REFLECTIONS- Chapter 4 "For Richer For Poorer"

"Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful." - Annette Funicello

Before long we had settled into a routine that greatly revolved around Memorial Middle School and the students we taught.  I was still the cheerleader and ski club advisor while Andy had picked up a second job working 4-12 at the Juvenile Detention Center in Marysville.  This second job provided us with our very own washer and dryer, quite a luxury for us at the time. We had also moved from our Mechanicsburg apartment into one of the twin apartments on Kirkwood Dr. in West Jeff.  Life was good and we kept busy. We spent our summers playing tennis and softball. I played for the Garver Dairy womens team, we both played on a co-rec team and even dabbled a little playing pumpkin ball and Andy played basketball with Bob Ridewood, the English teacher, at the middle school. We decorated floats for the Ox Roast parade and manned the dunk tank on Labor Day weekend.  Andy and Don Schiff formed a lasting friendship as they realized that they were both "carnies" at heart. You can't go wrong with cotton candy and carnival games!

I think it must have been around 1976 that we started seriously looking for a more permanent home in the country.  Neither of us were very comfortable living in town and longed to have a home with a little acreage.  At one point we thought we had found our dream home on Roberts Road but the banks would not include my salary since I was of "child bearing age" and therefore we did not qualify for a loan.  I was heartsick but, in retrospect, realized that it was never meant to be our dream home.  That would come a year later along with another addition.

 It was early 1977 when we learned we were pregnant.  Andy was now in a renewed house hunting frenzy.  He was going door to door along the Big Darby looking for property that might be for sale.  During this search he learned that there was talk of putting a reservoir in the area so he switched gears and started a new search along the Little Darby.  He happened upon a couple at the end of Byerly Mill Road and our luck had changed.  They were in a hurry to sell the little fishing cabin but wanted cash at the time of the sale.  Andy took me out to see the cabin and the 1.25 acre parcel of land on the Little Darby Creek and fell in love.  It was May and there were multiple pink and white flowering crab trees chock full of blossoms and a crystal clear creek running along the length of the property.  It could not have been more perfect. We negotiated a fair price and cashed in all our pennies and closed the deal.  That was the easy part.  Now we had to get this summer cabin converted into a winter cabin before the arrival of our September baby.

Flowering crab trees were everywhere!

The backside of the cabin.

Taken from the creek looking towards the cabin. The day after closing when we drove out, the entire yard was under water from the recent rains.  We were wondering if we had made a wise decision.

Our "forever" home

Our remodeling project began as soon as the school year ended!

The original cabin had 3 rooms.  A kitchen/living space, one bedroom and a bathroom (sink & toilet only)

To save money, we did all the work ourselves with the help of my brother and dad.  My brother even drew up the blueprints for us.

Time for lunch
Our newly remodeled home now had a living room, new bathroom, master bedroom, nursery, kitchen and a utility/laundry room.

As the summer wore on my energy waned.  I had planned to teach at least the first two weeks of school since my due date was not until the 17th of September.  But after the first day, I realized that my body had different ideas.  My long term sub, who since has also become my long time friend, would have to fill in for me.  It was a win-win!  My ankles actually looked like ankles once again and Sharon, a recent grad, gained some valuable teaching experience.  The predicted baby boy, according to doctors and my Grandma Long, came right on time,  September 17, following the WJ football game.  We named our first, Trisha Marie, yep, Grandma's theory of carrying the baby low wasn't fool proof!

Trisha Marie, 8 lbs. 3 oz.

Andy, Trish and a jealous Dusty keeping warm in front of our Buck Stove.  Our Buck Stove was a life saver during the Blizzard of '78.  We spent 5 days without electric in our newly remodeled home.  It passed the test!

The winter of 1978 was a doozy.  On January 25, 1-3 feet of snow fell in Ohio.  Winds averaged between 50-70 mph creating drifts as deep as 25 ft.  With temperatures near 0 the wind chill was -60 degrees. Trish was 4 months old when the blizzard hit.  The temperatures were in the 50's the day before but during the night our dog, who had been outside, was scratching at the frozen doggy door to get in.  We realized at that point that this was no ordinary snow storm. We lost electricity early in the morning and when Andy tried to walk to the pump house to get our Coleman lantern he had to return for a rope.  With the poor visibility, the strong winds and huge drifts of snow he was afraid he wouldn't be able to find his way back to the house.  We were fortunate in two respects.  Our water came from an artesian well so we had constant pressure even without electricity and we had a flat top wood burning stove in our kitchen.  As long as we left the water running at a trickle and had wood to burn we could survive.  We hung blankets to block ourselves in the kitchen with our heat source and spent the next 5 days waiting for our road to be dug out.  We cooked our meals on the stove top, played board games and Andy kept the wood pile full.  Trish simply ate and slept. It was an adventure to be sure and a story we never tire of telling.

And this is how we finally got out. (this is a stock photo, guess I didn't take any photos)

another stock photo to show the unbelievable amount of snow and drifting that occurred during this blizzard.

If you didn't live through it, it is difficult to understand the enormity of the storm.

As I look back, I am struck by the idea that we were so fortunate that we were in our little cabin home.  We had put electric baseboard heating in the new addition but after our first electric bill Andy insisted on buying a more economical way to heat, a Buck stove from my Uncle Kenny.  Sometimes having the biggest, fanciest or newest is not always the most practical in emergency situations.  And we learned that camping equipment can certainly come in handy!

TO BE CONTINUED