Murrieta Resident Spotlight – Carol A.

Murrieta’s resident spotlight is Carol A.

In 1944, Carol A. was born in Oakland, California at the Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, the second of two girls. It was the tail end of World War II and her father was in the Navy. After he got out of the service, he worked for industrial paint companies. He and his brother did not get along, so he made the decision to transfer and move the family down to Southern California. They lived in Whittier, California and Carol did all of her schooling there.

Carol’s mother was delightful and caring, but not overbearing. The way she patiently listened to the different sides of stories, especially the ones between the two young sisters, stuck with Carol over the years. She shares that the greatest lesson she learned from her parents is fairness, which carried over when Carol later became a teacher.

Carol’s sister, Joan, was three and a half years older than her. It wasn’t a big age difference, but it was enough to put them in different groups. Carol loved her sister and they became best friends when she got older. One of her most treasured possessions is a picture frame she received from her sister that says, “chance made us sisters but love made us friends.”

When Carol graduated high school, she went onto Long Beach State and later received her teaching credential. She began working for the Long Beach School District teaching elementary education. After twelve years, she needed a change and put in a transfer. Carol began working for the Garden Grove School District teaching 6th grade. She taught rudimentary math classes and typing, which later transitioned into keyboarding. Carol says she went through all the eras with that starting with the old public ones, the electric, and then onto the keyboard. Teaching was her only job, but she enjoyed it.

Carol met her future husband, Donald, through her brother-in-law. When he came to visit her sister, he would bring Don with him. He was a Navy man; Carol says he was a private who got out as soon as he could. He luckily missed the wars and served the time in between the Vietnam and Korean wars. They didn’t start dating right away because Carol was still in high school. After a year of dating the two got married and moved to Stanton, California. They bought a four-bedroom home for what they thought was so expensive at the time. Carol later sold it for a whole lot more.

Carol loved just about everything about Don. They had a lot of similarities in both likes and dislikes. They both enjoyed golf, and Don got good at the game. The two also played with her parents at their country club. They also played golf whenever they went to Kauai, which was their favorite destination. Don also ended up being the cook of the family. He would always come up behind her and say, “you know what you could do to make that really good?” She finally told him “you fix it,” and he did. It worked out because he liked cooking and she didn’t.

In addition to the trips to Kauai, Carol also went on five different trips with her mother and Joan to Europe. They covered different sections each time and always loved going to some place new. The three of them went on a trip and hit two or three different countries or at the very least two or three big cities. They went away for two to three weeks at a time.

Carol and her sister were very close, which made it so much harder when Joan passed away. Unfortunately, six months later Carol’s husband, Don, also passed away. It was really hard losing both of them, especially so close to one another. She still has her two nieces and a nephew. Carol continued living in her home in Stanton. After going in for a successful back surgery, Carol woke up with no memory. The six hours of anesthetic she endured didn’t agree with her head. Her nieces and nephew looked for support for Carol’s new condition, and came in for a tour at Renaissance Village Murrieta. Carol moved into the community, and now resides in our assisted living.

Carol enjoys participating in bingo and attending the movie nights we offer. She likes sudoku and puzzles. What she likes most about Renaissance Villages is that so much is done for you from housekeeping to food preparation. Carol also likes that there’s so much to do around the community. She says the staff is really nice and do a great job. Carol highlighted the staff in the dining room because they always handle themselves very well and take great care of all residents.