Blog 52 As We Begin To Know Each Other

(This picture is the closest to our age at the time I came home.)

          My family had always loved to go camping on three day weekends. I decided that that would be a good time to introduce everyone. Robert and our friend came and they were very shocked about the way my family operated. We liked to make our camp look like a little village of tents that surrounded an open area where we would have a table and things we would need during the day.

          The shock was how my family would talk over each other, gripe, make the sleeping area over and over again until we all agreed to the set up! It was nothing for Bill S and me to be up in trees tying ropes talking to each other, while answering questions from the ones on the ground. It was my family’s fault..but, Robert and the friend had left the campsite and sat at another table. My family thought it was rude for them not to help, when in reality, we scared them away!!

          After I talked with the two, I was able to explain it to the others and we laughing and joking telling them that if they ever wanted to be part of the group, you had to learn “Scherzer Garble” and never get offended. Once the camp was set up, we would all relax under the large tarp playing games, making plans for the weekend, sometimes dance, and other times just relax. They liked it enough to begin going on all the camp outs.

          We also had a tradition of going to someone’s house and playing poker. We did this about every fourth Friday or so. Everyone would start with five dollars each and you could not lose more than twenty dollars that night. We also had a “kitty” that everyone would put fifty cents in to enter the game. The kitty would build each session until someone drew a straight flush. If the pot emptied, we started a new one. We once got the kitty up over fifty-four dollars before it was won. I will talk about that later.

(Buying Bill F and Mary’s home.)

          I start this story letting everyone know that I have Mary’s full permission to tell it as it affected me. During the time I was in the Navy, Mary and Bill were trying to have a second child. Over this period, Mary had seven miscarriages and one false pregnancy. It broke my heart because Anna already had three children and Darrell was father of two boys with Les learning she was pregnant again with her third. Mary’s doctor told her that she was taking chances if she tried to have anymore. So, she set up a date to have a final hysterectomy.

          As I recall, the day prior to surgery, she had to have blood work done and she was shocked to be told she was pregnant again. I am sure it did not take much for her to decide to try and have the baby. So, this time, she made it to full term and had a beautiful little boy. He was born in November, 1988. This was nine years after having Jeremy. Les had her son in June of the same year. 

          While she was pregnant, Mary and Bill wanted a bigger house, so I offered to buy the one they were in. Robert and I loved the bigger two bedroom and they got a three bedroom. (From here, I want to backup to living in the apartment with Robert.)

(We knew how we were alike, now we learned our differences!)

          By coincidence, Robert’s sister had a boy that year, too. (Just FYI) The apartment was built for two singles. there were two master bedrooms with the living space in between them. We had a small, but quaint balcony that aimed at the street. I came to realize that Robert loved expensive things, and since he worked for lawyers in downtown Dallas, his week clothes were quite different from my scrubs and casual clothing. I shopped K-Mart while he shopped Macy’s! We made a very “Odd Couple” living area!

          The apartment complex was on Meadow Road, very close to Greenville Avenue. This area was known as the beginning of the strip of Dallas that all the Preppies would gather for fun and frollicks. (Younger readers may need to ask their parents what a Preppie was!) On the corner was my favorite mexican food restaurant, Uncle Julio’s! I had two special memories living there.

          Robert found a cat and took her in as a pet. This was a very bad mistake. He named her Eeho which was some type of Hawaiian name, but I called her ” The Ol’ Ho” because every night she would go out into the apartments and cry for some masculine mates. She became well known around the complex, but since she always went out our balcony, no one knew who she belonged. We never got her fixed, nor put her in a cage, so one day I came home from work and found my two high back rockers torn to shreds.

          I told Robert she had to go, but he announced that she was pregnant. I am a dog lover, so this did not get my heart strings. I came home another day to find our wallpapered wall ripped to pieces. I called the Dallas Pet Shelter and asked them to come get her. Robert came home about the time they were taking her and she was screaming and crying! This was our first disagreement, but she cost me my deposit and two chairs. we were even!

          The second memory is about a winter storm we had. It was just beginning to sleet and snow. We were sitting on the balcony drinking beer. This made us hungry, so we decided to walk across Greenville Avenue to get a pizza. We were a little tipsy when we went and we did not realize how slippery everything was already. But, the streets still had a lot of cars. We got to the corner and waited for the green light.

          When it was our turn, we were walking rather slowly across. I got ahead of Robert and turned around to see him just barely off the corner and the light had turned yellow. I yelled for him to hurry and when he tried to pick up speed, his shoes started doing the “slippery ground dance” and he fell flat of his face. I was in the middle of Greenville laughing my butt off and I had to go back and help him up.

          By now the light was green and we were blocking the traffic. The only thing left to do because we were laughing so hard was to turn him around and he CRAWLED back to the corner. The cars were honking, but you could see smiles on their faces as they passed us. You might think that was the funniest thing that happened to Robert, but wait until you read the story of his first ski trip!!!!!

(Blog 53 will include this story) 

• 21st Jan 2019
• mylife
• 3 Comments
• Uncategorized