Growing up and living life as a baby boomer is and has been an exciting and fun roller coaster life.
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Hello 1984
There had been very few times in my life when I celebrated on New Years Eve. I remember going to dances when I was in high school on that night and always having a good time but most since I had been married were quiet evenings at home and usually to bed long before the big ball dropped in Times Square. Nor can I remember making many resolutions on what I was going to do or how the New Year was going to be so much better than the past one. So 1984 rolled in quietly without any fanfare, hangovers or lack of sleep.
Riverton School was back in session after the holidays. I think the boys were anxious to get back and see their friends. Of all the schools the boys attended through the years that one is one of, if not, their favorite. It was K-8 and there was right at three hundred children. Most of the teachers lived in town and it seemed there was much more of a one-on-one relationship with each child. A real plus factor with the teachers was that most lived in Riverton and had children that attended school there and that helped make it the very good and very friendly place it was. I can remember that the boys came home telling funny stories not only about their friends but their teachers.
Wes had become quite the artist by the age of thirteen and was quite proud of the drawing table he received for Christmas. Mr Leven, the art teacher, had to laugh as the only thing he would draw was race cars or designs for drag strips. But Mr. Eleventy-Leven as all the kids called him still encouraged him to draw whatever he wanted. Wally was one of the few who had learned to read before the first grade and loved every minute of going to school.
My Calculus/Physics class started up again and there was a noticeable difference in the size of the class. I think we lost two-thirds of the students. I was not too surprised since I had watched a lot of other students kind of grimace when test and lab reports were handed back.
Guess I never could understand why anyone would not study hard enough to pass a class. Perhaps I was just a little OCD about doing well in class since some people around me loved to think I was stupid. After all who gets up at two or three o'clock in the morning to study.
Barney arrived in Philadelphia the last week in January on a five hour layover on his way to Boston. It was a very cold, windy and grey day so we stayed at the airport since it was too cold to do much of anything else. It was an interesting visit as he seemed a little down and for the first time we talked more about our martial situations. We had been avoiding this for years and were both a little hesitant in talking about it. We both felt that it was better to stay away from the subject but both knew it had to come up sometime.
He started in by telling me Lauren wanted to move to California to be close to her family and adopt another child. He was happy in Kansas City and loved his job doing the seminars, lectures and writing the books. In truth he could do that from anywhere but he was not sure about more children. He was gone a lot which probably helped keep the marriage together but felt like he was not being the father he wanted or needed to be especially with a toddler as Sam was only three. A lot of his work he did from home and that was difficult for him with Sam.
I think when he and Lauren married their goal was not to have children and would both be career people. She had finished law school after they were married and finally passed the bar but now she only wanted to fill the house with children. Then he point blank asked me how happy I was married to Dennis. I told him some things but kept it to only some of the things like the constant put downs. I had to admit that he didn't run around on me, was home for dinner every night and thought constantly about drag racing but really was not very social or had many friends. If I went through too much I would sound like a total idiot for staying in the marriage.
It was a discussion that had been laying just under the surface of our relationship for the last five years. We agreed that we loved each other and that was sort of the glue that got us through whatever bad times we had. He actually said on bad days he would think to himself that I would understand and just to hear my voice kept him going. That made me laugh because I was doing the same thing. When he kissed me goodbye before getting on the plane he said that he knew we would be together one day. I agreed.
One of the reasons I loved living in New Jersey was the weather. I am a winter person as I love cold weather and snow. Anything over eoghty degrees dose not make me happy. New Jersey had it's warm days but even at the shore you could walk the beach on a summer morning in shorts and a sweatshirt. Winter was the best. My motto has always been "One can not have too many sweaters". Had lots of them in New Jersey and back then is snowed a nice amount. It was also fun to listen to the ice breaker come up the Delaware River opening up the shipping channel way before dawn. Roaring fires in the fireplace were perfect.
Valentine's Day had always been the holiday I loved the most. Dad treated Valentine"s Day, like Christmas, and filled the house with candy, flowers and presents.School parties were always fun so being homeroom Mother for both the boys I became the Cupcake Lady. This
particular Valentine's Day I got up early and baked fifty or sixty cupcakes for the school parties and for us. When the sun came up it looked to be a beautiful morning.
About the time I was whipping up the frosting I was listening to the radio and they started reading off the numbers they used for school closings. They did that for snow storms, hurricaines and such. Did I really hear Riverton's number? The sun is out. Why would the school be closed? I went and turned the television on and there was the weatherman stating that they had no idea of what the weather was going to do but it looked like a blue northerner was coming in.
I had lived in New Jersey for three and a half years and there had not been a blue northerner since I had lived there so I did not not know what to expect. About the same time I had gathered the information it got really dark outside and it started snowing. Cupcakes went to the freazer and trash the frosting as it is now snowing so hard we could not see across the street. Dennis had gone into work early and called to see if it was snowing at our house. The kids got up and were jumping for joy.....they take after me when it comes to snow.
Well, that was a snow storm. It snowed for four hours, the freeways and major roads came to a halt as no one could see to drive and if they stopped five minutes later they were stuck. It took Dennis two hours to get home from work which is only fifteen miles away. Naturally he arrived home in one of his cursing moods while the kids and I are loving every minute of it.
I guess it was a good thing it was a Friday as the entire Philadelphia area was at a complete stop for four days after the snow stopped. The airport was closed until Monday or Tuesday due to the fact there was simply no place to put the snow as they tried to clear the runways. The major roads were all impassable due to the cars that had been left in the middle of the road. The final total was twenty-tree inches of snow in about four hours. The kids and I thought it was like a wonderland and had great fun shoveling and playing in the snow.
Saturday morning the sun popped out and it was a wonderland. Of course we only lived a block from the library and two blocks to the school, grocery store and downtown. Everyone in town was out shoveling and walking to where they wanted to go. We actually opened the library on Saturday so those stuck at home could come get a book to read. By Monday the roads were some what passable and school was open. Cupcakes got frosted and Valentine's Day was celebrated a little late.
The red car under all that snow was my most favorite car I ever had. It was a Mercury Capri five-speed complete with every bling and leather interior. Wes bet me one evening that I couldn't lay rubber with it. I smiled and said for him to come outside. Naturally Wally and Dennis appeared in the yard as well. It took a long time for the tire tracks to wear off the road in front of the house. Dennis gave me a lecture on how I was not to treat a company lease car like that and no doubt got angry until the tire marks disappeared. Oh well.
The year was starting off pretty well. But one never knows when another type of blue northerner will blow in.
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