Charlie Welch:  

Life as I've lived it... Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting '..holy sh*t ..what a ride!' (George Carlin) Updated JANUARY 24, 2015 (SIGNED UP AGAIN TODAY) Hello old friend.. Waz up?? Hope you are well! What's to say after 50 years?? Are we really in our 60's now :( I'm now collecting my well deserved Social Security and thanks for your contributions... Learned 7 years ago I have prostate cancer and even with that news, I feel life has been good to me since I am still here to remember it all, well most of it anyway.. I hope the same is true for you as far as life being good is concerned :) I have loved and lost and finally found the woman of my dreams in 1995 at the spry age of 45, and Katy and I have been married going on 15 years and together for 20. Good things come to those who wait, but gotta tell ya, I'm glad I didn't have to hold my breath :) I have seen war and all its uselessness.. I spent my 21st b'day admitted to a hospital in Chu Lai, South Vietnam for Molaria.. I thank God it wasn't a bullet or shrapnel and yet I am still proud to say I am a Veteran.. I have now found that my exposure to Agent Orange most likely led to my Prostate Cancer and am now the lucky recipient of a Veteran's Disability paycheck for it... whoop-friggin-eee and a big "thank you" for paying your taxes :) ... I am a big supporter of DAV (Disabled American Veterans) and feel their cause is well worth the donations I send in and supports a need for our men and women in service. . I went the wrong way with drugs and lived to talk about it to impressionable high school students in Mr. Wells and Mr. Gaffney's classes at Mountain View High along with my good friend Carlos "wanna be biker" Baralt upon my return from Vietnam in 1972 and I also lost one of my dearest friends and fellow classmate, Charlie Myers, to them in 1990.. Of course now that I have the prostate thing and my wife having melanoma (she is now in recovery and doing well, thank you), we get Medical Marijuana and I don't really think it will lead to us becoming addicts of any kind... so crank up the Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin and let's party... do my eyes look red?? Upon getting out of the Army in '72, I worked at Marine World Africa USA in Redwood City... got to play with lions, tigers, dolphins and elephants as a perk... fellow Eagle, Ross Bolton ('68) was a Killer Whale trainer there and I would join him to feed them from time to time... I then went on to HP (Happy People/Horny People/Hypocritical People) for 10 years where I was unceremoniously cut loose by my alcoholic wise azzz "female dog" of a boss (Jane) for reasons she could never elaborate on... what a skank she was! If I sound upset over this part of my life, well, I was... Bill and Dave are most likely turning over in their graves over what has become of the great company they founded. The silver lining to the above was I then spent the next 7 years (the 80's mostly) living in Truckee along the banks of the Truckee River and working at Squaw Valley and having a season ski pass... I have stood atop the highest peaks at Squaw listening to the silence of the falling snow before dropping off a 20 foot cornice & making first tracks in the new powder... I also got to ski with guys who went on to star in and film Warren Miller ski flicks... I just didn't get that "good" :) Truckee was where my Father taught in the late 40's and where my brother, John, spent part of his childhood across the hiway from the Truckee River... It was always a dream of mine to return to where they once lived and be a part of what I missed... Dream fulfilled :) I lived in an 18 foot trailer in the midst of the Tahoe National Forest from Spring to Winter's start, as a Park Ranger at Stampede Reservoir near Truckee for 4 seasons during the off season at Squaw along with my trusted best friend, Aspen, my long coat German Shepherd who on a couple of occasions sat quietly as I plucked porcupine quills from his mouth and snout.. I swear I could hear him thanking me as his eyes would look into mine as I plucked out the quills... I made Lynx golf clubs in Dayton, NV while living in Sparks, NV for a short time after my stint in Truckee and worked with a ski tour company being a host for corporate ski trips to Heavenly Valley and Squaw on the weekends... Skiing for free was a lifestyle I came to enjoy although I think my knees are paying me back now... Thanks to my brother, John who was a Supervisor with the Mountain View Recreation Department, I was able to come back to Mountain View in '89 to work for the city I grew up in, caring for Pioneer Park & the Civic Center, across from the old high school, only to blow out my lower back and be made to retire 10 years later with a pension and full medical... I have lived to see my brother and parents pass away, and now feel the loneliness of being the sole survivor of a family.. shortly after my return to Mtn. View I lost my brother John in September 1992.... I raised $50,000.00 for "Special Olympics" hosting the "John Welch Memorial Golf Tournament/ Mulligans fort the Athletes", in honor of my big brother because his son Todd, was a Special Olympian.. (Todd passed away in a house fire in 2002)... I then lost both my parents, Barbara in June, 1996 and, Jim, in November, 1996.. needless to say, 1996 was not one of my better years, though I do feel I came out a better person from caring for my parents in their final days, keeping them at home among the memories they created there and allowing me to be at their sides as they slipped away to the be with my brother, John... I am also proud of the fact that our property on Church Street in Mtn. View has now been in our family 109 years... For fun I've experienced the exhilaration of white water rafting on some of California's best class IV and V rivers and think I saw God on a couple of those trips after I got dumped from the raft into the bone chilling, raging torrent... Did amateur speed skiing and attained 98 MPH my first try... Driving my old '85 Saleen Mustang on Hwy 280 at 130 MPH and not getting caught... Surfed the "Lane" back on some memorable overhead days back in the day with Frank Torrez, Carlos Baralt and Charlie Myers... Having worked in the golf industry, I got to play for FREE anywhere I traveled ...Expand for more