On September 1st, 2001, Lydze gave birth to a six pound baby girl, who we named Aleia Rose. It was definitely a proud moment of my life as I became a father.


Since mom used to work at Paradise Valley Hospital, as soon as she came in her former co-workers told her that she's a grandmother. She and dad came over to see her for the first time. The next day, my friend Brian and his wife Sylvia came over to the hospital to visit us. I remember Gary was videotaping them getting a chance to hold her.


Taking care of little Aleia was a challenge for me, but a pleasant one. Mom was so happy to have a chance to hold Aleia as well. She got to be a grandmother.


For a while, I worked at Kyocera, testing phones. That lasted six months when I suddenly suffered a work-related injury. I had to see a few doctors and then finally a chiropractor. One of the receptionists gave me the number of a lawyer who deals with workman's compensation cases. Although it took a while, I did win a settlement.


Since we had Aleia, I would go back to San Diego City College for child development classes. In one of our classes, we were put in groups. Our group had to research homelessness. That's when Lydze and I would put together a song entitled, "Up To You And Me.", a song about helping homeless children. I made my group sing the chorus with me.


The trouble was I was not able to work for a while. Lydze would work at a facility that takes care of elderly people, while I would take office professional training classes at Grossmont College. The course would last six months and then we graduated in May. At that time, I would create a song for the graduation, entitled "Yes You Can".


Sadly, just before the graduation, mom suffered a stroke and would end up at Paradise Valley Hospital. A few days later, she passed away. I got various sympathy cards from mostly female classmates (there were three males, including myself, in the program). I appreciated their expressions of condolences, most especially from one gal whose mother was dying.


Lydze would meet our cousins Steve and Shirley Woffinden, who came to spend time with us and be at mom's funeral. Steve would give the invocation and do the dedication of the grave. During the wake, I would introduce Lydze to my other cousin, Natalie, and during the wake I, along with some of mom's former co-workers, relatives, and members of our ward, would speak.