Never being one to make New Years resolutions I really wonder now what I would have dreamed up as 1986 rolled around. The usual ones people do like losing weight, being a better Mom or working harder
might have been the normal ones to make. Perhaps the one I should have made was to think before I did something totally off the wall. But what fun would that have been?
My attorney called right after New Years Day and said our court date for finalizing the divorce was January 22nd. That was interesting as it was just seven days shy of Dennis and I being married twenty years. The morning in court only lasted about thirty minutes and the marriage was officially over. Dennis was not happy with the terms of the divorce especially the alimony. I had tried to talk my attorney out of the alimony to no avail. He explained to me that since I did not have a real job That would be a big help in starting my life over. The divorce decree pretty well spelled out all the terms and conditions and the only thing left to do was to sell the house and divide up the belongings.
When Dennis gave me the list of things he wanted I was not very happy. He wanted the camera which was funny because in all the years we had been married he had never taken a picture. Then he also wanted an antique Victrola that I had redone with my turn table in it plus two large bookcases I had purchased. Sounded like he just wanted to get back at me the only way he could but rather than fight over it I decided it was just "stuff". I did keep the turntable especially since all the records were mine.
The house went up for sale but took quite awhile as it was in a new subdivision and a buyer could build one for about the same price as they could buy ours. Wally and I settled in and waited out the future sale which was fine. I really did not want to stay in Farmington Hills when the house sold but
wanted him to finish out the school year there. My business was pretty well centered in the Farmington area and I needed to build it up before I moved someplace else. Plus the fact that Wally and I needed to decide where we wanted to live.
I really did not have any friends except for Claire who lived in the same neighborhood. This was different for me as in every other place I had lived I was involved in a lot of community activities and met a lot of people and always had places to go and people to go with. There were a lot of people at the skating rink I enjoyed skating and talking with but not anyone I wanted to hang out with or go shopping or to lunch.
There was one man who was #1 fun to skate with #2 always well dressed and #3 was a member of our Big Boy after skating event. His birthday was Valentine's Day so a bunch of us threw him a little party. Guess he thought I was "interested" in him and asked me to go to dinner with him. He, as well as everyone else, knew I had just gotten a divorce and when I said no to his invitation he did not seem too bothered. There was no way that I was ready or even had any idea of how to go on a date after twenty years of being married especially with someone I really did not know. I was perfectly happy with just being with Wally and I plus I had to think about how Wally would feel. He had enough changes in his life without a strange man thrown into the mix.
Wally and I spent a lot of our spare time looking around Detroit and all the different suburbs. Actually I wanted to find a place with a decent school system, sidewalks, trees and anything but a new house. It did not have to be large but enough room for a few cats and a dog. Lucky for us the greater Detroit area had thousands that would fit the bill. I remember one in Southfield that Wally and I both really liked. Cute house on a short little street. Wally was crazy about the sort of chicken coop like structure in the backyard. He could imagine all sorts of neat things to do with it none of which included owning chickens. The reason it got rejected as a possibility was the house at the end of the street. You could not see the house for the eight foot block wall that surrounded it. The wall was complete with razor wire and cameras. Lots of all black vehicles came and went. Lesson number one in house hunting was to check out the neighborhood.
There was lots of time to find a new home but in looking we got a pretty good feel for the city. As any city of any size it has it's good places and not so good places. It was great fun to have the opportunity to see and to learn the history of each part of it. The best part was the thought of finding a place we felt comfortable and happy in. Better than someplace or some house you were forced into.
By the time spring popped out in Michigan the house had finally sold, my dear oldest son was still not talking to me as I forced him to have to move out of the "big house" and in to an apartment with his Dad and we had picked out where we wanted to live. I realized how much more I laughed and Wally actually said one day as we were driving across town that things were a lot better since the divorce.
Now all we needed was a dog.
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