When you are a child, you are if you are lucky, you are cushioned by a loving family of multiple generations. This has a warm and comfortable feeling that you think will goon forever. Sometimes it will last a long while, but gradually one by one we loose those we love. One day you wake up and you realize that the family you once knew and loved are almost all gone. Fortunately if you are lucky, this family is replaced by newer generations. You become the older generation that binds them together.
Recently I have lost two of my Aunts, of my parents generation there are only three left. My mother who is 91, my Uncle Bevo's wife my Aunt Gladys,84, and my father's oldest brother's first wife Helen Matthews Lewis,84. At my age I am very lucky still to have my mom and the last few of her generation. Each generation acts as a bridge to the past. Linking us to family that has gone before.
I went through some old photos looking for some to take to a memorial service for my Aunt Adelaide. I found photos of my paternal grandmother when she was young and beautiful. I had heard that she was a looker in her youth, but I had only known her after the ravages of living though the depression, and raising three sons and a daughter born to her late in life To have seen a picture of a pretty young girl with her life in front of her gave me a pause to thought. My grandfather Judd Lewis had been invited to the family home to visit in hopes that he would like my great Aunt Nell. She was a little younger than he was and a gentle blond. He instead was much taken back with her older sister, Adelaide, who was brunette and vivacious.
Once these photos were just that photos, no more no less. But now I feel a tie to the people and what their lives brought. No one knows what life will bring. There are always surprises. Sometimes these surprises are good, other times things occur that are life altering. The choices that we make affect what happens in our lives. These are the what if's in life. What if I had never been divorced. What different things would have occurred. I know for sure that I would not have accomplished as much in my life if I had remained married. I have often wondered what my life would have been like if I had not had polio at age four. I am afraid that I might not have had the values that I have today, or the insight. Sometimes bad things can act as a blessing. I have tried in my life to lead a life to the fullest. My cup is not half empty but more than half full. My regret is that my marriage ended in divorce,and that somehow I could not have made it right. It does take two to work things out.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Young Love
I am a romantic, I guess I've always been one. I remember pining away for my hero and next door neighbor, Dumpy. I was only eight years old. He was a whole year older and could do no wrong in my estimation. When I considerate it now we had sort of an "Our Gang" time. He was the hero and my brother and I were his followers. We had wonderful made up adventures. We slipped through the window to their basement, only to be scared of being discovered. Being scared made it that much more exciting.
He lived with his parents and grandmother next door. We lived in an apartment across the driveway. When I had an operation for polio, he rigged a walkie talkie from their kitchen to my bedroom. We explored the back of our apartment and one time the garages behind us were left open and the three of us explored the interior. These garages were used as storage unites, we walked through looking, but not touching piles of furniture and assorted things. It was spooky and fun. Our imagination took all sorts of turns figuring out stories about the pieces. Now that I think about it, this was perhaps one reason that I liked finding old things.
He lived with his parents and grandmother next door. We lived in an apartment across the driveway. When I had an operation for polio, he rigged a walkie talkie from their kitchen to my bedroom. We explored the back of our apartment and one time the garages behind us were left open and the three of us explored the interior. These garages were used as storage unites, we walked through looking, but not touching piles of furniture and assorted things. It was spooky and fun. Our imagination took all sorts of turns figuring out stories about the pieces. Now that I think about it, this was perhaps one reason that I liked finding old things.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Photos and Snap Shots of Our Lives
Mother pulled out old photos this morning. There was one of me holding my baby brother in my arms. The funny thing is I remembered the day. It was spring and we were on the front porch of our house. They were taking photos of the baby. I was feeling left out. There was a picture of Mother holding Donnie in her arms with me peeking around the corner of the metal porch chair. I looked forlorn. Then they must have realized that I felt left out, because I was allowed to hold my brother in my four year old arms to have our picture taken.
