Elsa Walton:  

Teaching, Parenting, Writing, and Traveling I graduated from Torrance High School in '57 and then attended El Camino Jr. College for a year. I attended the U of Hawaii in 1959 and danced in the streets all night when they got statehood. I graduated from the U of Oregon in 1962 with a BA in English Lit. I married Stanley George Parry of Piedmont, CA in Redondo Beach on the winter solstice of 1963. We had two sons, Jeffrey Daniel and Christopher Barlow Parry. We divorced in 1973 and ten years later I met Dennis Walton of Los Gatos, CA (formerly Ogden, UT), a masonry sub-contractor. We married in Sutter Creek on the summer solstice of 1986. My first year of teaching in '62-'63 was at Norte Vista HS in Riverside, CA. When Stan entered law school at UCLA, I returned to my high school alma mater and taught high school English and History at THS for three years from Sep ’63 to Jun ‘66. I taught for another three years at Rio Americano HS in Carmichael, Sacramento, CA. In the nineties I substituted in the Palo Alto School District at both Gunn HS and Paly (Palo Alto HS). I also attended San Francisco State University and earned an MA in Instructional Technology in 1996. Stan and I moved to Palo Alto in 1972 and I've lived in the San Francisco South Bay (Santa Clara County) ever since. I love it here. I stayed home with my boys until they started school and then went back to work as a technical and educational writer for computer companies in "Silicon Valley" such as Itel and Tymshare. After I met Dennis I worked with him to grow his construction business, Walton & Sons Masonry, Inc. I am not a grandmother. Jeff Parry, born Aug 1969, graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a major in Anthropology. He is a 6 ft. 5 in surfer who loves to live near the ocean. He lives and works at the Pigeon Point Light House where he manages the Pigeon Point Northern California Hostel near Pescadero. He tantalizes me with various beautiful girlfriends but never marries. My son, Chris, was born a month preemie in Jan 1971 with cerebral palsy. With the help of Special Ed teachers he was able to graduate from Paly HS. He lives in Capitola where he has a roommate and a special needs agency to help him manage his life. He has various part time jobs. He loves baseball and plays on the Special Olympics team every year. In 1997 I was diagnosed with Hep C. I was probably exposed in the mid-seventies, possibly at a nail salon. I have been treated with Interferon and Ribaviron without good results so I have a high viral load. I have some liver damage and fatigue but with the help of acupuncture treatments and a Qigong healing practice, I am still going strong. I retired from the masonry and from substitute teaching in 2000. That year we moved to a house in Los Altos. It had a huge yard and for the next seven years I had great fun gardening and designing a landscape plan for the yard and decorating the interior. Dennis and his masons made all my dreams come true. Over a stone patio, we put in a huge pergola that was quickly covered by spectacular passionflower vines. He put in an herbal parterre, lawns, flowerbeds, fruit trees, a green house, spa and cabana and a garden room. I produced some grand outdoor harvest dinners at a long formal table set for two-dozen. It was all great fun. Then Dennis had a health scare. In Oct 2003 he had a melanoma tumor removed, Stage 4 cancer. During 2004 we drove each month to the USC Norris Cancer Research Hospital in LA where he received shots in a clinical trial designed to prevent the return of melanoma. The treatment was a success and he has been cancer-free ever since. To keep him healthy, we decided it was time for him to retire and get awa...Expand for more