It’s time for Project 52, Week 25!
25 weeks ago, on my 52nd birthday, I started Project 52 — for each week this year, I’m reflecting on one year of my life.
Last week I covered the year I was 24 years old — and the last year I worked full-time until 19 years later. Working full-time did not go well for me. I wanted to be home with my baby. And as much as I like math — teaching math is not nearly as much fun. (Especially when you’re teaching 4 classes either you’ve never taught before or that have a new textbook.) Being good at math isn’t an advantage when you teach it. I never will understand how students can actually think that (a + b) squared = a squared plus b squared. (I saw this mistake on a test every single semester I taught college math though. And screamed every time I saw it.) Though with time, I did learn what mistakes students made, I don’t think I was necessarily good at explaining why they were mistakes. Besides, I’m an introvert. I really don’t like getting up in front of a class. I’m also an optimist, so I did learn to enjoy it. But I wanted to stop teaching.
And Steve wasn’t very happy working part-time. So he did some auditions — and the one that stuck was the audition with the Air Force Band. Now, at the time I didn’t really understand about the difference between officers and enlisted, or I might not have been as enthusiastic. You pretty much had to have at least a Bachelor’s degree to get through the audition, but the only officers in the Band career field were the conductors.
Anyway, Steve knew by the summer that he was going to enlist, so my last class teaching at Biola University was Summer 1989.
And then we took a vacation!
Since the year my grandpa married my grandma, my great-grandmother held a Reunion in Salem, Oregon every year. She had recently passed away at this time, but the family still held the annual reunion, which my family attended every year when we lived in Seattle, and many years when we lived in California — and in 1989, I went with my little family.
We’d bought a new car in March! We bought a 1989 Honda Civic, no frills (or air conditioning) — and hated the buying process, felt like they took advantage of us. We bought it for reliability — we’d had a very bad experience with my used Ford Escort. And then that horrible car broke down for us in most of the major cities in America! But at this point, we were still happy with it. But the first mysterious breakdown happened when we were driving home from Oregon, and almost home. We’d been driving for hours, and suddenly the engine just quit. Ten minutes later, it started up again.
(It was the igniter. But no mechanic was able to figure it out for years. We couldn’t reproduce the problem when we brought it in — it was worst when the car was hot or the weather was super cold. This was the first of many times we had a problem. But was still the only time we had a problem that first year.)
Anyway, I think this year’s post is going to be mostly pictures. That trip to Oregon was wonderful.
Toward the beginning of the trip, we took a day trip up to Seattle. We drove past the house where I lived when I was small, 1131 Seattle Street in Kent —
It looked SO much smaller than I remembered it! Of course, when I lived there, there was no fence around the yard, and fewer trees. Here’s my bedroom window:
We went up in the Space Needle.
And we visited the Seattle Science Center, where Josh had a great time.
The actual Reunion was a blast. I remember that if everyone came that year, descendants of my great-grandmother and their spouses would have added up to 97 people. Here’s my Grandpa Bates and his siblings from youngest to oldest. Grandpa, on the right, was the oldest.
And here’s my Mom and her siblings, also youngest to oldest. My Mom was also the oldest — which is why I’m the third oldest great-grandchild, since I’m my Mom’s third child. My Mom’s cousins are mostly closer to my age than her age. (I’m afraid I didn’t take many pictures of other branches of the family on this trip, though.)
Here are all my grandpa’s grandchildren (and one great-grandchild) who were there:
And here’s the whole branch of the family (who were there), my Grandpa and Grandma and all their descendants, with spouses:
Josh was pretty adorable playing with Aunt Melanie, six weeks younger:
These little girls — first cousins of each other — were too cute! These are my cousins Kira, Kimberly and April and my sister Marcy.
They put color-coded stars on our nametags to keep track of who was in which generation. Josh was the only one there from the fourth generation, so got to play with the green stars left over.
In those days, Josh liked to wander off. Look away for a little while, and Josh would be long gone!
After the Reunion, we did some hanging out at Grandma’s house. I thought Josh and my cousin Kimberly (Uncle Larry’s daughter) looked nearly identical.
And here’s Josh playing cards with my brother Robert.
We also saw friends while we were in Oregon! Susan and Randy Leinen lived in Oregon for awhile (friends from Brethren High School and Lakewood First Baptist). Susan was pregnant with her firstborn.
And my first Biola roommate, Colleen Jenks, was teaching high school English in The Dalles, Oregon, but then on summer vacation.
Back in California, Steve was still performing with the Pacific Brass Quintet. He kept his tuba in the corner, blocked by sofas. This picture reminds me of the time I looked over and there were Josh’s little legs sticking out of the tuba — Josh had gotten a little too curious! Once I found out Josh was okay, it still makes me laugh.