These were real snap shots, but I had snap shots in my mind as well. Another photo earlier than the one with my little brother was of me as a three year old sitting on my Lewis grandparents steps with my feet out stretched. I remember saying, "look at my new shoes." I had on new Stride Rite red T strap shoes. Remembering that early age another picture comes to mind. That was of my brother running down the driveway crying as our cat chased him. The cat would leap and grab hold of his diapers swinging back and forth. He was truly terrified by that cat.
Snap shots in our minds.....After I had polio and was home. I remember learning to walk with crutches. This was an adventure. Although in the beginning I had braces on both my legs and a corset on my back I remember being able to swing off a curb. I felt like I was flying. I was the poster child for the march of dimes in the Norfolk, Va. area when I was six or seven. There was a picture of me walking with crutches that was blown up to life size and it appeared in a window of a store on the main street in downtown. For years we kept this in our garage.
There were pictures of me as a young child with a curly new perm. Dad would give mom a perm (good for Dad) and Mom would give one to me at the same time. Oh, that did smell bad. That photo looked so much like my grandson looked at the same age, if you discount my frizzy perm. I remember being so embarrassed when I did get a perm. One day my hair was straight and the next. Oh, my.
Friends of my grandmother, Nana, would come up to me on the street and say, "You look so much like your grandmother." I never understood this until much later after she had died. One day I found a photo that looked like it was of me in a funny outfit. I never remembered that photo being taken. After doing a double take I realized that the photo was too old to have been of me. It was taken of my grandmother at about age twelve. I did look so much like her at that same age that I almost was fooled myself.
When we look back at photos it not only tells the stories of our lives, but it helps us to remember the little things. There is one photo of me at about ten dressed in my mother's graduation white formal dress. My friend, Edith, was having a birthday party. A lawn party, we were to come dressed up in our mother's clothes. I felt grown up and beautiful in mom's lovely dress. It was one of the nicest parties that I remember. It was such fun pretending to be grown up.
Another photo that she uncovered was one of myself and three other friends all dressed up ready to go to the one of our first dances. I went to the dances.and I even attempted to dance. I could manage the slow dances, but the fast ones were just too much, but I did enjoy them all.
Of course, the photos of the family always brings back the memories of those gone. Oh how we loved them.
These were real snap shots, but I had snap shots in my mind as well. Another photo earlier than the one with my little brother was of me as a three year old sitting on my Lewis grandparents steps with my feet out stretched. I remember saying, "look at my new shoes." I had on new Stride Rite red T strap shoes. Remembering that early age another picture comes to mind. That was of my brother running down the driveway crying as our cat chased him. The cat would leap and grab hold of his diapers swinging back and forth. He was truly terrified by that cat.
Snap shots in our minds.....After I had polio and was home. I remember learning to walk with crutches. This was an adventure. Although in the beginning I had braces on both my legs and a corset on my back I remember being able to swing off a curb. I felt like I was flying. I was the poster child for the march of dimes in the Norfolk, Va. area when I was six or seven. There was a picture of me walking with crutches that was blown up to life size and it appeared in a window of a store on the main street in downtown. For years we kept this in our garage.
There were pictures of me as a young child with a curly new perm. Dad would give mom a perm (good for Dad) and Mom would give one to me at the same time. Oh, that did smell bad. That photo looked so much like my grandson looked at the same age, if you discount my frizzy perm. I remember being so embarrassed when I did get a perm. One day my hair was straight and the next. Oh, my.
Friends of my grandmother, Nana, would come up to me on the street and say, "You look so much like your grandmother." I never understood this until much later after she had died. One day I found a photo that looked like it was of me in a funny outfit. I never remembered that photo being taken. After doing a double take I realized that the photo was too old to have been of me. It was taken of my grandmother at about age twelve. I did look so much like her at that same age that I almost was fooled myself.
When we look back at photos it not only tells the stories of our lives, but it helps us to remember the little things. There is one photo of me at about ten dressed in my mother's graduation white formal dress. My friend, Edith, was having a birthday party. A lawn party, we were to come dressed up in our mother's clothes. I felt grown up and beautiful in mom's lovely dress. It was one of the nicest parties that I remember. It was such fun pretending to be grown up.
