Moving Out #4

Many things happened to me when I went to work in 1953, I was 20 years old that November, I liked my birth month because every seven years my birthday falls on Thanksgiving. My life was heading for a change when I took the job, I could feel the power shift my way, I no longer had to stay here, I could explore the world, it was at my finger tips, boy, lets not get too cocky. I did pay my aunt rent of $12.50 a week, I stayed for almost a year, she treated me a little better and I for a change was no longer afraid of her. I knew I was going to move out, this is not easy to do, I had no life experiences and that is a big world out side the home. In 1954 June wanted to get an apartment and ask if I wanted to share expensive, of course I was all for it, I didn't have to face the world alone and I was gaining more courage and self esteem.

My aunt and uncle ranted and raved, accused us of wanting to shack up with men, what men, we were never allowed to date or have boyfriends. So we moved to our first apartment, I regretted leaving my younger sister, Stella, but we did not have enough money for ourselves to live on, oh that sounds so selfish and one way. To this day many decades have gone by and I still think of this, and it hurts deeply. For the first time in our lives we are separated and it had to be hard on Stella, she was only 16. Stella remained with my aunt until she was 20 years old.

June was dating now, his name was Stan, the apartment was not working out, June wanted to save money for the wedding, so she moved back with my aunt. Not only did she leave me with the apartment, which I could not afford on my own, we had bought a car together and she wanted out of that also, so I went to live with Uncle Bud, my moms brother. Uncle Bud's wife, Aunt Izzy was a wonderful, cheery person, that could brighten your day, they had one son, he was 16 years old and dating, his name was Bill. I only had one fight with Bill, he was talking on the phone to his girlfriend and I was ironing in the dinning room, well, he did not want the light on. So it started, he turned the light off and I turnedit on, this went on for about five minutes, when all of a sudden he started to yell and shout, then he slammed out the door and drove off. Aunt Izzy did not know what was going on, she told me he will cool off, and come home, he did come back and we hugged and said sorry to each other, I was like a sister he never had and we loved each other. Bill's dad had gotten him a job with the City and he held it until he retired.

June was getting married and somehow my mom wrote June and said she could not come for the wedding. As soon as I found out moms address I wrote to her and told her to pack her bags, as soon as my vacation at work came up I was coming and bringing her out here. Uncle Bud told me I would have to find a place, he did not want my mom living with them. So I had to start looking, my vacation was in two weeks, not long to look, but I got lucky and found one within a week. I was getting excited, I had not seen my mom since 1946 and it was now 1955, almost ten years, I was only in the sixth grade when she left us, now I was a grown lady and working for the last two years.

I loaded my 1949 Ford for the trip back home, I fueled up and headed out, my Uncle Bud mapped out my route. He had went from Michigan to back home many times when he was first married. I was doing alright until I got to the Ohio-Indiana border, instead of heading east I went west for many miles, I don't know what made me realize I was going the wrong way, it is about 1300 miles to East Liverpool, Ohio. I arrived late afternoon and could not find mom, when I did she was drunk, so I stayed with cousin Eddie. Next day I went to her apartment, which she shared with another lady, mom was in bed, I ran over and jumped on her, we hugged, she did not know who I was at first. She could not believe how big I was, and I could not believe how small and fragile she looked, so thin and much older looking. She disapeared the next day and I went back to Eddies, crying my eyes out. I thought I had come all this way for nothing, but I was determined to find her. I had no luck, but she called Eddie's home, seems she got mixed up with the wrong man and he was not bringing her home, he told her to find her own way. She hitchhiked back to East Liverpool and decided to call me and see if I still wanted her to come home with me, of course I did. I had laid eyes on her and I was not going to loose her again, the thoughts came back of her first leaving us and ten years of tears, not knowing if she was alive or not.

We stayed a couple day's with my dads sister and it was nice to see my mom sobering up and starting to look herself. My cousin ordered pizza, I did not know what it was, I had never heard of it, it tasted really good. The next morning we packed up and started out, I fueled up and only stopped to fill up one more time, I guess I was afraid to stop, and my mom always brought this up, the trip she never got her cup of coffee. I felt bad about this, she probably needed the caffine because she was feeling withdrawl from drinking. It took all day to get home, mom wanted to go to Uncle Buds first, they had not seen each other for about 20 years and she wanted coffee. My mom and Uncle Bud were the baby's of their family, but in later years they did not get along, so my uncle moved to Michigan for good. Uncle Bud was sure glad to see mom and wanted her to stay a few days, I decided to go settle in my new apartment and then come back for her.