Don Garland

This is Don Garland's Obituary. I didn't write it and have much more to add from my personal relationship with him. But, he is on my mind and my life pretty much revolves around getting to Napa and helping Linda, Dawn and Tonja, so I wanted to copy this into my blog.

Donald Ray "Don" Garland passed away August 21, 2009 with the love of his family embracing him. He fought bravely against non Hodgkins Lymphoma, losing his battle with very sudden complications.
Don was born in Akron, Ohio to Lewis and Irene Garland on January 13, 1944, the youngest of two children. His sister Deanna (Stan) Ginther of Florida survives him. He grew up in Ohio, moving to New York in his late years of high school. He enlisted in the Air Force as soon as he met the age requirements, proud to serve his country for eight years. During his military tour he was stationed at air bases in Japan, as well as in the US. His first military career position was Aircraft Mechanic (C-130, C-135), then Missile Mechanic (GAM 'Hound Dog'), and Television Equipment Technician (closed circuit security TV used at/in missile silos). Upon his honorable discharge January 1969, he was employed at Singer General Precision Link Group at NASA. He worked on the CCTV lunar surface mock up that trained the astronauts for subsequent lunar landings. How proud he was to be part of the Space Program when the LEM landed and man first walked on the moon.
Don felt at home in the communications field. Returning to California, he worked for Delta Communications as a radio technician in Concord and So. Lake Tahoe, and as manager/technician in the Emeryville shop. He was a partner in Atcomm Inc, Vallejo at its inception. He owned and operated Napa Valley Communications for thirty years. His most recent employment was with the IT Department with the City of Napa. He loved his job, the people he came in contact with, and throughout his illness desperately wanted to return to work.
His wife of 44 years, Linda, and two daughters, Dawn (Evin) McKinney of Auburn, and Tonja (Mark) Mehelis of Napa, along with his precious granddaughters, Ena McKinney, Wyntress Mehelis, and Elizabeth Mehelis survive him. His teasing, smiles, sense of humor, big bear hugs, and love of family will be missed by many.
Throughout his life Don has been an amazing man. He was able to survive a traumatic brain injury in November 1996 resulting from a fall from a two story roof during a communications antenna installation, and to return to a line of work his doctors and therapists predicted he never would. Once diagnosed with cancer, he faced his chemo and radiation treatments with humor and dedication. When healthy, Don enjoyed woodworking projects, always creating something in his shop. He has helped both daughters with home renovations, and could always think of a creative way to fix things. Family camping trips brought much joy to Don, as well as nights spent under the stars with his telescope, always anxious to share his love of astronomy with others.
The family respectfully requests in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the Lymphoma Research Foundation (www.lymphoma.org) or the charity of your choice.
The funeral service will be held Friday, August 28, at 10:00AM, in the chapel of Tulocay Funeral Home. Following burial at Tulocay, a reception will follow in the Tulocay Reception Room. 411 Coombsville Rd., Napa, CA 94558-3957

The 3rd of July

I have so many moments that I want to share about our trip to CA this summer, but today I am going to write about July 3^rd. We spent the day with the Mehelis family. That's Mark, Tonja (of the Garland family fame) and their two daughters, Wyntress, 4, and Elizabeth, 4+ mos at the time. I think I mentioned before that we were taking a trip to Sonoma to venture to Train Town!!! And it would be Rowan and Eliza-boo's (that's Wyntress's name for the baby. My nickname for her is Boo) first trip to Train Town. As it turned out, it was Mark's first time too – a triple whammy! We had such a good time. Tonja and I have been friends since I was like 2 ½, so to be able to share some family time together with our children is really special. Train Town is just one of those places that is an institution in the Valley. Families flood it and it has changed quite a bit since Russ's first trip some 5 or 6 years ago. We rode the train of course. Boo cried; she wasn't a huge fan ; ) Rachel and Wyntress rode together and were just as cute as can be, pointing things out along the way to each other and giggling. We rode the carousel and the little planes that go up and down like Dumbo. Russ flew Wynnie on the planes and he was thrilled b/c she likes to go up high unlike Rachel who is afraid of heights. Rachel sat out with g'ma and ate popcorn instead of the plane ride!

