Thursday, September 17, 2009

Spring-Summer 1956

Chuck dropped out of college because he didn't like the required classes - English and such. He was only interested in the engineering courses. So he got a job for the summer as assistant swimming pool manager. He also taught kids swimming classes in the mornings. By summer's end, his hair was bleached blond!

I drove the '32 Chevy from Junction City to Manhattan for my summer classes, held in the mornings five days a week. When I came home, we'd grab a bite to eat and then both of us went to the pool.

All the high school girls had crushes on the life guard. They asked me about him and were not happy to learn that I was his wife!

I was at the pool every day except for five days when I had a light case of the mumps - someone in one of my classes exposed the whole class. Several of us had the mumps! I only missed two days of summer school - because I was sick over the fourth of July!

The summer classes were challenging because many of the students were long-time teachers and they knew what they were doing. It put some of us at a disadvantage - because we had only been teaching for a year or so.

The '32 Chevy had windshield wipers but the switch didn't work. One day, it started to rain on the way home so I pulled over, stopped the car, got out and did whatever it took under the hood to make the wipers work. A fellow stopped and asked if I needed help - and I told him "No, thanks," and hopped back in the car and drove merrily on home! (needless to say, my lead foot didn't make much difference with the '32 - top speed was about 45 mph!)

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