Whoops! I Interview Myself

So far, I have had the pleasure of interviewing some very interesting people here in Avenida. After talking to many others, I know that everybody has a great story to tell although some of you are a little hesitant. There are parts of everyone's life that can be a little messy. I thought of my own life. It all makes sense to me as to how and why some things happened but would other people understand? Should I try writing my story and see how it feels? I realized I should put my money on myself if I expect people to follow my lead. Maybe I can turn this into a marathon of stories where we try to top each other!

So, what happened to me? I was born in the depths of the depression but that never affected me. I had a brother who is four years older and when I was three my other brother was born. Boy, did I want a sister. When I was twelve my sister was born. It took a while, but my parents finally came through. I got to name her and she became my Bonnie. She still is.

I was born in Chicago and lived in the Austin neighborhood until I went to college. We lived in an apartment for most of my early life. My father remembered the depression and was hesitant to take on a mortgage. They did finally buy a house when I was in college! 

As children we were very lucky.  My maternal grandparents had a farm twenty miles south of Milwaukee. Part of their property was on a lake. There were some cottages there, just one half mile from the farm.  We spent our summers in one. My father drove up twice a week in the summer and stayed overnight. In the meantime, we had a rowboat that took us across the lake where there was a beach and after a short walk there was a small store where we could purchase necessities. We had no electricity or plumbing. Oil lamps provided light in the evenings, a short walk to a pump supplied our drinking water, the outhouse took care of other necessities and my mom hauled water from the lake and used a scrub board for the laundry. Two cottages over, there was another family from Milwaukee who stayed all summer. They had a couple of boys, so we had someone to play with. Out of necessity I became a tomboy every summer. We loved summer in the country with a farm close by. I was so lucky I got to be a country kid and a city kid.

You guys, I think this is going to be long because lots of memories are entering my head as I write. If you are going to drop out, now is the time to do it. However, you might miss the part where someone pointed a gun at me.

I was brought up the old fashioned way. When I asked my mother how women got babies she told me I should figure that out for myself. Eventually, I did.

I went to Austin High School. High school was enlightening. I had a great group of friends who were supportive in all of the crazy things we did trying to grow and become adults. I dropped shorthand and kept typing. English classes were good. Spanish was okay until we got deeply into the grammar. Math was ridiculous. My careers teacher told me I should be a teacher. I sneered at the very idea. But I did decide to go to college. I liked those movies where they danced up and down the college steps. I wasn’t a dancer but I figured it would be fun to watch.

I don’t know how my parents could afford for me to go to college. They did sell the cottage that year but it was more because we kids were too busy with activities in Chicago to go there. Also it was not practical for my mother and sister to stay there alone. There were no neighbors nearby with children. My sister had a different childhood than my brothers and me. 

High school had been fun but I loved college. I went to Bowling Green State University in Ohio which was noted for its great basketball teams.  I did not do well academically at first. I started as an art major but I soon discovered that any talent I thought I had was minuscule compared to others. I also had no compelling drive to be an artist.  I switched to English because I always loved to read. It is amazing how I never planned well but just stumbled into the right places through dumb luck. 

When I went to college we had hours. Girls had to be in at 9:30 on week nights and midnight on weekends. We also were not allowed to ride in cars. Boys could do anything they wanted. Those rules were a burden and often were broken. Sometimes they were also a perfect excuse to end a date. When I look back at that time I did not feel oppressed. I just thought the rules were silly. It was a challenge to get around them. I never envied the guys. They had their own unwritten rules which I thought were more burdensome.

I will relate one incident that happened in college which shows what my thinking was at that time. It also illustrates how much dumb luck I had. Our college was invited to play in the NIT in New York in early spring of my senior year. Many students decided to attend. Four of my friends and I decided the same thing. We got a ride to NYC with two guys. We stayed at some hotel and attended the games in Madison Square Gardens. The two guys we came with had to go back before our school was eliminated. (We were all missing classes back in Ohio) We blithely told them to go ahead without us. We wanted to see the next game! We were having fun! At the last game we wandered around the stadium looking for a ride. We found three guys who would take us. Okay, we drove from NYC to Bowling Green, Ohio with seven people in the car. I miss that part of being young. Fearless, skinny and optimistic! 

In the meantime I switched to the College of Education. What else was I to do with an English major? We did our student teaching on campus. I was assigned to teach seventh grade at a local junior high. I always thought I would be a high school teacher but.....oh well! After Christmas break I did go and student teach at Austin High School for three weeks.  It was so weird to go to the teacher's lounge and see all my former teachers smoke and talk about the school gossip. It was also different with the high school students. I missed the enthusiasm and craziness of the younger kids.

