We were lucky to get rooms with hot showers, but we were enjoying the scenery and what a wonderful place to call home in beautiful Riverside, Calif. The weather was cool with balmy breezes. I thought I was in heaven.
We rented a small furnished home on Lime St. which we shared with another couple. After two weeks, we were able to move into a beautiful estate which had originally been Richard Halliberton’s [Halliburton]. Five couples from the base had living quarters there where the maid’s quarters and chicken coop were renovated. We had two rooms and two baths in the main house. We had our own Olympic size pool, barbecue pit, and a Private Drive sign which fronted the Eucalyptus lined lane which led to the house. The guys were home late afternoons to join in the fun at the pool, serving a few libations before barbecuing our dinner, then bridge. What a life!
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Hammy in wicker seat with others
by the pool (1948, Riverside, CA) |
From our ostentatious beginning here with our friends, Bert received orders for Budget + Finance School at Lowry Air Force Base, Colo.
The hat story occurred when we were transferred from March AF Base, Calif. to Denver, Colo. We'd just been married a few months, and had very few household items, as we'd been living in a furnished apartment. Everything we owned had been packed in the back seat, trunk and on top of our '48 Chevrolet coupe.
While driving through the desert, I casually mentioned “Oh look at the pretty hats flying through the air!” Guess what, to my surprise, they were mine! They were not securely tied to the roof of the car as we had thought.
Just six weeks of married bliss, and the real world scene appeared as we searched crazily for housing in Denver.
Our first "find" was with Stella, our owner of a rooming house where we had a furnished room and shared the kitchen + bath with eleven people! From the sublime to the ridiculous! It was the final blow when Stella appeared with one sheet for changing the bed. We were told to remove the top sheet, and use the clean one for cover. I broke out in tears + we moved the next day.
We found a lovely furnished efficiency in a large home with great owners. We shared the bath with just one other couple. Things were looking up with nice congenial people. Bert was enjoying school and I hired on as a temp in a law firm. My business skills were put to use as I typed eight hours a day using a dictaphone. It was O.K. but I was happy to be trading winter clothes for sunny Calif. in Nov.
We rented two other furnished abodes before buying some furniture at Sears and "moving up in the world."
Our first winter in Calif. was disastrous. We’d returned to Ohio to be with our folks over the holidays + to announce to both Bert's parents and mine that they would be grandparents in June + that was a most exciting time for all of us being together since they hadn’t been able to attend our wedding.
Not only did Bert + I have a treacherous drive back to Calif. from Ohio going through a snowstorm in the desert, but having no heat in our house when we got home was a shock. There was so much snow, the propane truck couldn't make it to deliver fuel! In addition to this dilemma, I was in the early stages of morning sickness + Bert came down with chicken pox.
We were warned by some of our AF friends to beware of sharing our home with another couple, but we did anyhow because neither of us had any children and felt there would be no friction. However we each had a dog + they fought! So much for sharing expenses in our first year of marriage.
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| Boots, the dog |
We soon found another place to call home in time to welcome our dear baby Kent.
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| Hammy at the new place, expecting Kent |
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| Baby Kent (1949) |
He was just six weeks old when we were transferred to Wright/Patterson AF Base in Dayton. Were we ever delighted to be able to share him with his S grandparents in Cincinnati and my H relatives in Wellsville, as well as other long time friends and relatives in Ohio. At last we were home!
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Bert & Ada with Kent, Ed & Dorothy A, Ruth & Ray H
(1949, in Wellsville, OH) |
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| Hammy and Kent (1949) |
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| Hammy and Kent (circa 1950) |
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| Hammy and Kent (circa 1950) |
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| Grandmother Leota H (circa 1950) |
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Grandparents George & Dorothy A, parents Ruth & Ray
(4 June 1950, Wellsville Sesquicentennial) |
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Grandparents George & Leota H and Dorothy & George A
(4 June 1950, Wellsville Sesquicentennial) |
With our numerous moves our first year of marriage, we were off and running to see the world. I was reminded by one of our dear friends, Helen S, that I should some day write a book titled "From Wellsville to the World,” travels of an AF family.
It now seems to be the opportune time since we’re comfortably situated in our comfortable abode at Azalea Trace, a lovely retirement home in Pensacola, Fl. Living near relatives during the children's formative years has its advantages.
Our first year in Ohio proved to be a challenge for us. Housing had not kept up with the demand from WWII returning vets.
The first partially furnished 3 room apartment address was 836-1/2 S. Limestone St. Rear in Springfield, Ohio which necessitated a 15 mile commute to the base.
Since we were a one car family, my time was spent entertaining a two month old baby playing games, reading stories, singing nursery songs, daily walks to the grocery, bonding with the other toddlers in the four-plex where we resided. We coped pretty well with our environment until we found it inconvenient to go outside to the entrance to the basement to do the laundry. House-hunting became our priority + luckily we found a beautifully furnished 7 room duplex with a gracious land lady living upstairs. They readily adopted us and we became family. Their daughter, her husband and year old daughter became life long friends. We were sorry when Bert's 2 year assignment was over and we were on the move again.
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| Hammy and Kent (circa 1951) |
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| Kent and Bert (circa 1951) |
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