1968 - The Trip around the country … That trip began June 14. We headed out with two children who were recovering from chicken pox … John and Walter. Along the way, they got over it.
The first day, we drove straight through to Houston (about 24 hours) arriving at the Aldrins’ in time for a swim in the pool. We had drinks and steaks and watched the family’s pet monkey ride around on the dog’s back, then swing through the tree branches. Jerry and the boys slept in the camper and I slept with Eric and Walter in Jan’s bed.
Next day, Joan watched the little ones and others swam while Buzz took Jerry, Paul, Maddy and me on a tour of the space center. We were spellbound. We left Houston early in the afternoon and drove to New Braunfels where we pitched camp in the driveway of the Greens on Guada Coma Circle. Maddy and Paul stayed up late talking with Chris Green while Ann and I caught up on some long-overdue conversation.
The following day, the oldest kids watched the youngest while Ann, Jerry, Linda and I took inner tubes up the Comal River and floated down. The rapids were fun enough to go back for seconds. Their daughter, Lisa, was ill, but recovered enough so that we could spend another day.
Ann and I went to the airport to pick up her oldest, Susan. Susan used to baby sit for Maddy and Phil when we lived in Morocco. How beautifully she had blossomed.
The day we left, it rained. We had dinner in Del Rio, about two miles from the Mexican border. We drove all day. At 8:05 mountain time, we saw a bright light in the western sky about 107 miles from the Texas/Arizona border on Rt. 10 (86 miles from El Paso). The light first appeared to have width, then diminished to star shape and then quite suddenly disappeared. (Twilight Zone music here).
We decided to drive all night so we’d have more time to spend at the Grand Canyon. We drove through Phoenix at daybreak, stopped to eat at a roadside area (this was the day Eric learned how to tinkle in the bushes), and went on to Flagstaff. The road to Grand Canyon lead through Navajo Reservation and a beautiful winding canyon road. When we arrived at the first lookout, I realized this was not the place for me with all these children who were eager to “play mountain goat.” I was terrified. Each viewing station dropped off into nothingness. Beautiful, but deadly. I took the kids into a Navajo curio shop, bought souvenirs, then we ate in Williams and were on our way again. Whew!
We stopped at the Grand Canyon Caverns, took an elevator 21 stories beneath the surface, and toured 45 minutes where the temperature was a constant 56 degrees. Eric loved it. That night, we pulled into Valley Mobile Trailer Park, a private campground with all the necessary facilities. Paul fixed sandwiches for everyone. We all had showers and settled in. Maddy kept me company while I did laundry late into the night.
The sunrise next morning was as beautiful as the best sunset. We stopped for gas and drinks in Needles, CA, and I called Betty, my old friend in San Bernardino. After lunch in Barstow, we arrived at the Parkers’ at about 3. Sam arrived home with groceries for a feast. The kids went swimming, ate early, and then Sam fixed us Mai Tais and put some really thick steaks on the bar-b-cue. We camped on their front lawn. This was our first taste of western summer temperatures. It was about 110 when we arrived here. Betty and Sam really outdid themselves to make us comfortable.
Betty fixed us a big breakfast the next morning and we washed and vacuumed the car and camper. Sam made burgers for our lunch and we were off to Arcadia for a very short visit with the Moons, my Uncle Bob and Aunt Audrey .. short because Ulrike and the baby hadn’t had chicken pox. Uncle Bob was recovering from a broken arm. We crossed town and arrived at Ronnie’s (Jerry’s sister) in Torrence, CA. She had fixed us a wonderful dinner and we camped in her driveway. It got quite chilly after the sun went down but the camper was warm with everything zipped up tight.
Ronnie cooked us a big breakfast and I vacuumed. Jerry did some yard work. We were ready for a few domestic duties after spending so much time sitting in the car. We watched a movie.
This day, June 24 - Monday, was spent at Disneyland. We rented two strollers and bought hats or ears for everyone. We started in Tomorrowland and had lunch before continuing on to Fantasyland. The “Small World” exhibit was adorable and Eric really enjoyed it as did the girls. The Pirates of the Caribbean frightened Walter, but he seemed to enjoy all the rest. We had turned the older kids loose with their ticket books. They all met us back in the center and we left after the parade. We reached the highway just in time for the fireworks display. When we got back to Ronnie’s, we learned someone had broken into the camper, but we did not find anything missing.
