I am new to the blogging world. It seems that this is the way of the world now... So here I go. I don't' know how often I will update but my goal is at least once a week. I am going to slowly but surely fill you in on what life with Jeff is like. Sometimes humorous other times frustrating. But always an adventure!
In the Fall of 1976 I was working at a Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors ice cream store in North Phoenix, Arizona. I had graduated from High School that previous Spring- the Bi-Centennial year! I had worked at B.R. all through my Junior and Senior years of high school and I was currently in my first year of college. It was an easy job with great benefits. Oh no insurance. Nothing of what the current world considers "benefits". Heck we didn't even make minimum wage!! No our benefits included all the ice cream, cake, cones, and toppings etc that we could eat! Oh I loved that job! Believe it or not I never gained an ounce of weight. I was skinny as a rail! 5'6" tall and barely 115 pounds! Life was good!
I had saved enough money from babysitting and working at B.R. to buy my first car; a '65 Mustang. Yes! I did own one of those wonderful classic cars. Dark blue with a hard top. It was my pride and joy! I washed and waxed it weekly and I even learned how to do all the mechanical work; yes! Tune up's, oil changes and radiator flushes, I did all the work myself! I had the seats reupholstered to the original design of the car. I LOVED that car! Still do even though it is long gone... more on that another day...
Due to family financial issues I had to attend college not the way I had planned. I had great lofty goals of going away to college. Maybe to N.A.U. in Flagstaff, AZ or even to a college in Pennsylvania, or maybe Michigan St. as they had "cool" football helmets. Oh I so passionately wanted to get away from home but it was not to be. So as "life" would have it I was attending a local Jr. College; Phoenix College. I knew it was a stepping stone to A.S.U. (Arizona St. University). So I sucked it up and did it. After all I was paying my own way through school and this was the least expensive option available. I had to make this work!
I was 18, and ready for life! I am the middle child of 5 children. The sandwich meat of 5 kids. Not the oldest in any group and not the youngest in any group. The middle! Not the best place, but I certainly did know my place. I have 2 older sisters, both of which were married and either had children or were about to have children, at this point, and neither had attended college. I also have a younger sister and a brother, who was the youngest of all 5 of us. They were still in high school & elementary respectively. I had to go away. I was different. I didn't want to get married, I didn't want children- at that point. I wanted a college degree and a job that paid more than I was making scooping ice cream. I wanted out!! I was strong willed and independent Yet I rarely spoke while in high school. I had my close friends of course. And, we had a blast! Not the drugs and alcohol kind of fun but just hanging out, going to movies & "Cruising Central Avenue," kind of fun. Basically I was shy and quiet... But, I knew I wanted more! I always felt I should live on the East Coast and not out West! I knew that college was my ticket out and I was going to make it happen. Nothing or no one would get in the way of my degree!
Life was clearly defined in the mid 70's. There were clear class lines in the Phoenix area at the time. I lived in N. Central Phoenix, the Sunnyslope area, the area just North of the "rich" area in Phoenix. I had attended Sunnyslope High School. It was a good respectable High School. Central High School was the "money" school in Phoenix at the time. Both were public high schools. But, whew! If you went to Central everyone knew what that meant... You lived in the "right" area of town! However, we had "S" mountain and a Homecoming football parade down the middle of the street with floats and everything... and they didn't. So we were just fine. Not wealthy with money but we had spirit!!
And then I met Jeff... He was a big, curly headed guy that came to work at BR. I had to teach him how to wrap cones and scoop ice cream. Oh he was not so good at it... His apron always was on wrong and his hair was rarely combed, and he always had a bloody scrape on either his hands or elbow. He tended to make a mess of things on a regular basis. But, oh could he make me laugh! He was always joking around about something and he had the most interesting "stories" he would tell. I was dating someone else at the time so he didn't really interest me. Besides I was in college and he was in high school. However, he did go to Central High School. So I was always interested in what he had to say about life there...
Jeff and I had several running jokes and by the Spring of 1977 I had broken up with my former boyfriend and was dating other guy off and on. Nothing serious but just fun. Jeff didn't "approve" of any of the guys I was dating at the time. He made fun of each of them as he met them. This annoyed me!! Jeff and I sat in the parking lot when we weren't busy scooping ice cream and fed the sparrows broken bits of cones and talked about our life plans. He always made me laugh! Then one day it was something he said and I "knew" he was going to ask me out on a date. I was panicked! I didn't want to date this guy! He was my best friend and I just knew that if I began dating him I would lose my best friend. Plus! And this is a huge PLUS!! He was younger than me, he was from a family with money, and he was Jewish!! I am barely middle class & Catholic!! We didn't do that in the 70's in my area of town! We didn't cross all those lines!! At least I didn't do that!!
So as any good Catholic girl does I went and asked my best friend, Anna. Another good Catholic girl whom I had known for many years! I had told her that Jeff had indeed asked me out and that I told him I would "think about it..." Her answer and I will never forget it was simple. "What is one date going to hurt?" Just go have fun and no worries... Oh Anna! If you only knew what you started with those simple words...
And so began what has turned into thus far a 36 year whirlwind of a life that is full of all the up's and downs that one can have... One that is never boring and one that I pray continues for at least another 36 years!
Life with Jeff!
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