FIRST APARTMENT, PART II

 In the previous post I mentioned the apartment had a front and back door.  We mostly used the back door,  because the garage was in the back.  Speaking of parking, thus cars, Marilane (i.e. we) had a firm rule about no bumper stickers on our cars.  In our fifty-five years and multiple cars, there has been only one exception and it was while we were living here.  It was "Snoopy for President."  Obviously, we were disenchanted with both parties' nominees.  

It was out back that I brought two chairs I'd purchased at Unfinished Furniture.  I applied two coats of polyurethane stain and am proud to say that we still use the chairs and they still look very good.  Given my estrangement with paint and stain, this ranks as my #1 accomplishment.

This picture of our daughter is just next to the back door.  I picked this picture (10 months, 27 inches) because she was quite precocious.  Her balance was extraordinary and she took her first steps at eight months (maybe nine).  I really didn't think it was all that exceptional until the boys came along and Marilane had to alleviate my concern since they were over a year before they toddled along.  I  remember going to a July 4th concert/fireworks at Town Lake and as a pre-teen she stood on a parking bollard for something like an hour.  She was also very quick learning to talk.  Marilane tells the story of being in a store conversing with her and a lady (apparently) asked her age and remarked that she was too young to be forming sentences.  This was at fifteen months.  I suspect if you ask her brothers, she hasn't stopped talking yet.

She is wearing a nautical themed dress.  She had lots of outfits.  First child, daughter, mother a seamstress.   

FIRST APARTMENT

 If you read the previous post, you know that this is the second apartment we lived in.  But it's the first we actually had our own stuff in it and called "home."  So, we start with the apartment itself.  It was located just off Preston Road and Loop 12.  As you can see, it was two story with two bedrooms and bath upstairs and living room, dining area and kitchen downstairs.  We had both front door and back door.

I remember visiting with our neighbor, Mrs. Stitchke (sp?).  She was a long-time resident and her apartment was very nicely decorated.  The memory that sticks with me is she had hung drapes (I'm remembering a tangerine color, maybe champagne) across the whole front wall.  That wall only had one set of windows.  I thought at the time, and still do, that it was a very classy way of sprucing up a dull area.  We must have made a favorable impression on the manager because one day after work we came home to find a green dinette table and three chairs in our otherwise devoid dining area.  She told Marilane that other tenants had moved out and left it so she just had it moved over to us.  

Speaking of furniture, we had very little when we moved in.  The (Grundig) stereo in the picture was purchased when I was in the army in Germany.  The table was on loan from Marilane's parents.  We did the popular board-and-block bookcase to separate living and dining areas.  Marilane went shopping for a bedroom suite at Sanger Harris.  Ah, the old days!  The salesman gave her a deep discount on it because it was the display model and had a nick in the dresser.  The nick was so small I couldn't find it and she had to show it to me.  Fifty-five years later it is still in use and still looking great.  I'm thinking Sanger Harris delivered it to the bedroom because I would have remembered trying to get it up the stairs.  Shortly thereafter, Marilane went shopping for lamps, and brought back two very nice ones.  They still look good on the dresser, but today we have them in two separate bedrooms.

I would occasionally ride my bike to work.  We only had one car and Marilane's school was a good distance away.  On the morning of August 8, 1968 Marilane called my work.  This was 'way before cell phones.  As I remember it, I was at my boss's desk, maybe secretary's, when she told me it was time to go to the hospital.  Somewhere in the conversation I asked if she could make me lunch.  I didn't think much of it, it would take me fifteen or so minutes to get home and I figured I'd be in for a long wait at the hospital.  The ladies at work wouldn't let me forget it, though, and I received a few barbs when I came back to work.   

As you can see, the picture was taken at Christmas time.  I'm pretty sure we kept the garland for twenty-five maybe thirty years before upgrading.  The stereo had a tape recorder, radio, and record player.  I don't remember when we finally abandoned it, but it went through several moves.  I'm liking the album this picture was in, and the next post will have another one taken several months later.