We left Torrence early, had lunch in Fresno. The children were restless and testy and it was 105 outside. We stayed overnight in Riverside and I did laundry for the next two hours.
Riverside was a lovely campsite, but we weren’t there long enough to enjoy it. John had an ear infection so we stopped in Redding to see an ENT man who prescribed medication for him. Walt had a bit of a cold, so we got something for him too. Driving north, the mountains and lakes were magnificent and we spotted Mt. Shasta in the distance. We had lunch at Weed at the base of the mountain. I called the Knights. We picked up sandwich makings and fixed them in the car to save a little time. We arrived at the Knights at about 10pm, pitched camp and got the little ones to bed. Mother Knight’s brother, Walter, was here visiting. Mirriel was here with Stephen and Danny. Mother Knight fixed coffee for us and dessert for the kids. The children hit it off well, but noisily.
We woke to a windy and chilly morning. After a wonderful breakfast, I took home movies and did more laundry. After lunch, we drove to the cemetery to visit Ben’s grave. From there, we drove to visit Ben’s older brother Arlie and his wife Alice. Chatted with Mirriel late into the night. The girls slept in the house. My feet never warmed up all night.
We left and drove to visit with Ruth’s family. She and Howard had lunch ready for us. Phil and Kay and their kids arrived. Maddy played their flute and piccolo. We had a nice visit, then left heading toward Idaho. 34 degrees outside, we drove all night to stay warm.
Groggy from lack of sleep, we wondered if the sight we saw in Yellowstone was just a dream. It was awfully cold when we entered the park after breakfast. Snow had been falling since dawn. By the time we reached Old Faithful, the snow was falling so heavily we would not have been able to see her spout. The kids made snowballs and we bought Linda a pair of Wranglers in the general store, then drove on fearing we could get stuck there. We proceeded through Grand Teton National Park which was breathtakingly beautiful. The weather was lovely all afternoon after we left Yellowstone, but about 8pm, near Rawlings, WY, it began to sleet. We ate dinner and kept on going. It was too wet and cold to pitch camp. I drove about 60 miles through a snowstorm which cleared shortly after Jerry took over. He was through Cheyenne and Denver before stopping for a snooze. In all fairness, he did at least 70 percent of all the driving.
On the road again after the sun came up. The little ones had slept pretty well in back. We were exhausted. We took a wrong road at Limon, but only went about ten miles out of our way. It was windy and chilly when we pulled into a rest stop and had our cereal. We stopped for a late lunch at McPherson, KS, and I phoned Maddy Crowell. We crossed the KS/OK border at 6pm. It was so nice to be back in warm country that I thought I might never complain about heat again. It was still daylight when we reached Tulsa at about 8:30. We set up the camper in the driveway and Chuck made drinks. We hadn’t been there an hour when Eric ran through the glass patio door. He was covered with blood and there were a few terrifying moments before we realized he was okay except for a few facial lacerations. The one on his eyelid was much too close. Chuck rushed us to St. Francis Hospital where a surgeon, Dr. Ward, put 12 stitches in Eric’s face. He was so good. The girls, Eric and I slept inside.
Chuck fixed us a big breakfast before leaving for work. I did three more laundry loads.
Maddy (my Maddy) and Cathy went shopping and bought records, calendars and more. Lisa played one song over and over … “Just call me angel of the morning” … so by the time we left, we knew all the words. We put the camper down when an ugly looking storm came up.
The patio glass was replaced and I painted water color flowers at Eric’s eye level. We had drinks and burgers and then sat up talking until 3am.
Jerry pulled me out of bed at 8:30 and we packed up to leave after a leisurely breakfast. We entered Arkansas at 2pm and had lunch at Ozark, Arkansas. It rained all evening, I fixed sandwiches in the car and we drove all night arriving home the next day, July 2, 1968. What a trip that was!
