The neighbor had their roof replaced today. They are the last of us on the block to get that done. I guess 15 years is that magic age where the insurance companies get nervous and lay a little financial pressure on you to make that financial sacrifice. The crazy observation is what we paid for that roof is almost the same amount we did for our first home. Funny…..when we bought that home we thought we were the richest people in the world. Not quite the same jubilee as that first home.
I Followed The Yellow Brick Road
The Yellow Brick Road is more than just a path to the Emerald City; it symbolizes self-discovery, growth, and transformation. For all of us, each yellow brick represents the building blocks of our lives, the experiences, and lessons that shape who we are.
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About 8 years ago I began a 6 year mission to simplify and declutter our home. I have always been an organized person, and can put my hand on just about any requested item immediately, but wanted a better handle on the inner peace that comes with this process. One of the items I came across was a box of save greeting cards. I had saved wedding cards, new baby cards, many birthday and anniversary cards. Enough is enough, what am I doing with these? I had never looked at them again. So that night I discarded the box and wrote on social media that I had gained back that shoebox size space in my closet. By morning I was bombarded with comments. WHY after all these years of saving them would you get rid of them. Quickly I retrieved them from the trash. After several hours I came to my senses and decided social media was not going to hold me back from my goal to be somewhat decluttered before our retirement day in 2023.
As I went through them one last time I came across the first Valentine Day cards we gave each other in 1977. The messages were typical of a newlywed couple of only 9 days. I placed them in a safe spot with the few items I use to decorate for February. We both agreed that we would no longer buy overpriced greeting cards each holiday only to be discarded days later. Those precious cards have come out February 1st every year and placed where we can see them all month. A reminder of our love that was, love that is, and love that always will be. Happy 49th Valentine’s Day my Sweetie!
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I know more memories will come up about our days before February 5th 1977 here are just a few.
Sweetie had a 196? Plymouth. I think it was white but it took on an off white look to it, or maybe that was aged paint. Our first Official Date was McDonalds that was close to our work place. I am sure that we went somewhere else but I cannot recall at this time. What does stick in my mind is after dinner we had to fill up 5 empty gallons with water from the spicket outside of the restaurant. He kept in his trunk to use in the radiator. I remember on one particular date feeling hot water pour into the car above my feet. I believe it was the heater core. I think the car suffered so much because of the journey it had to take every work day. Sweeties home to the shop in Tarpon Springs was 27 miles. A large chunk of that was the treacherous ride down Countyline. It was a pot hole filled lime rock road that left the year round look of snow on the trees that lined it.
I had collected my fair share of rattles from that road. As our dating career had progressed I became a frequent guest on Sunday afternoons for Family Dinner. Sweeties Mom was a great cook (almost as good as my Mom and both always better cooks than I could ever be) Sweeties Sister always helped in the kitchen and was already an excellent cook in her young teenage years.
I remember dinner being delicious. Usually a piece of perfectly cooked beef or pork that you could break with your fork and a brown gravy to die for. Homemade unsweetened ice tea was the beverage served. I never had unsweetened tea and for the first few times I did request the use of the sugar bowl….a lot of sugar. Needless to say, I learned quickly to drink ice tea with no sugar and to this day can do just fine turning down the sweetened version.
After dinner and homemade dessert Sweetie and I would go for a drive. I remember one time sitting in the car several streets away from their home overlooking a large empty reservoir. I think we had the windows rolled down because we suddenly heard an eerie chanting noise. Not sure if it was a Satanic Ritual or Klansman Meeting but what ever it was we knew it was not good and got ourselves out of there. Whenever we are riding up in that area of the county we search for that cul-de-sac that has since been filled in with cookie cutter homes….hopefully, minus the evil spirits
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I remember being in chorus but I don’t remember being able to sing. In junior high school I was a member of the school radio station WMJH but I don’t think I was ever “on-air”. We even visited a local radio station and I thought to myself being a disc jockey was surely the career path I must take. I still have the little cassette tape where I played music and did mini interviews with my younger brothers.
My sweetie is one of the most accommodating people I will ever know he knows I have a love for music and a real soft spot for drums. In our first half of marriage we bought (and sold) two beautiful drum sets. But the problem was, I wanted so bad to play the drums but I didn’t want to learn to play the drums. I felt it should all just come naturally.
I love music, almost all music. Sweetie often tries so hard to ask me who sings this or do you know what those lyrics mean. I don’t think I will ever get any better at that game. But my love for music will never change. I will continue to buy surprise tickets and take my Sweetie to see some of the biggest names in Rock & Roll, but as for the drums…….not in this life.
