5:12 p.m. - 2005-08-30
trouble is brewing
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
1950
Although the family had settled into a routine at N. Clark St., the relationship between Donald and Peggy Jo had started to change. They bickered when they were home together. Donald was busy with his work and his photography. He also liked to play golf with some of his business customers. Peggy Jo was home with 3 children under the age of 6. She didn't have much time for outside interests. She did enjoy reading and listening to music. In fact, both of them enjoyed those pursuits.
Terri remembered being sent from Daddy to Mommy to relay information and then being sent from Mommy to Daddy to repeat her response. This might go on for several minutes. Terri thought it was fun to run back and forth and tell one parent what the other parent was saying. She didn't realize that the marriage was falling apart.
Leonetta was quite upset about the problems. She talked to her son several times and told him she didn't want him to abandon his family like his own father did. She reminded him that Peggy Jo had no job and no experience as a working mother. She also reminded him how tough it had been on their family when she had to work outside the home. Donald did understand and respect his mother's point of view. However, he had met someone. The woman was a lovely lady, she was working in a bank and was also a single mother with a daughter who was just a few months older than Terri.
One day Terri went with her mother to an office. While her mother was talking to an attorney; Terri stayed with the secretary who showed her how she could type her name using the manual typewriter. Terri worked very hard to type. When her mother came out of the office; Peggy Jo had tears in her eyes but she didn't explain why.
A few months later, Peggy Jo made arrangements for her 3 daughers to stay with Uncle Jim and Aunt Vernice on a farm where they lived and worked. The girls didn't understand why they had to live there but they were excited to live with chickens and a cat and dog. Terri had been treated for Rheumatic Fever and was still following the doctor's orders for rest and good food.
Peggy Jo found a small place to live while she attended a secretarial school and found a job. She didn't know how to drive so she had to find a place that was on a bus line. Uncle Jim would pick her up on weekends a couple of times a month so she could visit with her children. Sometimes she took a bus back and forth to see them. It would be several years before the girls were back with Peggy Jo, living in their own apartment together.
In the meantime, Virginia and Emerson still did not have any children. Virginia was very fond of Terri and often bought her very nice dresses to wear. They asked Peggy Jo if they could take Terri to live with them in Minonk, Il. Peggy Jo did not want to split her children up and refused to separate the girls.
By this time Uncle Jim and Aunt Vernice had moved a few times themselves. They usually worked on a farm and had a house provided as part of the pay. They lived in Rochester, In; Royal Center, In. and Niles, Mi. while the girls lived with them. Terri and Ginny had the opportunity to attend a one room school for about a year. They liked the school bus and the school itself. They especially liked the hot lunch that was brought to the school every day by a bus. They also liked having the cats and dogs for pets. They played outside most of the time and enjoyed the fresh air and home cooking. Aunt Vernice was such a good cook, she had the nickname of Cookie. Terri told her one day that she knew why that was her name. When Aunt Vernice asked why; Terri said, "well, because you are a GOOD cooker!"
Althought Uncle Jim and Aunt Vernice had never had children. They had fostered a little boy named Timmy when he was about 1 year old. But his mother refused to let them adopt him, so Timmy was taken from them. In spite of that, they were very good to the girls. Aunt Cookie let them play and sing and dress up. She made them doll clothes for their dolls at Christmas Time and sewed little quilts for the dolls. Sometimes, they dressed the little kittens and puppies who seemed to appear on a regular basis in the doll clothes. The girls missed their mother, especially Terri and Ginny, who remembered her most.
Peggy Jo continued to look for better employment. She worked for GMAC in South Bend, In. for a short period. She got a job as a proof reader for the South Bend Tribune. She would read the stories and make corrections in the grammar, spelling or any other visual mistake before the newspaper articles were printed. She was finally able to find an apt. It was upstairs in a converted attic. It was across the street from Memorial Hospital. It had a small kitchen, bathroom, large livingroom and dining area and a large room which could hold 2 single beds and a double bed. Even better it was only a couple of blocks from Krogers, a laundromat, a doctor, a drugstore, and about 6 blocks from the library. She was ready to bring her children home to live with her. It was 1955.
The girls were all in school at James Madison Elementary in South Bend, In. Peggy Jo had found a neighborhood woman who had 2 daughters and a son. Katie was willing to take care of the girls after school and have Bonnie at her home half a day since she was in kindergarten. She provided a home cooked lunch for the girls because there was no lunch program at school. Terri and Katie's oldest daughter became good friends and all the children were happy to play together on a daily basis.
On to some humor.....****************>>>>>>>>>>>>...................
Bumper Stickers
These are the top 17 bumperstickers that everyone wants to see ...
Jesus loves you ... but everyone else thinks you are an ass
Impotence ... Nature's way of saying "No hard feelings."
The proctologist called ... they found your head
Everyone has a photographic memory
... some just don't have any film.
Save your breath .. You'll need it to blow up your date
Your ridiculous little opinion has been noted
I used to have a handle on life...but it broke off.
WANTED: Meaningful overnight relationship.
Guys ... just because you have one, doesn't mean you have to be one
Some people just don't know how to drive ...
I call these people "Everybody But Me."
Heart Attacks...God's revenge for eating His animal friends
Don't like my driving? Then quit watching me.
If you can read this..I can slam on my brakes and sue you.
Some people are only alive because it is illegal to shoot them.
Try not to let your mind wander...It is too small and fragile to be out by itself.
Hang up and drive!!
And The Number OneBumperSticker
You'd Like To See!!
Welcome to America ... now speak English
And some thoughts for you to ponder...........................
THIRTY LINES TO MAKE YOU SMILE
1.. My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He
thought he was God and I didn't.
2.. I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
3.. I Work Hard Because Millions On Welfare Depend on Me!
4.. Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill
them.
5.. I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
6.. Don't take life too seriously; No one gets out alive.
7.. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me
8.. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
9.. Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
10.. I'm not a complete idiot -- Some parts are missing.
11.. Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.
12. NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy,
why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.
13.. God must love stupid people; He made so many.
14.. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
15.. Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.
16.. Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
17.. Being "over the hill" is much better than being under it!
18.. Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I
Grew up.
19.. Procrastinate Now!
20.. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts; Do You Want Fries With
That?
21.. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
22.. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance
23.. Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!
24..They call it PMS because MadCow Disease was already taken.
25..He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead.
26..A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three
thousand times the memory.
27..Ham and eggs. A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime
commitment for a pig.
28.. The trouble with life is there's no background! music.
29.. The original point and click interface was a Smith and
Wesson.
30.. I smile! because ! I don't know what the hell is going
on.
Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying
for. Will Rogers
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Hope you enjoyed the story sequel. I am still working on it .
