister and I were grown and had families of our own. My Sister and her family moved to Lancaster, Ca and my mom finally retired as well, and mom and pop moved to Lancaster shortly after, and yes shortly after that I moved to Palmdale which is very close by. All of which were good times. Some barbequing, getting together sometimes.

• Everyone ended up in Las Vegas after a transfer of work was necessary for my sister and her family. A while later my mom and dad followed me to Las Vegas.

• Everything went very well for a time and then my sister was dealt a blow when her very young husband passed away unexpectedly. As my mom always says "we have a wonderful family" we do we all were there immediately to help pick up the pieces as now my sister was now a widow with 3 young girls to raise. With help from my mom and dad and being so close by, everything worked out as best as it could under the circumstances

• Sometime during 2012 my pops got lung cancer and decided to just have it cut out instead of Chemotherapy. They thought they got it all out, but it was not to be, they said it had spread and that he had terminal stage 4 cancer in several areas of his body and had no more than maybe 4 months. Well, he never made it home to hospice. He passed away on June 25th,2013 on the very day he was supposed to go home. My mom of course was heartbroken. Her world revolved around my dad; They were married 55 years; they were old school like in the 50's or early 60's.

• I mentioned that my mom never drove a car, so we moved her in with my sister and rented her house out. Over these years, my mom was in the best hands on the planet with my sister and my three nieces, all still very young, they cared for her every need, I took most my vacations to visit her every 6 or 7 weeks but could never do what they were doing to care for her. We have a wonderful family.

• She was always so full of love and compassion for others and wanted the best for everybody in her life. She always tried to help in any matter or would demand my dad do something to remedy an issue. One thing for sure she loved all of us deeply even when she was being stubborn. She loved us all weather they were passed or still here with us.

• The last couple of years her health was getting worse, but she managed, but as time went on, she missed my dad more and more and always talked about him and not much else.

• The one phrase that she always said over and over is "We Have a Wonderful Family"

• In closing I loved my mom dearly and will miss her with all my heart. One of the last things we said to each other on face time before I could get there was this. I asked her what kind of a family do we have? She replied:
WE HAVE A WONDERFUL FAMILY
I will never forget that statement