Another photo that she uncovered was one of myself and three other friends all dressed up ready to go to the one of our first dances. I went to the dances.and I even attempted to dance. I could manage the slow dances, but the fast ones were just too much, but I did enjoy them all.
Of course, the photos of the family always brings back the memories of those gone. Oh how we loved them.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Life in Vermont
Life can be such an adventure. While we were in Vermont, faculty wives received free education. I decided to go back to school to get my teacher's certificate. After taking several courses I needed to do my student teaching. I was interested in the open class room concept. Some of the classes I had taken related to this idea. I met a daughter of a friend from our church, Susan Throckmorton. She had just gotten a job as a teacher in the one room Kirby, Vermont school. They needed an aid . I could work as an teacher's aid and get some pay, and do my student teaching at the same time. Great.
That fall I begun helping out at the one room school. This really did feel like I had gone way back in time. There were no real bath rooms. An out house was attached to the storage room on the side of the building. There were six grades in the school first thru sixth about twenty six to thirty students in all. We had several students with learning difficulties. I would be working mainly with these students one on one. My son Scott was four years old at the time. He went along with me to the school. He sat with the first graders colored or listened to their reading. He had a fine time.
There was one little girl who had difficulties with mathematical concepts. I remember counting out beans to try to get her to understand numbers. I also helped students with reading. The older students helped the younger students with their work too. It was amazing how well the classroom worked. We read "Charlotte's Web" together. Then we made paper mache animals using balloons and then covering them with the paper mixture. The students did an amazing job. Everyone had such fun.
During the winter when it was hard to go outside for recess, we would find interesting things to do. We learn how to churn milk to make butter. We made lunch together several times. I remember in particular a Valentine Lunch. It was always a learning experience for the students.
Toward the end of the cold winter, we had to make an announcement to the children that they needed to use the outside holes in the outhouse as the inside holes were frozen and were too close to the top. .That spring I became pregnant with my third child. The smell of the outhouse and the gerbils' cage was just a little too much for my stomach. In spite of this I was able to make it through. Where would I ever have had an experience like that except in rural Vermont.
That was my last winter in the cold North of Vermont. We moved back to Virginia in time for Lewis to be born in the same hospital as his brothers in Norfolk. My folks were very happy. In fact it was because they offered Tink a position running a branch of my father's art gallery that we moved back. The night that Lewis was due they had a great snow in Northern Vermont. We would have had to go almost forty miles across the state,in a snow storm, to reach the hospital where my doctor practiced . It was a warm night in Norfolk instead.
I will always cherish the time and the adventures we had living in Vermont. I am grateful that I took that leap of faith and followed my husband. You never know where you will find your adventures. Vermont enriched our lives.
That fall I begun helping out at the one room school. This really did feel like I had gone way back in time. There were no real bath rooms. An out house was attached to the storage room on the side of the building. There were six grades in the school first thru sixth about twenty six to thirty students in all. We had several students with learning difficulties. I would be working mainly with these students one on one. My son Scott was four years old at the time. He went along with me to the school. He sat with the first graders colored or listened to their reading. He had a fine time.
There was one little girl who had difficulties with mathematical concepts. I remember counting out beans to try to get her to understand numbers. I also helped students with reading. The older students helped the younger students with their work too. It was amazing how well the classroom worked. We read "Charlotte's Web" together. Then we made paper mache animals using balloons and then covering them with the paper mixture. The students did an amazing job. Everyone had such fun.
During the winter when it was hard to go outside for recess, we would find interesting things to do. We learn how to churn milk to make butter. We made lunch together several times. I remember in particular a Valentine Lunch. It was always a learning experience for the students.
Toward the end of the cold winter, we had to make an announcement to the children that they needed to use the outside holes in the outhouse as the inside holes were frozen and were too close to the top. .That spring I became pregnant with my third child. The smell of the outhouse and the gerbils' cage was just a little too much for my stomach. In spite of this I was able to make it through. Where would I ever have had an experience like that except in rural Vermont.