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Ai says the song Blue Suede Shoes symbolizes 1950’s youth culture, fashion, and pride, where a pair of expensive or stylish shoes is treated as a treasured possession that should not be damaged or scuffed especially when dancing.
In looking back and even now I think we can honestly say we were not “label” people. We certainly wanted nice things but did not have to buy something just because the brand name attached to it. And when we did have something nice we took extra care of it. Sweetie had a very expensive guitar that he saved hard and bought as a teenager and he still has this guitar hanging in our home. It is a constant reminder of good memories and what hard work and perseverance will get you. I remember once I was invited to a church service where Sweetie and a singer performed “Our Father Who Art in Heaven” Only problem was he had forgotten his pick or misplaced it. He played that entire song using a quarter that if I remember correctly I was able to provide for him.
Back to the shoes. Neither of us had closets full of clothes or items to bring over to our first home. I don’t think we even needed a moving truck. One of the prized possessions that I saw through our dating years and first few years of marriage was Sweeties Florsheim Shoes. They were two tone ivory and either brown or dark burgundy and may or may not have had a weeeee bit of a platform heel. But he loved those shoes. When he put them on he had some sort of a superpower. Not sure but that may be what caught my eyes in the early days.
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I have some very vivid memories of being in the kitchen of our first home. There was the very popular harvest gold appliances with matching wall paint. We had indoor/outdoor carpet in the kitchen but that did not last long. I I remember specifically standing in the kitchen making spaghetti and listening to Stevie Wonder singing “Isn’t She Lovely”
This particular day Suzy-Gale Homemaker was going to defrost the now solid ice freezer. This was not something I had ever seen done because for as long as I could remember, or never took an interest in noticing, my family had a frost free freezer. I spent hours working on this project. I tried everything. I chipped and banged and even poured warm water on the stubborn chunks adhered to the aluminum sides of the compartment. By the time my Sweetie got home I was feeling quite defeated. Once the great problem solver arrived he was quick to solve the dilemma. Mamma never told me that you never pour water into a freezer to defrost when the appliance is still plugged in and on. This was the first of many things I learned as a newlywed and first time homeowner.
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In the 49 years we have been married I would have to say communication and technology is what has changed the most. (other than the pounds, wrinkles, aches, and pains we have added to our collections)
As I mentioned in my Honeymoon post, getting a private phone was so important to us as newlyweds and first time homeowners. So much that we delayed the start of our honeymoon to make sure we didn’t end up with a party line. That phone was so important to us. This was our first time away from our families so this was, at least in my eyes, my lifeline to our families. Our first phone was a rotary dial. In looking back at old pictures I think our first was on the counter but quickly moved to a wall mount. At one point we even hung a wooden replica phone that looked like something out of Lassie. Of course in the years to come we transitioned to a push button, added an answering machine with remote phones, and eventually gained a second line in the bedroom or our tiny 900 sq ft home. In the 80’s we had set up a desk in our bedroom where I was able to hold a second job making calls as Anne Clark (more later)
In the mid 1990’s our phone was instrumental in getting us on the dial-up connection with our new computer. Something I told my children we would never have a need for. Little did I know it would become so important in the path I followed in the years after.
That number came with us as we moved from our 900 sq ft house to our brand new home just miles away and then eventually to our current beautiful home we all “Bearly in the Woods” By this time we had gone through the beeper phase, the large clunky car phones, and now would not leave a room without our cell phones attached at the hip. The house phone which was once our lifeline was now the source of annoying solicitors and the public calling in to vote for their favorite contestants on Dancing with the Stars. Apparently our number was the same as the voting line for the competition each week. Hilarious that so many locals did not realize that the national number needed to add the 800 in front of the number. Teasing caller each week became almost as entertaining as watching the show.
In 2017 we made the heartbreaking decision to stop paying for that number we worked so hard to get. Every once in a while I dial that number. Along with my Mom & Dad’s phone number. Neither have been reassigned.
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Sooooo many memories in this tiny space, but it was ours.
When I hear of couples and families now not being able to actually own their home I reflect back on how proud we were to buy our first home the month before we married. Although sweetie was able to move in the month before the wedding we did not officially begin our journey until the day of our wedding.
