1959-1960

I lacked self-esteem at this point in time and because of this I was very jealous. I knew I was a good teacher but I wasn't sure what I knew about myself. I think I probably suffered from post-natal depression but we didn't know there was such a thing back then.

We had been living in Junction City but decided to rent a small house in Ogden. It made us closer to the school. Our landlady was a young, attractive woman. My father-in-law bragged and bragged about how attractive she was and seemed to be pushing Chuck toward her.

Trust issues surfaced. When trust is broken - or even appears to be broken, that is the time to do some patching up or it will only get worse. It is easy to see this from my perspective in 2009.

Visits home to my Mom were very stressful because she expected so much of me. It was somewhat easier for me to visit my in-laws because they did not expect so much of me. Those visits were stressful, too.

When I received my wages for June, July and August, I rented an apartment in Junction City. Patti and I moved there and I signed my contract to teach 1959-1960. After we moved out, I saw more of Chuck than I did when we were living in the same house. Mom came to visit and took care of Patti for several weeks.

Patti was always at the window when it was time for me to come home. She would be all cleaned up and looking so cute. The photo is of Patti.

I was able to make this work even though I didn't have a car. I rode in the car pool to work and if I needed to run errands, there were a couple of friends who would take me.

Fall 1959 Chuck interviewed with Collins Radio in Wichita. He was hired to work in Cedar Rapids. He never asked me to move with him. It was just taken for granted.

I taught the first semester and subbed for a month or so before we left for Cedar Rapids. Chuck went on ahead and came back to pack everything. We moved to Cedar Rapids in February. The African violets even made the trip successfully. My class gave me the African violets.

Chuck had been working in a furniture store in Manhattan before he interviewed so he was able to get a really good deal on a new electric stove, washing machine and fridge.

He had rented a room with a family on 19th St. SE until we found a house to rent. The house was a story-and-a-half on the SW side. It was across the block from the grocery store.

I was very lonely then. I only knew the young family next door - mom, dad, and three little kids. We didn't attend church so it was hard to get acquainted.

Chuck worked the 3 to 11 shift as a test tech. I was afraid to stay alone but I did. In the evenings after Patti went to bed, I got out our pistol and kept it on the sofa by me.

I was a small town girl living in a new very large (to me) city. I didn't know how to drive any place. We had one car and unless I drove Chuck to work, he had the car. We lived in this house for about 18 months.