That was my last winter in the cold North of Vermont. We moved back to Virginia in time for Lewis to be born in the same hospital as his brothers in Norfolk. My folks were very happy. In fact it was because they offered Tink a position running a branch of my father's art gallery that we moved back. The night that Lewis was due they had a great snow in Northern Vermont. We would have had to go almost forty miles across the state,in a snow storm, to reach the hospital where my doctor practiced . It was a warm night in Norfolk instead.
I will always cherish the time and the adventures we had living in Vermont. I am grateful that I took that leap of faith and followed my husband. You never know where you will find your adventures. Vermont enriched our lives.
Friday, September 14, 2012
A Place That Time Forgot vt 1
We moved to Vermont in the early 1970's. Everywhere we went I had the impression that time had not only stood still, but actually had slid back into the earlier part of the twentieth century. The house that we rented was an old farm house. The floors were linoleum covered. You entered in the country kitchen. This was a large room that was divided in two by a partition. We ended up using the front section as our family room. Behind the house was a field and beyond that was a woods. In the woods was a pond, which the locals referred to as the duck pond. When you walked in the woods you could see pheasant tracks. I never thought at the time that there were more than likely bears in the woods as well. Down the road was a beaver pond. I remember being very upset that they had set traps for beaver there. While we were there a stray dog, Border Collie, that we had saved from porky pine quills, got his leg caught up in a trap and tore up his leg. Unfortunately this happened on a weekend and there were no vets to help a farmer friend had to put him out of his misery. I still feel regrets to this day. What a gentle dog, it was so sad.
Across the street from the house was an old barn. This was a medium size barn and we toyed with the idea of buying it and renovating it. We thought about making half of it into a bunk house for skiers coming to ski at Burke Mountain just past town, and the other half into a home for the family. I remember toying with the idea of making do, using a Gallo wine jug as a hanging Lamp shade, and using flat small river stones to pave counter tops in the baths and kitchen. The beams in the barn were huge out of rough cut maple. All these ideas ran through our minds, but we also were looking for a house at the same time. Then we found just the thing, a one room school house!
The School was the Old White School in East Burke, Vermont. The man who had been living there had put up a partition in the main room of the school and added a kitchen, and a laundry room. The basement was divided in two with the furnace and utilities on one side and a bar rec room on the other. We used this area as a bedroom for the boys to begin with. The partitioned off area on the main floor was our bedroom. It was not long before we started our own renovations. We had fourteen foot ceilings in the main area. We took down half the ceiling and lowered it to eight foot. We found a stair case that had been taken out of the railway station and recycled it. The lowered area to the new area, became the master bedroom with a balcony that over looked the living room. You would go up eight steps to the original attic area. We divided this into two small bedrooms each with a closet and a window. These were for our sons, Chris and Scott.
I was scared of freezing as the temperatures would drop way below zero. One day Tink came home and announced that he had found some old wood stoves. One called the General had originally been in a one room school. I was excited. We purchased those stoves and went to work placing them in the house. The General was a large round oak stove of the Victorian era. Tink built a raised brick hearth and backed the wall to the ceiling with brick as well. This became the center piece of our living area and did an excellent job of keeping us all warm and snug. After the arrival of the General, we rarely used our oil furnace. There was the one night where the temperatures dropped drastically way below zero. Forty below zero was just scary. So, Tink, ratchet up the General to get the house nice and warm. We awoke that night hot. I looked over the balcony to see the General glowing orange. I woke up Tink and he said, " Oh, no, I forgot to turn down the damper." He raced down the stairs and managed to turn the damper down. Then he came back up stairs and opened the windows to let some of the heat out. I can only imagine what a passerby might have thought if they had seen all our windows up and forty degrees below outside. When the temperature got that cold you could hear the electricity moving through the lines. The shies would be clear and beautiful, but don't take a deep breath. If you do you will feel the pain from the cold.
