Sadness For The Family

Photo tken in Nov. 1947, my mom was 2.5 years old at the time. My grandfather Jack had just returned from the Pacific Theatre, where he was a top bubble gunner on a B-17 crew fighting the Japanese. My grandmother, Agnes, was 27 years old. She grew up on Hendricks Ranch in what is now Perris, CA. Her father Lester Bell was the ranch foreman. He eventually started what was to be the only general store in the Perris Valley. Hendricks Ranch would later become March Field (WWI), then March Air Force Base (Viet Nam & Cold War era bomber group base). My grandmother would have two more children, Mike and Mary. My grandfather started his hardware store on Magnolia Ave in Riverside, Jack Lindgren's Builder's Hardware. He started the store after working at Hammond Lumber Company in the early '50's. He bought out their inventory, and took over the building. With financial help from fellow entrepreneur Harry Marsh (Riverside contractor who had bought from my grandfather for years), my grandparents moved the shop to it's present location, where it still exists to this day. My uncle, Mike Lindgren, now runs the store.
My grandmother, Agnes Lindgren, is in the hospital today for a fractured T-11 bone in her back. Worse than that, she has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and uterine cancer. Thankfully, she is 87 years old and has had a wonderfull life before this has come to light. Oh, and did I mention the pneumonia? The good news is that at 87, she has never had an accident in a car. She has also never had to outlive any of her three successful and happy children. She has travelled the world several times, and has never been heard to utter a word in anger. My grandma may not be long for this world, but will be well recieved in the next if one exists. Prayers to my grams, and I hope for the best...

Chris