I have to add a little something about Mark. Mark is just a great family man. He's right there, helping his girls, (Tonja included), and my kids too. At one point he had Rowan up on his shoulders and even chased him around while I was snatching pictures of Rachel and Wynnie on the carousel. He just does it without being asked, which is more than I can say for a lot of dads that I have encountered. I was really impressed with how aware he is of his family and my kids too. I also really appreciated his willingness to help. For a gal vacationing without her husband, I really was grateful to have the extra caring eye and a fun dad that likes to play.

After Train Town we headed to the Sonoma Square for a picnic. What was amazing is that as crazy and crowded as the square was, we were able to find parking and meet up in a reasonable amount of time. I think the convenience of cell phones definitely is responsible for that! If we hadn't been able to call, we would have never found each other. We had a nice picnic next to a playground in the shade. Your ideal picnic situation. The kids played well, we got a chance to visit, and the food was so tasty. Tonja and Mark bought some great olives – Meyer Lemon and garlic were my fave. Delicious. Can you guess what was next? Nap time! Ha! And Rowan took an extra long nap.

Later that night we met up with the Mehelis family for fireworks at Silverado Country Club in Napa. This is an event open to the public; you go and park on the street and then you sit out on the golf course to watch the fireworks. I had called and they said the fireworks started at like 8:30pm. It was super crowded. Parking was a mess and I kinda thought we wouldn't find Tonja and Mark, but they were just driving up the street when we were walking on to the golf course, so Tonja dropped Mark and Wynnie and went to find parking and bring Boo. Of course, the fireworks didn't start until after 9:30pm and it got COLD! My mom had bought Wynnie and Rachel 4^th of July necklaces that have little battery powered light up stars. So, after we were done running around and chasing balls, (to keep us entertained), Rachel and Wynnie shared a blanket, were hiding underneath it and looking at their necklaces light up. They were just giggling and talking; it was so sweet.

Finally the fireworks started and we had been waiting for so long, that we all got a little silly with our comments. "OOOh, that's my favorite" "Oh, that was my medium favorite" "That was my super favorite, wait, no, this one is really my super favorite" Russ really got the joke and joined right in. Mark made some joke like "I don't get why it's red, white and blue". I told him to go back to Mexico. So, then we had to point out all the green and red ones to our 'Mexican' friend, who isn't Hispanic in any way. Then, there was a blast of lots of fireworks together…. The finale? Nope. They kept going. Then, another burst of excitement. The finale? Nope. Again, another huge burst one right after the other. Surely this was it? Nope. Finally, the obvious end, even more fireworks shooting off, the grand finale! We cheered. Everyone was packing up and then a few stray fireworks here and there, like they found a couple that they forgot so, they shot them off too. Umm, okay, the end. Oh, Boo liked the fireworks until she was done – ready for bed. Another first shared – Rowan, Rachel and Boo seeing their first overhead fireworks show. Russ thought it was his first time, but he had seen them in OK, but didn't remember seeing them.

Rachel and Wynnie were really into the fireworks. They were commenting on what they thought the fireworks looked like – a butterfly, a fairy, a crown, a flower, etc. They were just in their own little world oohing and aahing at each one. I had the best seat in the house – next to them. I loved listening to them all night long and seeing the reflection of the fireworks in their wide eyes. They shared their blanket and sat so close together to keep each other warm. That was the real highlight for me. Just two sweet peas in a pod. It really filled my heart.

My mom and I really enjoyed all our time with the Mehelises. We were talking about how easy it is to be with them. There isn't any drama, tension or awkwardness, just fun. Mark and Tonja parent similarly to our parenting, which I think is what made it so easy for our families to mesh. Wyntress is such a sweetie; a really nice girl. Boo is a cutie too and her whole face lights up when Tonja sings this one Laurie about the moon to her. Rowan was pretty enthralled with TJ when she sang it too. Boo's face gets this look of 100% admiration and adoration of her mommy when hearing that song. I have never seen anything like it. The whole day was a real treat and it was a highlight of our trip to CA. I am really looking forward to when the Mehelis fam comes to Vegas with Mark for his conference in November.