After graduation I got a job teaching English at a junior high in Marion, Ohio along with one of my roommates.  Marion was the birthplace of Warren Harding. They had a huge tomb for him in town. I always wanted to sidle up to people and whisper in their ears that he was not a very great President. I think he was the first to use a White House closet for his assignations.

Marion became smaller when my roommate got engaged to a guy back home and started spending her weekends there. At the end of the year, she was a bride, I was a bridesmaid.  I contacted a sorority sister and we decided to find jobs in Boston near where she lived. I bought a car and I brought a friend's sister with me to Boston. We rented an apartment, painted the walls charcoal, got jobs with New England Telephone and Telegraph and got in trouble with our landlord. Don't paint without permission.  

I was a service representative. That means people called me to cancel service, install service, remove service and to complain. I discovered that if you remain pleasant while people are yelling at you it makes them even angrier. It was fun to work in a huge office with other women and chat on the telephone all day.

While living in our apartment with the very dark walls somehow my two roommates and I started going our separate ways. I met someone from Vermont and they met some other guys. I was the first to move out to get married. It was a huge mistake. I was naive but it took a long while to admit that. I immediately got pregnant, had the baby and we moved to Chicago. I applied for a teaching job in Chicago but they did not hire women whose children were under two. I did not mention that I had a child in my Brookfield interview. 

After two years of teaching in Brookfield (the zoo was within walking distance!) I became pregnant again and I did not go back to teaching. We had an apartment which was $50 a month. There were two young couples with children on the first and second floors with us on the third floor. There was a kind of social life living like that and it was good. 

With two growing children we bought a house in Elmhurst. Without the buffer of friends nearby the difficulties became more prevalent. When both of my children were in school I started substituting at York High School. The first day I was sure I was probably more sick than the teacher I was covering. However, I survived and I got lots of morning calls. After four years I decided to get a regular teaching job. I was hired to teach seventh grade in Villa Park.

My children became older and they were aware of our problems. I finally saw a way out.  I used my husband's lawyer I was so desperate. However, the lawyer knew me a little and knew my husband very well. He decided that I should get the house because I had the children. That made such a difference in my life. I owe that wise man so much.

There were other teachers at my school in a similar situation. They were my support group. That was one of the happiest periods of my life. I had friends and freedom and fun. My children were in their early teens and were great kids (most of the time!) I had my own personal renaissance. 

Eventually everything evolves and changes. People leave, new people arrive. Soon I found myself getting married again. Hope springs eternal and this looked very different. It was different but some people like change. I will say that in both my marriages I kept the in-laws. In the second one I almost had to keep the husband too. We had added a second story to my house and it was practically a one man achievement . He kept coming back to continue the project. Finally he moved to Arizona and I finished the house. I look back and wonder how I did carpentry and electrical projects. I laid the upstairs floor with wooden tiles I got at a garage sale. Thank goodness the plumbing was already installed. It took me a year but I finished it all and sold the house. I moved to a condominium on a lake in Winfield. It was terrific because my grandkids eventually could go swimming in the lake. Everything was brand new and I had no construction to work on after school every day. I began traveling instead of marrying inappropriate men.

I took classes in England, Scotland, Paris and Greece. I rented apartments in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Venice. I went on tours in some countries and I went all alone to others. It just depended. All in all, I saw probably fifty countries and all fifty states. My favorite place is Paris, my favorite state is Oregon and my least favorite state is Idaho. I have to admit that some states I just traveled through but I count that because I was actually in them even if I did not stay overnight.

I retired! I got a full pension and I could live on it. I still had friends from teaching that I could stay in touch with. Traveling was even better because I had the whole year available now.

Circumstances led me to leave Winfield after fifteen years and to buy a townhouse in Bolingbrook. That was a good time. I went swimming year around at their indoor pool and made some lasting friends.  I was in the garden club. After eighteen years and a nasty pandemic where I became too dependent on television I decided to sell. Both of my children live out of state so it would be easier for them in the future.  My life has mostly been in the Chicago area and I have many friends here. I do not mind winters because they make me feel tough when they end. So I plopped down at Avenida. 

Life is good. I am as happy as a person can be. I am tight with my kids. Luckily they do not fault me for any difficulties in the past.  It only made us closer. Both of my children married immigrants. Those immigrants are citizens now. They are fun to hang out with.  My daughter and son-in-law owned a restaurant in Minneapolis for almost 40 years. He is still involved in it. My son is an executive and does mysterious things at Krogers in Cincinnati but lives across the river in Kentucky. Since they are both involved in the food business I will never starve. Between my two children I have four grandsons. They are grown up, and they all have jobs. What more could a grandmother ask?  Well, maybe I could have some great grandchildren! My older brother has a couple of great great grandchildren. We will see what happens.

Life proceeds. Luckily I am in great health. Things even out eventually. There were bad years but these are the good years. I always try my best to live in the present. Now is good.

What about the gun pointed at me? Ask me about that some time.