From our windows we could see the top of Burke Mountain, and a vast field with a farm house at the far end. My friend Mary Lou Bell would call and say put on some coffee I'm skiing over. I could look out the large school house windows and see this little figure in the distance cross country skiing toward my house. Tink bought a ski mobile. He loved taking it out in the winter. There were dirt roads across the river and up the hill from our house. These were fun to run on. He insisted that I go out with him to the old logging road across the road from our home. I have never seen anything like that before. The trail ran under huge fir trees that were laden with snow. It looked like something off a Christmas card. While we were riding in the wild, I suddenly thought about what would happen if the ski mobile broke down. I would have really been stuck. There was no way for me to have gotten out of the situation on my own. I walked with crutches. The snow was deep even for an able bodied person. This thought that drifted across my mind took the pure joy of the moment away. Fortunately we made it home safely. I don't remember going again, but the experience has lived forever in my mind.
Another adventure that I had in the north was riding a motorcycle. I would sit behind my husband and hold on tight. I had my own helmet. On one ride in particular we stopped at the East Haven Church where I was scheduled to sing a duet with a friend from church. Those of you who have heard me sing do not laugh. I was always told that my voice sounded nice, but that I could not carry a tune. In East Burke, they were so desperate for voices, even my voice would do. Also, I could follow another singer. My friend Chris Finley,a contralto, was very good. So I got off the motorcycle grabbed my crutches, that were strapped unto the motorcycle, walked into the church and hung my helmet on the coat rack and proceeded to go in to sing. After singing "Ten Thousand Angels," I went out grabbed my helmet got back on the motorcycle and left. This stuck me as being slightly absurd.
One treat for the boys was going to the zoo. We had to go up past Island Pond, Vermont, over into Canada to go to the Granby Zoo in Sherbrook, Quebec. Most of the people spoke French. I had taken several years of French in High School. I understood more than I could speak. My husband on the other hand had never taken French and knew nothing at all of the language. So we lost our way and needed help to find the zoo. Being the man, Tink said he would ask directions. I watched from the car. He spoke to a man and I saw the man gesturing. When he came back to the car, I said," You spoke to someone who knew English?" " No," he said, "But some how I understood everything he said." He did find the way.
One thing that seemed so much from another era to me was the town meetings. The town hall definitely predated anything that I'd ever seen in Virginia. It was very interesting attending the meetings and listening to the discussions. The drug store in Lyndonville had cokes for fifteen cents! They never changed their prices while we lived there. There were no Chinese restaurants near by and no place to buy pizza. I had to learn to make my own. I would buy supplies from the Chinese Grocery while I visited family in Virginia. There was Luigi's in Lyndonville. On Tuesday nights you could get spaghetti and a small bottle of Lancers for $2.50 now that was not bad, but no pizza.
Interesting post note. Lewis is looking to buy an old school house of his own.
Across the street from the house was an old barn. This was a medium size barn and we toyed with the idea of buying it and renovating it. We thought about making half of it into a bunk house for skiers coming to ski at Burke Mountain just past town, and the other half into a home for the family. I remember toying with the idea of making do, using a Gallo wine jug as a hanging Lamp shade, and using flat small river stones to pave counter tops in the baths and kitchen. The beams in the barn were huge out of rough cut maple. All these ideas ran through our minds, but we also were looking for a house at the same time. Then we found just the thing, a one room school house!
The School was the Old White School in East Burke, Vermont. The man who had been living there had put up a partition in the main room of the school and added a kitchen, and a laundry room. The basement was divided in two with the furnace and utilities on one side and a bar rec room on the other. We used this area as a bedroom for the boys to begin with. The partitioned off area on the main floor was our bedroom. It was not long before we started our own renovations. We had fourteen foot ceilings in the main area. We took down half the ceiling and lowered it to eight foot. We found a stair case that had been taken out of the railway station and recycled it. The lowered area to the new area, became the master bedroom with a balcony that over looked the living room. You would go up eight steps to the original attic area. We divided this into two small bedrooms each with a closet and a window. These were for our sons, Chris and Scott.
