Today we celebrate the 44th Wedding Anniversary of Craig and Donna Pykles here at Pykles Remodeling. They met on a Summer afternoon in their youth when Craig was on a lunch break as a summer assistant at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla during his undergraduate studies at SDSU. You may have walked down the concrete staircase that leads to the shores from the parking lot located on the corner of Kennel Way and El Paseo Grande.
The story goes that Craig would walk down that staircase to eat his lunch for the half hour he was allotted everyday. And on one fine summer afternoon, out of the blue, a girl showed up that caught Craig’s eye. Donna happened to be on vacation visiting her Grandma in San Diego for a week having come down from Oxnard. Too shy to say hello, Craig ate his lunch quietly to himself and found the courage to casually mention to Donna’s Grandma, “you have a lovely daughter” before proceeding to leave the beach, half expecting to never see either of them again. That night, my Dad says he said a prayer, in which he asked God if he could see that girl, My Mom, again the next day. And the very next day, at the same time and the same location down that same staircase from the parking lot on the corner of Kennel and Paseo Grande playing in the waves and sand was my Mom.
Now there is much more to this story that I don’t want to give away, including an epic first date culminating with their first kiss on top of Mt. Helix, the hilarious fact that Dad referred to Mom as “Barbara” until their third date together and just how it ALL worked out in the end!
For the rest the story come see our Family anytime you’d like and we’ll tell you all about it.
The most important thing I can take away from my Mom and Dad’s ongoing love story is that not only have they been through a lot since those days in the sixties, (including 6 children, 2 liver transplants, a kidney transplant and plenty of other ups and downs), but the most important thing is that they still love and admire each other as though they had never left that beach. So here’s my humble toast to the Love and Longevity of two people I have the distinct and loving privilege of calling Mom and Dad.
Cameron Tobias “Toby” Pykles
Operations Manager – Pykles Remodeling – 8348 Center Dr. Ste. A – La Mesa, CA -91942 – (619) 463-1600 P – (619) 668-4683 F – pyklesremodeling.com