1971 - Camping trip to Montreal - On August 13, eight of us in our station wagon and pulling our camper, we left Miami Springs shortly before midnight. We drove until about 4am, napped briefly at a rest stop, then discovered that our water tank was leaking and the drain valve wasn’t working. A flying highway pebble started a growing crack on the windshield and I entertained myself by marking its progress with lipstick. Near Daytona, we left a Standard station and drove about 7 miles before we realized our little dachshund, Heidi, was not with us. Linda cried all the way back, but when we got there, the attendants were holding her inside for us. Whew!
It was about 11:45am when we left crossed the Florida/Georgia border. We dined at the Plantation Restaurant in Ridgeland, SC, and then for the first time in the car, everyone but the driver slept at one time.
On a stretch of 301 about 7 miles north of Rowland, SC, we discovered our running lights were out and we pulled over on a gravel parking area in front of a shop with only one light bulb glowing in the night. As Phil was trying to fix the cord, a carload of drunken teenagers decided to have some fun with us. We were certain they were going to ram us as they careened about heading straight for us, then swerving off at the last minute, rebel yelling their heads off. We were terrified. Phil and I went out to the road and screamed for help, but no one stopped. It was a nightmare. We left as soon as we could all get back in the car and we drove 4 miles to a Citgo station and called the police. Meanwhile, the plug worked and our lights came back on. We spoke briefly to the police and left, determined to put as much distance between ourselves and that strip of SC as we could. That was an experience I never forgot. Jerry drove until we found a rest stop just over the VA border and we all slept very well.
Up before 6 the next morning, we were on our way under an overcast Virginia sky. In the middle of DC, we burst a pressure hose and had to wait until one was delivered.
We arrived at my sister’s in NJ about 3. Mom was there. The Nicolls had rented a camper just a bit longer than ours and very nice. Steve barbecued hamburgers for the kids on the patio and later the grownups had roast beef and fresh corn. Some of the boys went bowling, but I had an awful headache and went to bed.
We left NJ pulling our two campers, picked up ice and batteries and hoped to make use of a set of walkie-talkies, but the reception was poor. Mother rode with us and Paul rode with the Nicolls. We lost them when they ran out of gas (we learned later), but met up again at the home of Uncle Al and Aunt Pearl on Lake George in the Hague, near Ticonderoga. They ran a bed and breakfast most of the year, but were able to spend time with us for a couple of days while the kids explored, climbed trees and generally had a good time.
We pulled into a KOA campsite in Montreal and I did laundry while Jerry and the little ones went to pick up his mother, Nana. She brought barley soup, meat pies and lots of goodies including a birthday cake for Paul.
The next morning, we left for the Laurentians bringing Nana with us. We had reserved space for two days at the KOA in Grand Remous … on a river where the logs flow by … a swimming pool the kids enjoyed. Steve lit a fire and everyone enjoyed that. Steve and Jerry became the greatest of drinking buddies … something they both thought they did quite well. Let me just say they were not usually the happy and mellow kind of drinking buddies.
The next day was the most relaxing and enjoyable of all. The weather was beautiful. Marion, Paul and I drove around the local souvenir shops and Jerry took the kids to the pool. Later we took some movies. Marion and Steve wanted to visit Expo, so we spent our last evening together. We planned to go back to Nana’s and spend some time there.
We left in the rain, but by the time we got back to Montreal, it had cleared. We hooked up our camper on Nana’s front lawn. Marguerite came with her husband, Jean Ives Briere. Paul stayed with them that night while Phil and John camped out in Nana’s living room. Jerry, Eric, Walt, Linda and I stayed in the camper. Marion called and said they had walked all over Expo and were leaving tomorrow for NH. We spent some time with Jerry’s siblings, Noelle, Andre, Pierre and Marguerite.
I don’t know when Mother left our party, but she ended up in Manasquan waiting for us which was our next stop from Canada. Maddy, who was not with us on this trip at all, called from San Francisco. It broke my heart when she left home and I was almost literally living from one phone call from her to the next.
We spent two or three days at Manasquan. Marion said she and Steve never left NH to go into VT as originally planned.
