Castro Valley, CA

This last weekend, I made an unexpected trip back to the San Francisco Bay Area.  Unfortunately, I had to attend yet another funeral.  This time, it was for the father of my best friend, Mark.  Mark's father - Leonard Hancock - was truly a great man.

Even though a funeral can be a sad occasion, this experience had several silver linings:

1) I was able to honor a truly amazing man
2) I was able to spend time with my oldest daughter, who lives in the Bay Area
3) I spent time with my best friend in the world - and his family
4) I had the chance to catch-up with friends I hadn't seen in years

All in all...it turned out to be a great weekend.  I suppose that it's all about your perspective.  More on that later.

I arrived on Friday, and was able to get most of my work out of the way early.  I met up with my oldest daughter, who lives close to the San Francisco Airport.  However, I made her drive all the way across the Bay to Castro Valley, where I grew up.  Technically, we started in Hayward, California.  We paid a visit to one of the icons of the area:  Caspers Hot Dogs:

Caspers has been around for over 75 years! Sometimes, the ladies behind the counter seem like they've been making hot dogs for at least that long ; )  The prep area hasn't changed since the 1970s when I started going there with my family.  This wasn't the only reason that I love hot dogs...but it sure helped me nurture that love ; )

The decor is really simple.  These benches also seem exactly the same for at least the last 40 years:

Following that gastronomical delight, I made my poor daughter go with me all over Castro Valley - to check out some of the places that I used to live or hang out.  I lived there from about the 2nd grade, through high school graduation.  In addition, I moved back there after getting married.  One of the places I lived was a house that was split into two:

My oldest son (now 28) was just four-years-old when we lived here. He had fun playing in the backyard:

We drove past the only high school in the city, the famous Castro Valley High School.  I had a great time in high school - great friends, singing in choirs, performing in plays and musicals, and I served as the school president during my senior year.  Lots of great memories of this place.  It looks a little different now:

We didn't have the locked gates and fences back then ; )

That evening, we went out for Japanese food - one of our favorites.  We talked a bit about going back to Japan.  I was lucky enough to take my daughter to Tokyo on two different occasions.  At the restaurant, the sushi was great, and we feasted on bowls of udon soup:

The next day, we traveled across the Bay to Castro Valley, once more.  The funeral was held at the LDS Chapel in Castro Valley - where I attended church the entire time I lived there.

As I said, this event gave me the chance to honor a truly great man.  Leonard was much more than just my best friend's father.  He was an outstanding example of living a rich and full life.  Leonard was instrumental in my Boy Scout experience. and a leader at Church.  My greatest experience with him, however, was when I had the chance to live with Leonard and his wife.  There was a time following my first marriage, that I needed a place to stay.  The Hancocks were kind and generous in taking me in.  I had people to talk to and it felt like a real home to me.  I'll always be grateful for that chance to get to know them better.  

At the service, the family created a beautiful display to honor Leonard's life.  He was a real character and you saw that in photo after photo. He served as a gunner, flying in B-24s during WWII.  Some incredible stories that he shared with us:

The best lesson that I took away from the service was that "gratitude is the key to joy".  I firmly believe that and Leonard was a living example of this very principle.

As I also mentioned before, the funeral was a reunion, of sorts.  I was able to catch-up with friends that I hadn't seen in years.  One individual was a really close friend when we were really young.  We had a great time together, and our parents have stayed close friends for years.  I was delighted to spend time with John again:

Growing up, we had a great group of young men and women.  We all participated in dances, service projects, dance festivals, road shows...just a ton of fun.  Four of the group met together at the service.  As a group, we hadn't been all together since back in high school.  We waited far too long to see each other:

Following the service, my daughter and I ran to get something to eat...and we were starving.  I took her to yet another icon in Castro Valley - the legendary Lucca Deli.  This was ALWAYS a favorite stop for my family, where we enjoyed fantastic sandwiches while we were growing up:

Looks exactly the same...

That evening, I had a chance to regroup with Mark and his family.  They are such a delight - I'm lucky to spend time with them.  Mark and his wife have three wonderful daughters, and I'm fortunate to know each of them.

Leonard was absolutely right - gratitude truly IS the key to joy.  I'm so grateful for such wonderful experiences as these.  I'm grateful that my wife made it possible for me to go back to California on such short notice, especially when we haven't spent a weekend together in a month ; ) However, she knows how much this meant to me - and to the Hancock family.  I'm glad I could, in some small way, help that family through a tough time.  Once again, I'm a lucky guy...