OUR TENNESSEE EXPERIENCES
John and I were married June 17, 1966 after I graduated high school and he graduated Jr. College, which was then located on the same campus as the high school. We took a trip to Milligan College in east Tennessee to scout it out and to find a place to live for when we moved there in the fall. We found a nice apartment and thought we were all set. When the time came for the first semester to start, we made the trip to the college town and looked up the apartment. When we got there, we discovered it had already been rented. So we had to hurriedly find a place to rent. The only place available was on a high hill in an area that looked to me like a swamp, not that there was standing water. It just had that look and feel to it. There were other trailers around. Our trailer was small and ugly. But it was a place to live. When we entered the trailer, the first thing I saw was that the kitchen floor was painted cherry red. We made the best of it out of necessity. I fixed it up until it actually looked cute. The only problem I remember having that year was a large, tarantula-size spider that was in the bathroom. I sprayed and sprayed bug spray on it and you could hear it flipping and flopping.
There were no secretary jobs available because of the influx of college students so I ended up working at a Dairy Queen for $1.10 an hour, $36 a week. Our food was not free and we didn't get paid for clean-up time after hours. Besides all that, the boss was very flirtatious when his wife wasn't around. Today they would call that sexual harassment.
John picked me up one night after work and we were driving through Johnson City where the Dairy Queen was located heading toward the college town. Before we left Johnson City a car came up on the bumper of our Volkswagen and tried to hit it. John sped up and so did the other car. The driver continued to try to hit our bumper. We were speeding and turning corners on two wheels trying to get away from him. John finally turned into a bus station and we ran inside and called the cops. The guy sat in his car for a while then was chased by the police. A little article appeared in the newspaper which made it sound like nothing was done to him and didn't explain what his motive was. I shudder to think.
Linda and Ron came to visit us while we lived there and so did Butch, though they came at different times. Linda and Ron and John and I all took a trip to the Smokey Mountains. It was beautiful and we were glad to have the company.
John and I didn't think we would be able to make it home for Christmas but somehow we managed it, even though the trip took a couple of extra hours because John decided to take a "short cut." It was by the grace of God that we went home because Linda and Ron lost their 4-month-old son Keith Douglas before Christmas. He died of heart abnormalities. They wanted us to stay with them while we were home and we were glad to do so. They had been through so much the previous weeks that they needed something or someone to lift them up. Linda and I became very close, unlike in high school, and we remained that way.
When the school year ended and the next one began, it was at SIU Edwardsville. More about that to come.
There were no secretary jobs available because of the influx of college students so I ended up working at a Dairy Queen for $1.10 an hour, $36 a week. Our food was not free and we didn't get paid for clean-up time after hours. Besides all that, the boss was very flirtatious when his wife wasn't around. Today they would call that sexual harassment.
John picked me up one night after work and we were driving through Johnson City where the Dairy Queen was located heading toward the college town. Before we left Johnson City a car came up on the bumper of our Volkswagen and tried to hit it. John sped up and so did the other car. The driver continued to try to hit our bumper. We were speeding and turning corners on two wheels trying to get away from him. John finally turned into a bus station and we ran inside and called the cops. The guy sat in his car for a while then was chased by the police. A little article appeared in the newspaper which made it sound like nothing was done to him and didn't explain what his motive was. I shudder to think.
Linda and Ron came to visit us while we lived there and so did Butch, though they came at different times. Linda and Ron and John and I all took a trip to the Smokey Mountains. It was beautiful and we were glad to have the company.
John and I didn't think we would be able to make it home for Christmas but somehow we managed it, even though the trip took a couple of extra hours because John decided to take a "short cut." It was by the grace of God that we went home because Linda and Ron lost their 4-month-old son Keith Douglas before Christmas. He died of heart abnormalities. They wanted us to stay with them while we were home and we were glad to do so. They had been through so much the previous weeks that they needed something or someone to lift them up. Linda and I became very close, unlike in high school, and we remained that way.
When the school year ended and the next one began, it was at SIU Edwardsville. More about that to come.
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