Heading back south again, we drove thru SC without stopping because a hurricane was threatening Cape Hatteras. We rested south of Jacksonville early morning, then continued on to Miami by nightfall. The trip spanned August 13-27, 1971, and was the last trip we would make together as a family. Jerry and I divorced in December.
The years from 1972 to 1980 seemed to pass in a blur. Linda, Eric and Walter were my life support as I slowly began to edge my way back into the workplace. The first jobs were telephone survey research which I could do from home. After that, I worked in the cafeteria at the junior high school because the hours were the same as those kept by my children. In 1974, I was hired as a research assistant for the Dept. of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Miami School of Medicine. We conducted a hospital study after which I moved on to the Cancer Center where our group traveled to every hospital in Florida with 100 beds or over to gather information on the cancer resources within the state. We published our findings. According to which grants were funded, I stayed with the Cancer Center until my retirement in 1996. Attending evening classes over five of those years, I picked up the two years I needed to graduate from UM in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in sociology, minor in business. Eric, Walt and I could often be found doing our algebra homework together.
I kept a hand written journal each time we traveled to Jacksonville, Sanibel, Captiva, Ft. Myers Beach or other places and some day, I'll insert bits and pieces from those trips, but in the meantime, here are the highlights from that decade ...
The 80s ... another decade to which I shall return
On May 31, 1981, my brother Skip was killed while vacationing in Idaho. He flew alone in his own plane to view some elk on a mountainside and got caught in a box canyon. Mother had been watching his home and dog in Key Largo and we had all been there over the Memorial Day weekend enjoying the sun and playing on Jet Skis. When I got the news, I had to drive back down from Miami Springs to tell Mother that she had lost her beloved only son. It was the longest drive I've ever made.
On July 10, 1984, my precious Eric was killed while a passenger on his own motorcycle. The driver (a new friend of his) crossed the median on A1A in Ft. Lauderdale and struck head-on traffic. I was notified by 4am phone call from a Broward sheriff’s deputy. The driver lived, was charged with vehicular homicide, then managed to escape both the hospital and prosecution.
Walt graduated from high school and prepared to move to Gainesville and the University of Florida.
The first day, we drove straight through to Houston (about 24 hours) arriving at the Aldrins’ in time for a swim in the pool. We had drinks and steaks and watched the family’s pet monkey ride around on the dog’s back, then swing through the tree branches. Jerry and the boys slept in the camper and I slept with Eric and Walter in Jan’s bed.
Next day, Joan watched the little ones and others swam while Buzz took Jerry, Paul, Maddy and me on a tour of the space center. We were spellbound. We left Houston early in the afternoon and drove to New Braunfels where we pitched camp in the driveway of the Greens on Guada Coma Circle. Maddy and Paul stayed up late talking with Chris Green while Ann and I caught up on some long-overdue conversation.
The following day, the oldest kids watched the youngest while Ann, Jerry, Linda and I took inner tubes up the Comal River and floated down. The rapids were fun enough to go back for seconds. Their daughter, Lisa, was ill, but recovered enough so that we could spend another day.
Ann and I went to the airport to pick up her oldest, Susan. Susan used to baby sit for Maddy and Phil when we lived in Morocco. How beautifully she had blossomed.
The day we left, it rained. We had dinner in Del Rio, about two miles from the Mexican border. We drove all day. At 8:05 mountain time, we saw a bright light in the western sky about 107 miles from the Texas/Arizona border on Rt. 10 (86 miles from El Paso). The light first appeared to have width, then diminished to star shape and then quite suddenly disappeared. (Twilight Zone music here).
We decided to drive all night so we’d have more time to spend at the Grand Canyon. We drove through Phoenix at daybreak, stopped to eat at a roadside area (this was the day Eric learned how to tinkle in the bushes), and went on to Flagstaff. The road to Grand Canyon lead through Navajo Reservation and a beautiful winding canyon road. When we arrived at the first lookout, I realized this was not the place for me with all these children who were eager to “play mountain goat.” I was terrified. Each viewing station dropped off into nothingness. Beautiful, but deadly. I took the kids into a Navajo curio shop, bought souvenirs, then we ate in Williams and were on our way again. Whew!
