About Me and This Site

Greetings my friends!  My name is Marlene and I was born in Sacramento, CA in January, 1946 and was next to the youngest of seven children.  My father was Russian and my mother was Polish and they spoke to each other in a language they both understood.  My father became a US citizen by volunteering for the US Army during World War I.  I was born after World War II just before a period called The Cold War.  As a young child, I remembered hearing a loud siren that would go off periodically as a test to our defense system.  We had a basement in our home that was to serve as a shelter if something disastrous should happen but people who didn’t have a basement were building bomb shelters in their backyards.

Me and my siblings were raised Catholic and our parents protected us from most of that scary political stuff. We were never allowed to speak any language other than English.  In spite of all the chaos in the world, the 1950’s was a fun time to grow up.  I remember watching Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956 and I instantly became a huge fan.  I was 10 years old.  I fell in love with rock’n roll and all the great music.  Prior to television, mom would call us in to listen to our favorite radio shows like The Hit Parade, Amos and Andy, Jack Benny, The Shadow, Red Skelton and many others.

I graduated in the class of ‘63 at 17, and the best way to describe that era is for you to watch the movie “American Graffiti” by George Lucas.  Cruising downtown almost every Friday and Saturday night was so much fun and amazing. Car hops, hot cars, drive-in movies, the jukebox at diners, malt shops and soda fountains were all very popular.  Many of the fads and trends of the 1950’s actually originated from the Silent Generation. You can read about this incredible, inspirational (but silent) generation on the “Trailblazers & Trendsetters” page.

The reason behind building this website and creating my first blog ever was to try and do something significant to help others while I am still able. In February, 2022 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I am now in my fourth year of recovery.  This year alone (2026) I was hospitalized three times with sepsis and one of my hospital stays was for three weeks. I  have many health issues so building this website had many detours and delays.  I am not telling you this for any kind of sympathy.  I just want my readers to know how significant they can be at any stage of their life and that anyone, regardless of their circumstances, can make a difference.  Hate is a learned thing, but so is love.