New Opportunities

My rather quirky pharmacist Dad was very quick to not only rattle off chemical formulas but was very adept at picking the winning college football teams every Saturday at the local betting parlor in Muskogee.  I actually think he was a latent interior designer.  Long before all the DYI programs he choose all new furniture, loved purchasing lamps and did all the necessary painting.

Perhaps I assumed at the time that Dad did all this stuff himself as Mother had the constant phrase that still rings in my ears that we were too poor to hire people to do these things.  Actually I think he did it himself because he was a very picky perfectionist.  I cannot erase the memory of my Dad in his white dress shirt, dress slacks and expensive wing-tip dress shoes painting a room with no drop cloth and nary a drop of paint anywhere in the room or on him. 

After getting married and moving into numerous rental places with their white walls and nothing on the windows I started using what I had watched my Dad do all the years I was growing up. I can remember painting kitchen cabinets, putting up wallpaper, adding moulding trim and drapes in every rental place we lived to try to make them a little better looking. Of course I did it myself as we really could not afford to have it done. Lack of money is a very good reason to develop new skills.

The house in Carrollton, Texas was probably several square feet smaller when I left it for the layers of different paint I had applied to the walls through the years.  The new house in Kansas City changed dramatically in the first six months that we lived there with lots of wallpaper and window coverings added.  Naturally I did it all myself as Dennis had the same phrase that Mother had in that we could not afford to have someone else do all the work.

Maybe it should not have been a surprise when Gary, our builder, called one day to ask if I could help him out.  The gentleman who wallpapered all his new construction had disappeared and he needed some help getting a house done - would I be interested?  Without a moment of hesitation the answer was yes. Panic would set in later when I remembered the only time I had wallpapered for a friend in Texas I hung the wallpaper upside down. Luckily she was a good friend, it didn't look too bad and we both laughed about it.

I told Dennis that Gary had called and asked me to help him out.  Having a wife that hangs wallpaper may not have sounded like something a person of his status should have but money always talked to him and Gary was the only person in the neighborhood he did not have bad things to say about.  Besides I can imagine that he liked the thought of my making a few dollars instead of playing racquetball, going on tours of Kansas City or off to luncheons while still being able to be home to fix dinner.  Score one.

Approaching the subject of volunteering at the health department was a little more difficult.  How did I manage to have both Gary and Frances from the health department need help at the same time?  Gary and the wallpaper was pretty easy but the health department was a little tricky since it was in the evening.  After not saying anything about it all weekend I came up with the plan of just calling him at work on Monday and telling him Frances needed help that evening and I had told her I would be there. It was the right plan as I could tell he was not pleased. 

There were actually times, a few, when I felt sorry for Dennis.  I always thought and told friends that Dennis would have been happier if I stayed home and baked bread.  That was never me. He wanted me to finish college and be an English teacher but was not happy when I changed course to pre-med.  His only reasoning being that he did not want me to make more money than him. The thought of me making some extra money was always a happy thought to him as long as I was home to take care of the boys, have an immaculate house, dinner on the table, laundry done, yard mowed and look like the perfect wife at all company affairs.  Remember the phrase "multitasking"?  Well I think I did "megatasking" for a lot of years. 

Wallpapering for Gary was really fun.  Wally went with me on days he did not go to Mother's Day Out and was happy playing with toys while I worked away.  The first house led to the next house and then other neighbors discovered what I did, told their friends and relatives and I realized I could get very busy very quickly.

The health department was a whole other story and one I was not fully prepared for.  I guess I had heard the term "Health Department" but never paid any attention to what it actually was.  It was just normal if you were sick or needed a  blood test, immunizations, birth control or anything else you went to a doctor's office.  Sad to admit this but I must have always assumed that everyone had the money to go to a doctor.  My very sheltered suburban life got a dose of reality rather quickly.

On Monday nights the health clinic did female examinations with an intern from the osteopathic medical school for birth control, sexually transmitted diseases and other female problems.  My job was to be in the room with the doctor while the examinations were done so Frances could do patient intake.  The first night she did both so I could get a feel for the job. There were times that first night when I actually felt like I was in an alternate universe.  

Most of the patients were teenage girls who were sexually active and had no idea about birth control, birth control methods or how easy it was to get pregnant. If they were under eighteen they had to have a note from a parent to obtain a birth control method and Frances said they never questioned a note scribbled by someone other than a parent as it was technically legal and we certainly did not want to see them come in for a pregnancy test.  They were given a three month supply and then had to return, let one of the nurses know how they were doing on it and then they could be given a six month supply.

At the end of the evening Frances asked me how I felt and I had to admit it was a little more than difficult to know what to think.  I was rather astounded that so many girls and women knew so little but at the same time most of it was a surprise to me.  I had grown up in a period of time when "nice" girls didn't, had never even heard of Herpes and thought crabs were little creatures on the beach. But I was impressed with the kindness and compassion both she and the intern had shown all the patients and hoped I could do the same.  Yes, I would be back next Monday night.

Needless to say there was never a dull moment in the Tarkington household. Wes, at age nine, was like a whirlwind at all times.  If he could not cause some kind of commotion he was not happy.  He was playing soccer and in Cub Scouts which meant a lot of time with little Pinewood Derby cars.  He had developed a passion for rockets so we spent many spring afternoons at the park blasting little rockets into the air. Everything in his day had to be a top speed, a trait all the years of race cars had taught him.

Wally, at age five, I think, just sort of took everything in.  He was always happy even though I must admit his brother did try to be his boss.  The phrase "out of the mouth of babes" was a good description of him.  On one of Dennis's favorite Sunday afternoon drives the boys were bored and arguing in the backseat.  Actually Wes was probably beating up on Wally.  In situations like this it was normal for Dennis to stop the car along side of the road and haul the boys out for a spanking.  Wes got out of the car while Wally just sat there beginning to cry.  Dennis told Wally to get out of the car but through the tears he told his Dad he didn't need to because he was already crying.  Just how do you spank a child when you are doing everything possible not to laugh?

Spring in Kansas City that first year was beautiful.  Barney was out of town a lot promoting his book and doing seminars but always called on Thursdays.  Sometimes I got the feeling he called just to get a good laugh from my funny stories. During one call he said he had an interesting proposition for me for me when he got home.  I began to hear little comments from Dennis about building another race car (since I was making extra money), letters arrived from the two medical schools I had applied to and Ninette pulled a real stunt.