We stopped at the Grand Canyon Caverns, took an elevator 21 stories beneath the surface, and toured 45 minutes where the temperature was a constant 56 degrees. Eric loved it. That night, we pulled into Valley Mobile Trailer Park, a private campground with all the necessary facilities. Paul fixed sandwiches for everyone. We all had showers and settled in. Maddy kept me company while I did laundry late into the night.
The sunrise next morning was as beautiful as the best sunset. We stopped for gas and drinks in Needles, CA, and I called Betty, my old friend in San Bernardino. After lunch in Barstow, we arrived at the Parkers’ at about 3. Sam arrived home with groceries for a feast. The kids went swimming, ate early, and then Sam fixed us Mai Tais and put some really thick steaks on the bar-b-cue. We camped on their front lawn. This was our first taste of western summer temperatures. It was about 110 when we arrived here. Betty and Sam really outdid themselves to make us comfortable.
Betty fixed us a big breakfast the next morning and we washed and vacuumed the car and camper. Sam made burgers for our lunch and we were off to Arcadia for a very short visit with the Moons, my Uncle Bob and Aunt Audrey .. short because Ulrike and the baby hadn’t had chicken pox. Uncle Bob was recovering from a broken arm. We crossed town and arrived at Ronnie’s (Jerry’s sister) in Torrence, CA. She had fixed us a wonderful dinner and we camped in her driveway. It got quite chilly after the sun went down but the camper was warm with everything zipped up tight.
Ronnie cooked us a big breakfast and I vacuumed. Jerry did some yard work. We were ready for a few domestic duties after spending so much time sitting in the car. We watched a movie.
This day, June 24 - Monday, was spent at Disneyland. We rented two strollers and bought hats or ears for everyone. We started in Tomorrowland and had lunch before continuing on to Fantasyland. The “Small World” exhibit was adorable and Eric really enjoyed it as did the girls. The Pirates of the Caribbean frightened Walter, but he seemed to enjoy all the rest. We had turned the older kids loose with their ticket books. They all met us back in the center and we left after the parade. We reached the highway just in time for the fireworks display. When we got back to Ronnie’s, we learned someone had broken into the camper, but we did not find anything missing.
We left Torrence early, had lunch in Fresno. The children were restless and testy and it was 105 outside. We stayed overnight in Riverside and I did laundry for the next two hours.
Riverside was a lovely campsite, but we weren’t there long enough to enjoy it. John had an ear infection so we stopped in Redding to see an ENT man who prescribed medication for him. Walt had a bit of a cold, so we got something for him too. Driving north, the mountains and lakes were magnificent and we spotted Mt. Shasta in the distance. We had lunch at Weed at the base of the mountain. I called the Knights. We picked up sandwich makings and fixed them in the car to save a little time. We arrived at the Knights at about 10pm, pitched camp and got the little ones to bed. Mother Knight’s brother, Walter, was here visiting. Mirriel was here with Stephen and Danny. Mother Knight fixed coffee for us and dessert for the kids. The children hit it off well, but noisily.
We woke to a windy and chilly morning. After a wonderful breakfast, I took home movies and did more laundry. After lunch, we drove to the cemetery to visit Ben’s grave. From there, we drove to visit Ben’s older brother Arlie and his wife Alice. Chatted with Mirriel late into the night. The girls slept in the house. My feet never warmed up all night.
We left and drove to visit with Ruth’s family. She and Howard had lunch ready for us. Phil and Kay and their kids arrived. Maddy played their flute and piccolo. We had a nice visit, then left heading toward Idaho. 34 degrees outside, we drove all night to stay warm.
Groggy from lack of sleep, we wondered if the sight we saw in Yellowstone was just a dream. It was awfully cold when we entered the park after breakfast. Snow had been falling since dawn. By the time we reached Old Faithful, the snow was falling so heavily we would not have been able to see her spout. The kids made snowballs and we bought Linda a pair of Wranglers in the general store, then drove on fearing we could get stuck there. We proceeded through Grand Teton National Park which was breathtakingly beautiful. The weather was lovely all afternoon after we left Yellowstone, but about 8pm, near Rawlings, WY, it began to sleet. We ate dinner and kept on going. It was too wet and cold to pitch camp. I drove about 60 miles through a snowstorm which cleared shortly after Jerry took over. He was through Cheyenne and Denver before stopping for a snooze. In all fairness, he did at least 70 percent of all the driving.
