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Carousel Spins A Two Generation Love Story In Balboa Park

Aaron Old on the Balboa Park carousel in June 1980.
Eleanor Cross Broaded
Aaron Old on the Balboa Park carousel in June 1980.

My husband, Aaron, and I live in Vista, but Balboa Park has been a huge part of our life together.

As a child Aaron's mother brought him from their North Park home to the park on a regular basis. He loved to ride the Balboa Park Carousel and would spend the entire day riding it. His mother met and fell in love with the man running the carousel and when they later got married it was in Balboa Park's miniature railroad park.

Monte Broaded, front left, Candy Cumming, back left, Aaron Old, front right, Eleanor Cross Broaded, right middle, and Wayne Breske, back right at the wedding reception of Monte and Eleanor Broaded in June 1980.
Eleanor Cross Broaded
Monte Broaded, front left, Candy Cumming, back left, Aaron Old, front right, Eleanor Cross Broaded, right middle, and Wayne Breske, back right at the wedding reception of Monte and Eleanor Broaded in June 1980.

Fast forward 25 years and I moved to San Diego. On my first trip to Balboa Park I knew I wanted to get married there.

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On my first date with my husband we ended the evening sitting on a bench in front of the Botanical Building. My husband told me about visiting there with his dear grandmother whom he loved very much. A few weeks before she passed away they had their final grandma-grandson date outing and visited the botanical gardens.

Aaron Old and Marjorie Old on the Balboa Park Carousel on their wedding day, Nov. 23, 2002.
Marjorie Old
Aaron Old and Marjorie Old on the Balboa Park Carousel on their wedding day, Nov. 23, 2002.
Aaron Old and Marjorie Old on the Balboa Park carousel on their wedding day, Nov. 23, 2002.
Marjorie Old
Aaron Old and Marjorie Old on the Balboa Park carousel on their wedding day, Nov. 23, 2002.

When he proposed to me two years later he had already reserved the Alcazar Gardens in Balboa Park so we would be sure to have the spot I wanted. On Nov. 23, 2002 we got married in Alcazar Gardens and then had our entire group of wedding guests join us for a ride on the Balboa Park Carousel — where my husband got the brass ring of course.

We have visited over the years since then and most recently enjoyed a tour of the California Tower.

KPBS is collecting your Balboa Park memories as the city marks the 100th anniversary of Balboa Park's 1915 Panama-California Exposition.

Share yours here: Tell us about your Balboa Park memory