In the Quiet – Conclusion
We had settled into Waco, Texas, as Orlin was selling Lutheran Brotherhood Insurance. There were good neighbors next to our home, the church friends were great, there was a feeling of belonging.
Orlin had a small Volkswagen Karmann Ghia car that we used after we had gotten moved into the Waco home. Riesel people had been great helping us with the move. Orlin left work work each morning as there was a general office for Lutheran Brotherhood where prospective client contacts were accessed. I kept busy in the home. I had a rough time with morning sickness with the pregnancy and it took me a time to get going.
With having one vehicle, we did our grocery shopping after supper. We always unpacked our groceries outside on the back porch and carried them in one at a time. Cardboard boxes and paper bags made great hide-outs for roaches. Let me tell you they came in all sizes. They were fast and hard to take out once they got a foothold. Riesel had scorpions; Waco had roaches. I always put my shoes up off of the floor. Sliding my foot into a shoe that already had an occupant was not a good thing.
I don’t know if the cost of living was high within the large town. We didn’t need a joint bank account as I was not working and didn’t go anywhere during the day that needed money. Some church gals would pick me up to go to another’s home for an afternoon, or they stopped at our home. I really didn’t have a clue as to our resources. After the morning sickness was over, life seemed good. We spent some time visiting one of the parks that also had a fishing lake. It was fun on the weekends to pack a sandwich and watch the goings-on at the park.
There was quite a chain of events that summer. We didn’t have a telephone. Orlin worked from the company office and made his contacts there as to who was interested in purchasing Lutheran Brotherhood products of various types. I was a heavy duty letter writer to my mom and dad and sister. Once in a while I got a note from dad that he had slipped in with mom’s. I loved getting those letters.
There was going to be a banquet at the Lions Club monthly meeting. Orlin would meet me there after his work day. Norman and Elaine White would pick me up and we would go as a foursome. It was a fun night of music and some party games. When we all said our goodbyes and went to the parking area, I had a huge surprise. We were going home in a brand new white Mercury car. The Volkswagen had broken down during the day. Orlin’s friend in Waco, Marv Horton, had helped Orlin get the broken down car to his home and there had been shopping that ensued.
As time went on, the title card for the car came in the mail and we had a larger car to go and get groceries with. I was feeling fine physically and took to doing some yard work during the day. The grass never did get real green but there had been some flowers to tend to that someone . . . sometime had planted.
The surprise of the late August came when Orlin came home from work and announced that my mom and dad would be at our home that weekend. Orlin had contacted them and there was a plan. I would return with Raymond and Lena to Minnesota with most of my pack-able belongings, while Orlin took care of closing up the home and other odds and ends. We were moving back to Minnesota! Orlin would follow a bit later on with the Mercury and a U-Haul trailer. I, in the meantime, would be staying with his mom and dad in Hector, or spending some time with my mom and dad on the Boon Lake Farm.
There was no end to the questions that I had. There were no real answers to be had. All had been settled. In my mind’s eye . . . all I cared about was keeping our baby safe. October was not that far away.
In thinking through this time frame, it all came back easily as most of my memories do. From February of 1964 to the fall of 1965, there had been a lot of experiences that had been lived. Perhaps sometime when the quiet settles in again, I will again pull memories from the wonderful birth of our first child, Carrie Brett Schafer, born on October 17th, 1965, and where our days, weeks and months going forward had taken us. The entire memory of this time has become oh so very sweet. Save the best and leave the rest: good words to live by.