On the road again after the sun came up. The little ones had slept pretty well in back. We were exhausted. We took a wrong road at Limon, but only went about ten miles out of our way. It was windy and chilly when we pulled into a rest stop and had our cereal. We stopped for a late lunch at McPherson, KS, and I phoned Maddy Crowell. We crossed the KS/OK border at 6pm. It was so nice to be back in warm country that I thought I might never complain about heat again. It was still daylight when we reached Tulsa at about 8:30. We set up the camper in the driveway and Chuck made drinks. We hadn’t been there an hour when Eric ran through the glass patio door. He was covered with blood and there were a few terrifying moments before we realized he was okay except for a few facial lacerations. The one on his eyelid was much too close. Chuck rushed us to St. Francis Hospital where a surgeon, Dr. Ward, put 12 stitches in Eric’s face. He was so good. The girls, Eric and I slept inside.
Chuck fixed us a big breakfast before leaving for work. I did three more laundry loads.
Maddy (my Maddy) and Cathy went shopping and bought records, calendars and more. Lisa played one song over and over … “Just call me angel of the morning” … so by the time we left, we knew all the words. We put the camper down when an ugly looking storm came up.
The patio glass was replaced and I painted water color flowers at Eric’s eye level. We had drinks and burgers and then sat up talking until 3am.
Jerry pulled me out of bed at 8:30 and we packed up to leave after a leisurely breakfast. We entered Arkansas at 2pm and had lunch at Ozark, Arkansas. It rained all evening, I fixed sandwiches in the car and we drove all night arriving home the next day, July 2, 1968. What a trip that was!
1971 - Camping trip to Montreal - On August 13, eight of us in our station wagon and pulling our camper, we left Miami Springs shortly before midnight. We drove until about 4am, napped briefly at a rest stop, then discovered that our water tank was leaking and the drain valve wasn’t working. A flying highway pebble started a growing crack on the windshield and I entertained myself by marking its progress with lipstick. Near Daytona, we left a Standard station and drove about 7 miles before we realized our little dachshund, Heidi, was not with us. Linda cried all the way back, but when we got there, the attendants were holding her inside for us. Whew!
It was about 11:45am when we left crossed the Florida/Georgia border. We dined at the Plantation Restaurant in Ridgeland, SC, and then for the first time in the car, everyone but the driver slept at one time.
On a stretch of 301 about 7 miles north of Rowland, SC, we discovered our running lights were out and we pulled over on a gravel parking area in front of a shop with only one light bulb glowing in the night. As Phil was trying to fix the cord, a carload of drunken teenagers decided to have some fun with us. We were certain they were going to ram us as they careened about heading straight for us, then swerving off at the last minute, rebel yelling their heads off. We were terrified. Phil and I went out to the road and screamed for help, but no one stopped. It was a nightmare. We left as soon as we could all get back in the car and we drove 4 miles to a Citgo station and called the police. Meanwhile, the plug worked and our lights came back on. We spoke briefly to the police and left, determined to put as much distance between ourselves and that strip of SC as we could. That was an experience I never forgot. Jerry drove until we found a rest stop just over the VA border and we all slept very well.
Up before 6 the next morning, we were on our way under an overcast Virginia sky. In the middle of DC, we burst a pressure hose and had to wait until one was delivered.
We arrived at my sister’s in NJ about 3. Mom was there. The Nicolls had rented a camper just a bit longer than ours and very nice. Steve barbecued hamburgers for the kids on the patio and later the grownups had roast beef and fresh corn. Some of the boys went bowling, but I had an awful headache and went to bed.
We left NJ pulling our two campers, picked up ice and batteries and hoped to make use of a set of walkie-talkies, but the reception was poor. Mother rode with us and Paul rode with the Nicolls. We lost them when they ran out of gas (we learned later), but met up again at the home of Uncle Al and Aunt Pearl on Lake George in the Hague, near Ticonderoga. They ran a bed and breakfast most of the year, but were able to spend time with us for a couple of days while the kids explored, climbed trees and generally had a good time.