We bought our home for $18,900. Now that I look back I see the house was only 7 years old. My brother and father came with us for the second look. My brother actually talked them down $500 and we gave them a deposit for $100 for which I still have the receipt. We used the $3000 that my parents had gifted us for our wedding. This was the first of some of the best financial decisions we ever made. We didn’t even need a co-signer for the 95% mortgage. Our qualifying credit was based on the small account Sweetie had maintained at a local auto parts store. I bet that man never realized his good recommendation is what gave us the needed credit for that purchase. The house was home quaint 2/1/1, 901 sq ft. It had the most awesome ceiling heat and one wall a/c unit located in the bedroom. The appliances were harvest gold, indoor outdoor carpet in the kitchen and bedrooms with traditional shag carpet in the living room. The couple that sold us the house were using it as a snowbird home. They left us several things knowing it was our first home. We still have an old scrabble game and a set of dutch boy/girl S&P shakers. I think of the Linscott’s every time we use them.
This would be our home as our little family grew. The boys were teenagers by the time we moved out in 1994. Needless to say it sold for almost double of what we paid and that was minus the ugly green shag carpeting.
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This is not going to be the kind of post you think. Safe to read even while drinking your coffee.
Where others may think that a Honeymoon Trip to the beautiful state of FLORIDA in 1977 is extraordinary, keep in mind we live in Florida. But yes honeymooning in Florida was special for us. The morning after our wedding we woke up to our first time ever sleeping together or for that matter with anyone. What I remember most about that day, that I can share here…. is that I woke up to Sweetie in a complete panic. His pillow was over my head and he later said he thought surely he smothered me. That’s what happens when you have never shared a bed with another person. It was a full size bed and we didn’t graduate to a queen sized bed for several decades. Actually our choice.
Our honeymoon plan was staying at an onsite beautiful hotel at Disney World and then over to Daytona Beach. Unfortunately our trip did not begin until Tuesday. Back in the 70’s the flood of northerners into our state was so rapid that the phone system could not keep up with it. The house was purchased the month before our wedding but we were told the only way we could get a private phone line was to be present for the installation on the Monday after our wedding. When I look back on it now it might have been fun to have a party line. Not as fun as it sounds. You basically had to share the line with someone else. We all had our own phone number and you didn’t even know who or where the person was you shared the line with. As you picked up the phone if someone was having a conversation you simply hung up and waited you turn. We had that same phone number for over 40 years. More on that soon.
I don’t remember much about Disney. I will have to look back in the limited pictures we have. But I do remember beautiful Daytona. We stayed at a place called Perry’s on the Edge. Each morning you went down for breakfast which was an elderly couple making homemade donuts. They were heaven. There was also an indoor pool which was good since it was in the month of February and the beach wasn’t going to happen. We actually brought the boys there several time in the years after. OK keeping this real. I just googled and the hotel is still open AND THEY STILL MAKE HOMEMADE DONUTS! This may have to be part of the surprise ahead.
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Some of those moments that you don’t think you will ever forget and just enough pictures to spark the memories.
When we began to plan our wedding my Mom and Dad said we had a choice. We could have a very big affair like my sister’s the decade before, or we could have a modest wedding and use the extra money towards a down payment on our home. I guess we were pretty practical even back then because we chose modest and being able to buy our first home before we even walked down the aisle.
Our wedding was a beautiful church wedding with the reception at the Holiday Inn banquet room. I remember the marquee sign out front had our names and I have a picture to prove that. I specifically remember that the price for the 3-tiered wedding cake and total price for the florals was the same $95. My gown was under $200 and of course the tuxedos were rented. I wanted impossible to find burgundy but we settled for baby blue. I remember him telling me he used a little mascara on a thin spot in his mustache but in my opinion we both looked perfect. Funny how you don’t think it at the time but I am still amazed every time I look at those pictures. One picture that makes me laugh each time is of us in the church lobby. We appear to have tears in our eyes as we are laughing. Although we did have a rehearsal for the ceremony, Wendell put the ring on the wrong hand. Something that went unnoticed by the Pastor who himself was never married.
Where our ride to the wedding and reception was in my brothers car, our mode of transportation to our first night home was his 66 Oldsmobile 442 Convertible. The convertible will come up often in the stories ahead but for now I will tell you it was very fast and Sweetie’s pride and joy. I’m sure we had some sort of noise makers hanging from the bumper, but what sticks in my mind is the way the outside of the car was decorated. Shaving cream all over the car and I recall that one of his cousins tried to write something on the car but he didn’t know how to spell very well. Regardless we knew that the car needed to be cleaned off. I remember looking for one of this self service carwashes but don’ t remember if we found one.
I Followed The Yellow Brick Road 