The phone call came Sunday afternoon as I was watching a golf tournament on tv and dozing off in my leather recliner. “Can you drive me to Los Angeles in the morning,” said my eighty-seven-year-old father. “Scott is in the hospital,” he continued, referring to his younger brother. My Uncle Scott is ten years younger than my dad, but he has had more than his share of health issues. Unfortunately, my father’s side of the fa...

Bright and early the next morning, Sunday, Trisha and I started with a long walk through the vineyards, and I took her over to our new winery facility. This was part exercise and part showing her the tasting room and production areas. As a huge wine fan, I knew she would appreciate the details. The tasting room was about seventy-five percent finished and ahead of schedule for its January opening date. “This is beautiful,”...

Over the next week and a half Trisha and I spoke every other night getting to know each other in detail and planning her upcoming visit to Oak Valley. I learned that she had two married sons (25 & 27) and two grandchildren, all living in the Santa Barbara area. Her deceased husband owned several auto dealerships, and she was grooming her sons to take over the business in a few years. She wants to retire at age sixty, in f...

Since Trisha and I were going out for a nice dinner, and to meet my sons, I figured we’d take “the nice car,” and not the big Suburban I picked her up in at the airport. As we exited the mudroom into the four-car garage I told her we’d be taking the black car. “Oh, a Lexus! We have three Lexus lots,” she said, referring to the family car dealerships. “I don’t know much about the cars, but those locations are very profitab...

As I woke up Saturday morning, before I even opened my eyes, I could tell the sun was shining brightly in my bedroom and I could smell coffee. As I stretched my arms above my head and contorted my legs in a big stretch, I heard a woman’s voice. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” said the energetic voice. It was then I remembered I had my first female guest spend the night at the house since Julie’s passing. Scenes from the spa a...