We pulled into a KOA campsite in Montreal and I did laundry while Jerry and the little ones went to pick up his mother, Nana. She brought barley soup, meat pies and lots of goodies including a birthday cake for Paul.
The next morning, we left for the Laurentians bringing Nana with us. We had reserved space for two days at the KOA in Grand Remous … on a river where the logs flow by … a swimming pool the kids enjoyed. Steve lit a fire and everyone enjoyed that. Steve and Jerry became the greatest of drinking buddies … something they both thought they did quite well. Let me just say they were not usually the happy and mellow kind of drinking buddies.
The next day was the most relaxing and enjoyable of all. The weather was beautiful. Marion, Paul and I drove around the local souvenir shops and Jerry took the kids to the pool. Later we took some movies. Marion and Steve wanted to visit Expo, so we spent our last evening together. We planned to go back to Nana’s and spend some time there.
We left in the rain, but by the time we got back to Montreal, it had cleared. We hooked up our camper on Nana’s front lawn. Marguerite came with her husband, Jean Ives Briere. Paul stayed with them that night while Phil and John camped out in Nana’s living room. Jerry, Eric, Walt, Linda and I stayed in the camper. Marion called and said they had walked all over Expo and were leaving tomorrow for NH. We spent some time with Jerry’s siblings, Noelle, Andre, Pierre and Marguerite.
I don’t know when Mother left our party, but she ended up in Manasquan waiting for us which was our next stop from Canada. Maddy, who was not with us on this trip at all, called from San Francisco. It broke my heart when she left home and I was almost literally living from one phone call from her to the next.
We spent two or three days at Manasquan. Marion said she and Steve never left NH to go into VT as originally planned.
Heading back south again, we drove thru SC without stopping because a hurricane was threatening Cape Hatteras. We rested south of Jacksonville early morning, then continued on to Miami by nightfall. The trip spanned August 13-27, 1971, and was the last trip we would make together as a family. Jerry and I divorced in December.
The years from 1972 to 1980 seemed to pass in a blur. Linda, Eric and Walter were my life support as I slowly began to edge my way back into the workplace. The first jobs were telephone survey research which I could do from home. After that, I worked in the cafeteria at the junior high school because the hours were the same as those kept by my children. In 1974, I was hired as a research assistant for the Dept. of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Miami School of Medicine. We conducted a hospital study after which I moved on to the Cancer Center where our group traveled to every hospital in Florida with 100 beds or over to gather information on the cancer resources within the state. We published our findings. According to which grants were funded, I stayed with the Cancer Center until my retirement in 1996. Attending evening classes over five of those years, I picked up the two years I needed to graduate from UM in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in sociology, minor in business. Eric, Walt and I could often be found doing our algebra homework together.
I kept a hand written journal each time we traveled to Jacksonville, Sanibel, Captiva, Ft. Myers Beach or other places and some day, I'll insert bits and pieces from those trips, but in the meantime, here are the highlights from that decade ...
The 80s ... another decade to which I shall return
On May 31, 1981, my brother Skip was killed while vacationing in Idaho. He flew alone in his own plane to view some elk on a mountainside and got caught in a box canyon. Mother had been watching his home and dog in Key Largo and we had all been there over the Memorial Day weekend enjoying the sun and playing on Jet Skis. When I got the news, I had to drive back down from Miami Springs to tell Mother that she had lost her beloved only son. It was the longest drive I've ever made.
On July 10, 1984, my precious Eric was killed while a passenger on his own motorcycle. The driver (a new friend of his) crossed the median on A1A in Ft. Lauderdale and struck head-on traffic. I was notified by 4am phone call from a Broward sheriff’s deputy. The driver lived, was charged with vehicular homicide, then managed to escape both the hospital and prosecution.
Walt graduated from high school and prepared to move to Gainesville and the University of Florida.
Stories, Page 2
1968 ... 1990
1968 ... 1990
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