May 15, 2021
May 15, 2021
My parents, Les and Shirley Kuller, were best of friends along with many others of Dick and Carol Hatch. They were introduced to each other in Hayward, CA I believe in 1957 by neighbors Carol and Ron Pacheaco. Bridge was often played on weekends and we kids were thrown in bed together and had constant reminders that we needed to stop giggling and sleep. They remained friends for their lifetime.
As a child of the mid 50’s and 60’s I would say that the Hatches and the Kullers were like the Ricardos and the Mertz. And for those who are younger, they were the two families of the I Love Lucy TV show which was full of antics that brought laughter into the homes of America. We shared so much laughter and many good times together.
The richness of our family lives could never be measured in a monetary way and It was from Carol and my mother that at a young age I learned that you don’t need to be blood related to be family. Carol and my mother explored their young motherhood days together coming up with some of the craziest theories and adventures, fortunately there were plenty of kids to test them out on. Some theories succeeded and some failed, hence the character building of the Hatch and Kuller kids.
So many fond memories of time spent at Rancho Hatcho, Sky Ranch Swim Club, heading over to the hatches in our station wagon with the ironing board and ironing to be done while we kids explored the Birch Street neighborhood in Hayward.
My last visit with Carol was right before the Covid restrictions were put in place. I brought the Kuller family movies which had many scenes of the Hatch family in them that we were able to watch on Carol’s TV. I’m convinced that Carol had moments of familiarity with the movies playing on her big TV as we visited. I’m so glad I got to hold her hand and tell her that I loved her, I always will.
As a child of the mid 50’s and 60’s I would say that the Hatches and the Kullers were like the Ricardos and the Mertz. And for those who are younger, they were the two families of the I Love Lucy TV show which was full of antics that brought laughter into the homes of America. We shared so much laughter and many good times together.
The richness of our family lives could never be measured in a monetary way and It was from Carol and my mother that at a young age I learned that you don’t need to be blood related to be family. Carol and my mother explored their young motherhood days together coming up with some of the craziest theories and adventures, fortunately there were plenty of kids to test them out on. Some theories succeeded and some failed, hence the character building of the Hatch and Kuller kids.
So many fond memories of time spent at Rancho Hatcho, Sky Ranch Swim Club, heading over to the hatches in our station wagon with the ironing board and ironing to be done while we kids explored the Birch Street neighborhood in Hayward.
My last visit with Carol was right before the Covid restrictions were put in place. I brought the Kuller family movies which had many scenes of the Hatch family in them that we were able to watch on Carol’s TV. I’m convinced that Carol had moments of familiarity with the movies playing on her big TV as we visited. I’m so glad I got to hold her hand and tell her that I loved her, I always will.
