“There’s no place 
like home.” 
L. Frank Baum

Lincoln Street in Santa Clara was a great place to live. I moved in to my small, two-bedroom house adjacent to the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery in June 1979 and lived there until October 1986. When I moved in, I was single and unattached. The $200/month rent (for the whole house) was too good an offer to pass up. Some of my friends thought it was bizarre for me to live so close to a cemetery. I assured them that it was a quiet neighborhood. The cemetery administrator had recently overseen a project to replace the perimeter fence with an attractive wrought-iron fence. He said they needed the new fence because people were just dying to get in!

By October 1986, Kathy and I were married and had a six-month-old son. We quickly realized that the house was not going to meet our needs as our family grew, so we purchased a 3-bedroom, 2-bath condominium on Panda Lane in West San José. Our move in date was October 10, 1986 — 40 years ago today.

It’s amazing how quickly those 40 years have passed. Now, in October 2026, Kathy and I have three grown sons and five grandchildren. We are both retired from our professional careers and finding other ways to live our lives to the fullest and be contributing members of society.

As for our home, I could not be more grateful. It has served us well. We’ve been blessed with wonderful neighbors, we’ve made good use of the pool and spa through the years, and the location has provided convenient access to both local freeways and public transportation. Perhaps the biggest difference between living here and in San Francisco, where I grew up, is the weather. The Santa Clara Valley is consistently blessed with comfortable temperatures and an abundance of sunshine. 

By dinner time 40 years ago tonight, we had moved most of our possessions into our home, but the kitchen wasn’t yet set up for use, so we went out for dinner at Carrow’s on Saratoga Avenue. Several years ago, Carrow’s closed, replaced with a Denny’s franchise. So tonight, just for fun, we’re going to celebrate this anniversary where we had dinner back then. I’m hoping we might even be able to get the same booth we occupied that night.

Life’s simple pleasures!