Gram E and Gramp E still visited frequently, especially once we announced we’d be moving to the East Coast. On one trip, they took us to Knott’s Berry Farm.
Josh had a peak experience there!
I’d started selling Discovery Toys by then — which was not a good fit for me. Though Josh got some great toys that way. I finally had a profitable party — at my sister’s house — just before I moved away. Selling toys isn’t a great business for someone moving around.
I so much wanted to give up teaching! I’m afraid I answered several other “Work at Home!” ads — and yes, they were scams. I got us deeper into debt, what with not having an income that Fall, but still living in California. Steve was still working part-time and with the Brass Quintet — but that wasn’t enough.
We celebrated our last Christmas in California, first at home.
Then at my parents’ house.
And then with Steve’s parents and sister in Phoenix.
This picture reminds me how much Josh loved books by then. By now, Josh would recite the last words on each page of their favorite books. And in the car, we could pass books back to Josh and they would stay occupied for hours.
Steve went off to Boot Camp in January. They’d told us the salary he’d get as an Airman 1st Class. What they hadn’t told us was that for six weeks in Boot Camp, he’d be an Airman Basic, with no housing allowance, either. We were still living in California. More debt.
Meanwhile, our small group was still gathering. Here’s me going to a small group meeting at Claudia’s house on a Sunday.
And here are all the children we had in our small group by then.
Welcome Home Daddy, in Sidewalk Chalks. After that, it was time to move to McGuire AFB, New Jersey!
I’d forgotten this! As a baby, Josh was very much a morning person. They’d wake up and happily jump up and down in their crib for a good while before insisting we get them up. This picture must have been after a nap.
Since our stuff was gone by then, we celebrated Josh’s second birthday in March at Becky’s house.
Steve’s parents and Becky and Jason saw us off at the airport.
And so I finally moved away from California — having planned to move away when I got the chance ever since I moved there against my will when I was five years old. (Sorry, but that’s the truth.)
Steve drove our car to New Jersey, and I followed on a plane with Josh, landing in Philadelphia. Since the military was paying for our flight, and since Josh was now 2 years old, this was the first time Josh got a paid seat. My strategy was to not let them know that it was possible to get out of the car seat. I brought plenty of books, and Josh slept for part of the flight.
When the plane landed in Philadelphia, a lady in front of me had just complimented me on how good Josh had been and how she had enjoyed hearing Goodnight, Moon. Then the pilot came on the speaker and announced that we’d be waiting for a gate about ten minutes.
Just as the pilot finished speaking, when the whole plane was quiet, Josh shouted, “I want OFF! I want OFF da airpwane!” I wanted to curl up and hide, not realizing that Josh was voicing the feelings of every single person on the plane.
Josh’s diaper was completely full, and my plan was to pass this duty to Steve when we landed — but the Men’s restrooms in the airport didn’t have any diaper changing facilities. Grrrrr.
It snowed while we were still living in billeting. We were so excited! People laughed at us playing in the snow, but understood when they saw our California license plates.
We visited the Rauseos — who now lived in Maryland — while we were waiting for our household goods to arrive.
And while there, I got to see Kathe at work grooming dogs — which I’ve long thought is a lovely example of someone doing exactly what they are called to do.
And we went into DC with Kathe and Darlene.
Josh still had a tendency to quickly wander off. After we visited the Lincoln Memorial, we were standing at the bottom of the steps discussing where to go next. I looked up, and there was Josh, halfway up the steps again.
At McGuire AFB, until you achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant, you weren’t allowed to live on base. But housing off-base was priced too high for an A1C to afford. Fortunately, we were able to get Section 8 subsidized housing, or we would have had to get a one-bedroom apartment. We found a place in Browns Mills, New Jersey, where some other band families, lived, too.
There was a kid one year older than Josh who lived next door.
I so loved how green New Jersey was! In fact, one day I was driving and suddenly wondered, “Who waters the grass?” I’d never seen anyone watering it. It took me awhile before I realized that God waters it there.
This was behind our apartment. Steve entertaining neighbor kids.
My Dad had a business trip and came to see us! We took him into Philadelphia.
We had fun at the Franklin Institute, a science museum.
I loved all the trees there!
This was in our front yard.
And this was at a nearby park.
I did find a job quickly — but I think it was after my birthday. So I get to stop there.
Being 25 was a year of Transitions. I finally left California. I only temporarily quit teaching — but I did quit working full-time and got to spend more time with my children for the next 19 years.
And I got to live where it was GREEN! (I’d forgotten how much I liked that.)
And next week, I’ll finally reach the halfway point!