I was scared of freezing as the temperatures would drop way below zero. One day Tink came home and announced that he had found some old wood stoves. One called the General had originally been in a one room school. I was excited. We purchased those stoves and went to work placing them in the house. The General was a large round oak stove of the Victorian era. Tink built a raised brick hearth and backed the wall to the ceiling with brick as well. This became the center piece of our living area and did an excellent job of keeping us all warm and snug. After the arrival of the General, we rarely used our oil furnace. There was the one night where the temperatures dropped drastically way below zero. Forty below zero was just scary. So, Tink, ratchet up the General to get the house nice and warm. We awoke that night hot. I looked over the balcony to see the General glowing orange. I woke up Tink and he said, " Oh, no, I forgot to turn down the damper." He raced down the stairs and managed to turn the damper down. Then he came back up stairs and opened the windows to let some of the heat out. I can only imagine what a passerby might have thought if they had seen all our windows up and forty degrees below outside. When the temperature got that cold you could hear the electricity moving through the lines. The shies would be clear and beautiful, but don't take a deep breath. If you do you will feel the pain from the cold.
From our windows we could see the top of Burke Mountain, and a vast field with a farm house at the far end. My friend Mary Lou Bell would call and say put on some coffee I'm skiing over. I could look out the large school house windows and see this little figure in the distance cross country skiing toward my house. Tink bought a ski mobile. He loved taking it out in the winter. There were dirt roads across the river and up the hill from our house. These were fun to run on. He insisted that I go out with him to the old logging road across the road from our home. I have never seen anything like that before. The trail ran under huge fir trees that were laden with snow. It looked like something off a Christmas card. While we were riding in the wild, I suddenly thought about what would happen if the ski mobile broke down. I would have really been stuck. There was no way for me to have gotten out of the situation on my own. I walked with crutches. The snow was deep even for an able bodied person. This thought that drifted across my mind took the pure joy of the moment away. Fortunately we made it home safely. I don't remember going again, but the experience has lived forever in my mind.
Another adventure that I had in the north was riding a motorcycle. I would sit behind my husband and hold on tight. I had my own helmet. On one ride in particular we stopped at the East Haven Church where I was scheduled to sing a duet with a friend from church. Those of you who have heard me sing do not laugh. I was always told that my voice sounded nice, but that I could not carry a tune. In East Burke, they were so desperate for voices, even my voice would do. Also, I could follow another singer. My friend Chris Finley,a contralto, was very good. So I got off the motorcycle grabbed my crutches, that were strapped unto the motorcycle, walked into the church and hung my helmet on the coat rack and proceeded to go in to sing. After singing "Ten Thousand Angels," I went out grabbed my helmet got back on the motorcycle and left. This stuck me as being slightly absurd.
One treat for the boys was going to the zoo. We had to go up past Island Pond, Vermont, over into Canada to go to the Granby Zoo in Sherbrook, Quebec. Most of the people spoke French. I had taken several years of French in High School. I understood more than I could speak. My husband on the other hand had never taken French and knew nothing at all of the language. So we lost our way and needed help to find the zoo. Being the man, Tink said he would ask directions. I watched from the car. He spoke to a man and I saw the man gesturing. When he came back to the car, I said," You spoke to someone who knew English?" " No," he said, "But some how I understood everything he said." He did find the way.
One thing that seemed so much from another era to me was the town meetings. The town hall definitely predated anything that I'd ever seen in Virginia. It was very interesting attending the meetings and listening to the discussions. The drug store in Lyndonville had cokes for fifteen cents! They never changed their prices while we lived there. There were no Chinese restaurants near by and no place to buy pizza. I had to learn to make my own. I would buy supplies from the Chinese Grocery while I visited family in Virginia. There was Luigi's in Lyndonville. On Tuesday nights you could get spaghetti and a small bottle of Lancers for $2.50 now that was not bad, but no pizza.