CALIFORNIA DUSTERHOFFS VISIT NEWLYWEDS

But this post is about the picture(s).  Truthfully, I cannot remember precisely, but they were stopping by after a trip east.  Maybe to Disney World or maybe brother Rich in Atlanta or maybe both.  But they stopped by to see how we were doing.  

At the time, Marilane was teaching and I'm pretty sure I was still theatre manager at The Village theatre.  It is possible I'd just started with State Farm Insurance.  We were living in a two bedroom apartment so we gave them our apartment and asked our friends, the Warborgs, if we could bunk in their spare bedroom.  As you can see, our apartment complex had a pool and Jack and family took full advantage (I have multiple pictures).  We took them up to see the University of Dallas campus, somewhat barren in 1968. 
 The whole purpose of this blog is this picture of Terry, Johnny, and I'm assuming Mike (next to Terry).  I'm pretty sure I had two T-shirts, or maybe light sweatshirts, one of which said Bull Shirt and the other said Cow Shirt that I "gifted" to the kids.  I'm sure karma has come back to bite me for that in some fashion.  But you will notice that Terry has a very short bob.  She told (or reminded) me later that someone at UD commented upon her being a boy.  It may not have been direct, I'm a little sketchy on details, perhaps just mentioning to Jack and Diane what nice boys they have, something like that.  In any case, as she told me, that was the last time her hair was that short.  

  

 

PROM KING

A few years ago Marilane and I spent a few hours with an old high school friend.  She lives only a few miles from my sister in Maryland and about a half hour from my daughter and family.  On one of our trips to visit them, we included Annette.   During the course of our reminisces, she brought out a photo of us, Prom King and Queen.  Her being voted queen was a no-brainer, she was the prettiest girl in school, smart, well-liked.  While I was well-liked, it was pretty much a default.  Our graduating class of twenty broke down to fourteen girls and six guys.  Of the six, three were only there for the senior year, one was pretty much a loner, and the other had to work when not at school thus wasn't into school activities.  That left me. The guy standing next to Annette was Dick M (I know the last names) and next to him was his sister, Joanne.  Next to me was my date, Donna, then someone, then Bobby.  Donna lived in Baltimore, I lived in Riverdale.  That's about thirty miles or over an hour driving in those days.

 In my freshman year no one in high school lived in Glenn Dale; truthfully, hardly anyone lived in Glenn Dale.  I rode the public school bus to Laurel, about 15 miles away, with the elementary and junior high kids.  I wasn't old enough to drive, so there wasn't any after-school activity for me.  We were living in my cousin's house while they were in Florida for a couple years.  The house was next to a railroad track and there was a dirt road that ran along side of it.  On this road I learned to drive, that is, shift and steer, in a 1941 Ford.

We moved to Rogers Heights in my sophomore year.  I carpooled with a bunch of upper classmen.  The driver was Dick somebody, the other guy, Jimmy,  eventually went into the priesthood, and I will have to dig into the yearbook to remember the two girls.  I got my driver's license shortly after my sixteenth birthday and was allowed to drive the family car (1954 Ford station wagon) to and from school.  I picked up a few carpool folks myself, one of whom was Judy B.  I remember her because shortly after high school she died in childbirth.

Having the car allowed me to join after-school activities.  I was awarded a letter-sweater in girl's basketball because 1) I went to all the games and 2) provided transportation to the team.  There were no other sports at that time, although boys basketball came shortly thereafter.  I also made a name for myself in that in order to get the car started, I needed to push it down the slight slope in the parking lot and pop the clutch.  In Rogers Heights we lived on a steep hill, so it was much easier.  This went on for over a month until we got it fixed (I think it was the starter motor).  I also drove Sr. Michael and a couple of girls to Huntington, West Virginia to the nun's motherhouse.

One other thought just ran through my mind.  Annette played basketball and we both had the same memory: Judy J could drain six out of ten shots from mid-court, besides being a phenomenal all-around player.  For the younger folks, girls basketball was half-court back then.  Three forwards and three guards who could not cross the half court line.

That's a lot of memories from one picture.  I'll go trolling through the albums and find another.