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Home sweet home for the Diazes |
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Thursday, 02 October 2008 |
By Stacey Powells
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
 MAMMOTH TIMES PHOTO/SUSAN MORNING
Debbie and John Diaz have been married for 10 years, together for 21 years, and if you've ever browsed the produce section at Vons in Mammoth or made a visit to one of the local dentists where Debbie worked for 12 years, you know who I'm talking about.
What struck me about John and Debbie when I sat with them at one of the local coffee haunts in town was one thing: These two are madly in love. “We've actually known each other for 35 years,” Debbie said. “We were neighbors and lived in Temecula back when it had a population of only 230 people.”
Deb and John didn't actually become a couple until years after they were both divorced, but when their eyes finally locked, that was it. “I fell in love with her and I'm still very much in love with her,” John crooned.
“He fell in love with me first,” Debbie recalls. “Sometimes I still have to pinch myself to make sure it's for real.”
How the Diaz's made the move from Southern California to Mammoth is not unlike the way many of us landed in the Eastern Sierra. “We were coming up here a lot in the early 90's,” Diaz said. “Temecula was growing fast and Debbie and I were used to small towns so in 1994 we decided to make the move.”
“It's a great place to raise the kids,” Debbie said. “They love all the outdoor things and even though they now live all over the place they come to visit us all the time.”
Debbie was in dentistry in Temecula and took a brief job working for a dentist in Bishop until Dr. Mark Zila needed an assistant. She was with Zila for 12 years before taking a job with the Mono County Public Health Department, where she works as the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator.
“I love working with the first responders in the medical field,” Debbie said. “If there's an emergency in town like a flu epidemic or so much smoke that people were having difficulty breathing, we would be called. It's a whole different way of working with the public.”
John was self-employed in Temecula but when they made the move to Mammoth he decided to get back into the grocery business and for those of us who spend any morning hours in the produce department, you know who I'm talking about. “There are a bunch of kids who call me the apple guy at Vons,” John said. “I love seeing the same people come in and being able to help them out. It's a crazy, sociable place to work and I love it.”
Debbie says that no matter where you are with John, he is always in a good mood.
“Except when I wake up,” John said.
“You get up too early; I don't see you when you wake up,” Debbie said.
“That's a good thing,” John replied.
When John and Debbie aren't hard at work they spend their time together taking long walks, going to concerts, staying involved with their church, and visiting with their children – six kids between them. “We also have a few other kids we've taken care of over the years that are very much a part of our family,” Debbie said.
The Diaz's don't know where they may end up on the planet, but for now they are staying put.
“How can you really beat living here,” Debbie said.
“If we find some better place to live other than Mammoth then maybe... but we doubt it,” John said.
Good for them. Good for us. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 09 October 2008 )
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