Interesting post note. Lewis is looking to buy an old school house of his own.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Changes, Moving to Vermont
When you are married sometimes you find yourself doing things that you really did not want to do. When my husband, Tink, had finished up his degree at the University of Virginia in Physical education, we found ourselves needing a better position. He put in applications for jobs all over the country, but somehow the right job did not come along as easy as we would have liked. It was getting along the summer after he received his Masters Degree and he had not found a job as yet. Don't worry he said, I'll find a job just before school starts up. Trusting in blind fate we packed up our boys and the family dog, Cedar, and headed out to visit his parents in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
He had posted his request with his undergraduate school Springfield College. They were checking out positions that would work for him. While we were in Wisconsin, a call came from Springfield saying that there was a position at Lyndon State College, in Lyndonville, Vermont. Would he come out, check out the college and talk to the head of the P.E. Department, Dudley Bell? Vermont sounded like a dream to Tink, who was used to cold weather, ice, snow and lots of skiing. Not so much to me, but we needed a job, and he had worked so hard to get this education. The pay was pretty good too. So we packed the car and headed to Vermont. That drive took us across the entire state of New York. It kept going, and going. I thought that we would never make it across the state.
We finally arrived in Pittsfield, Mass. Dudley was acting as tennis coach for the summer at the Country Club there. We pulled up to the house where he was staying, an old converted pony barn. They had graciously offered to let us stay the night. With our funds running short this was a real bonus. The barn turned out to have been a studio for Caulder. I imagined him working on his mobiles here. As an art major this was really exciting, Alexander Calder had actually worked there.
Dudley had also gone to Springfield College. He and Tink really hit it off. He offered him the job if he would like. It starting almost immediately. We left and headed north to check out the school and talk to the administration there. Lyndonville itself was not much. It was not as picturesque as the New England villages and towns further south in the state. The college itself consisted at that time of an old Mansion that had been donated to the state as well as some modern buildings. President Taff used to visit, and there was a chair where he had sat next to the fire that was extra large to accommodate his girth.
Tink was truly enchanted the answer to his dream. He would be the gymnastic and soccer coach as well as teaching anatomy and physiology. He could stay in a college apartment, until we were able to find a place. Then the boys and I could move up to be with him. He really wanted it. I was scared of the snow and the cold winters and being so far from home. I remember hesitating and then relenting. Yes, he could take the job and we would move to Vermont. Oh, me.
We headed home so he could get ready to return to Vermont and start teaching. I remember worrying about having enough money to make it home. We must have had a Visa, but it was not as easy to use as it is now. Somehow we made it back to Charlottesville. That was when my work really began. There were ends to finish on the house that belonged to my parents. My brother was still in school at U.VA and he was living with his new wife Ellie in the basement apartment. A neighbor had expressed interest in the house if we ever wanted to sell it. We called them and they decided to purchase the house letting my brother stay in the apartment.
My mom and her best friend, Betsy Martin, came up to help me organize and pack. We even polished silver and wrapped it in saran wrap. Years later on my move to Williamsburg, the silver finally came out of the wrap. We got things ready for a garage sale. This helped us fund the move. A month later, Tink arrived, to drive the family to Vermont. We had all the boxes packed. There were some loose ends left to finish: however, Tink was stunned. He had trouble getting a handle on doing anything, he was just too disorientated. Some how we did get everything together. The last thing was trying to catch the family cat who was scared by all the confusion. We lured her in with a piece of a hamburger.
On the way to Norfolk to drop my Mother home, we were stopped by the police because a light was not working on our car. A fuse was replaced and we were on the road again.
After a nights stay in Norfolk with my folks, we left to head north across the bridge tunnel to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. When we made it to Vermont, I was amazed at how the yards were all decorated with pumpkins and scarecrow people stuffed with leaves. We stayed in the College facilities until the moving Van came with all our stuff. It had already started getting cold in early October.
We shopped in St. Johnsbury, Vermont for a winter ski Jacket for me. I was shocked when at 4:00 pm it was already beginning to get dark. Life was about to be a lot different than what I was used to in Virginia.
That first Sunday we started going to the church in East Burke, Vermont. An older lady who reminded me of some of my grandmother's friends greeted us after Church. She made a strange noise. Ah-yup. It sounded like a belch to me. I mentioned this to my husband. He laughed at me saying that was their way of saying yes. Well, I guess I did have a lot to learn.
He had posted his request with his undergraduate school Springfield College. They were checking out positions that would work for him. While we were in Wisconsin, a call came from Springfield saying that there was a position at Lyndon State College, in Lyndonville, Vermont. Would he come out, check out the college and talk to the head of the P.E. Department, Dudley Bell? Vermont sounded like a dream to Tink, who was used to cold weather, ice, snow and lots of skiing. Not so much to me, but we needed a job, and he had worked so hard to get this education. The pay was pretty good too. So we packed the car and headed to Vermont. That drive took us across the entire state of New York. It kept going, and going. I thought that we would never make it across the state.
We finally arrived in Pittsfield, Mass. Dudley was acting as tennis coach for the summer at the Country Club there. We pulled up to the house where he was staying, an old converted pony barn. They had graciously offered to let us stay the night. With our funds running short this was a real bonus. The barn turned out to have been a studio for Caulder. I imagined him working on his mobiles here. As an art major this was really exciting, Alexander Calder had actually worked there.
Dudley had also gone to Springfield College. He and Tink really hit it off. He offered him the job if he would like. It starting almost immediately. We left and headed north to check out the school and talk to the administration there. Lyndonville itself was not much. It was not as picturesque as the New England villages and towns further south in the state. The college itself consisted at that time of an old Mansion that had been donated to the state as well as some modern buildings. President Taff used to visit, and there was a chair where he had sat next to the fire that was extra large to accommodate his girth.
Tink was truly enchanted the answer to his dream. He would be the gymnastic and soccer coach as well as teaching anatomy and physiology. He could stay in a college apartment, until we were able to find a place. Then the boys and I could move up to be with him. He really wanted it. I was scared of the snow and the cold winters and being so far from home. I remember hesitating and then relenting. Yes, he could take the job and we would move to Vermont. Oh, me.
We headed home so he could get ready to return to Vermont and start teaching. I remember worrying about having enough money to make it home. We must have had a Visa, but it was not as easy to use as it is now. Somehow we made it back to Charlottesville. That was when my work really began. There were ends to finish on the house that belonged to my parents. My brother was still in school at U.VA and he was living with his new wife Ellie in the basement apartment. A neighbor had expressed interest in the house if we ever wanted to sell it. We called them and they decided to purchase the house letting my brother stay in the apartment.
My mom and her best friend, Betsy Martin, came up to help me organize and pack. We even polished silver and wrapped it in saran wrap. Years later on my move to Williamsburg, the silver finally came out of the wrap. We got things ready for a garage sale. This helped us fund the move. A month later, Tink arrived, to drive the family to Vermont. We had all the boxes packed. There were some loose ends left to finish: however, Tink was stunned. He had trouble getting a handle on doing anything, he was just too disorientated. Some how we did get everything together. The last thing was trying to catch the family cat who was scared by all the confusion. We lured her in with a piece of a hamburger.
On the way to Norfolk to drop my Mother home, we were stopped by the police because a light was not working on our car. A fuse was replaced and we were on the road again.
After a nights stay in Norfolk with my folks, we left to head north across the bridge tunnel to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. When we made it to Vermont, I was amazed at how the yards were all decorated with pumpkins and scarecrow people stuffed with leaves. We stayed in the College facilities until the moving Van came with all our stuff. It had already started getting cold in early October.
We shopped in St. Johnsbury, Vermont for a winter ski Jacket for me. I was shocked when at 4:00 pm it was already beginning to get dark. Life was about to be a lot different than what I was used to in Virginia.
That first Sunday we started going to the church in East Burke, Vermont. An older lady who reminded me of some of my grandmother's friends greeted us after Church. She made a strange noise. Ah-yup. It sounded like a belch to me. I mentioned this to my husband. He laughed at me saying that was their way of saying yes. Well, I guess I did have a lot to learn.
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