| Biographical Non-Fiction posted January 4, 2021 | Chapters: |
...89 90 -91- 92... 
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My daughter goes to Australia
A chapter in the book Remembering Yesterday
A Twin Down Under
by BethShelby
| Background This chapter updates what all the family members are doing. Christi goes to Australia. |
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For new readers, who may not have read my author notes, this is written in a conversational way as I talk to my deceased husband. When I refer to someone just as "you" this means I am addressing my husband, Evan.
With the wedding behind us and everyone back from their summer camp experiences, life returned to a somewhat normal pace. Don went back to taking classes at one of the local colleges in New Orleans. He also continued doing construction work on some student apartments near Tulane University. His propensity for being accident-prone continued. While working on the apartments, he fell two stories and might have been seriously injured if he had landed in a slightly different position. Luckily, he was only bruised. He brushed away the occurrence as part of the work experience. His social life, at the moment, involved dating a Spanish girl he had met at church.
Christi had a new job as a receptionist. Her jobs never lasted long, so I can’t remember exactly who she was working for at the time. Christi had a way of saying the most absurd things, and she often naively blurted out things which her acquaintances found amusing. She seemed to feel the need to fill any silence with chatter whether it made sense or not, and she often embarrassed herself when she realized what she had said. The World's Fair was continuing until November. Her boss was new in town, and Christi asked him if he’d had a chance to ride the gonorrhea, when she meant the gondola, across the Mississippi River. She said he looked at her in an odd way and said “Excuse me, Ma’am?" She realized she said something wrong, but had no clue as to how bad her mistake might have been.
Christi, like Don, always seemed to be dating someone. At the moment, in spite of constantly exchanging letters with her friend, Glen, from Australia, she was seeing a guy who drove a beautiful red convertible. He was quite well off and had been a dentist, but a severe accident left him disabled and had affected his speech. Christi felt sorry for him and was willing to go out with him, since he was attracted to her. When he called, if Connie answered the phone, she would annoy Christi by mocking his odd, almost robotic, way of talking.
Connie was ten and in fifth grade at Alice Birney Elementary school. She was happy to be back in a public school with friends she’d known for several years. She still spent as much time as we allowed with her friend Lesley, who had a large above-ground pool in her back yard and a TV that carried programs that we didn’t subscribe to. Connie decided she wanted to be in the school band and she thought she wanted to play the clarinet. We got her a used one, but she didn’t like to practice so that was pretty much a waste of money.
You sold your cattle and also some timber, and we were still debating what to do about the house and land we had in the country. It was still a subject that was hard for us to discuss. You weren’t quite ready to give up the idea that we might go back there to live. You were still hoping to be able to take an early retirement and leave New Orleans behind. Over the years you’d been with Chevron, you had a retirement plan where you contributed a monthly amount and Chevron matched it. It was growing but wasn’t nearly enough to support our family.
We talked to Carol weekly by phone. She always tried to put a positive spin on everything. She never said anything negative about Glen, but you and I sensed that she might be having trouble adjusting to being a wife and having to put another person’s needs ahead of her own. All the while she was in school, she was a very private person and valued her time alone. She had continued corresponding with Mac, an old man she met her first year in college. Glen resented her writing to someone he didn't know. Glen was a outgoing person who enjoyed being around people, but Carol was more introverted. Recently, Glen had decided he wanted to try to get into nursing school. He had to get his grade point average up and getting into the nursing program wasn't easy. Carol was doing what she could to help him.
In the spring of 1985, Christi had become more determined than ever to go to Australia and visit her friend, Glen. He was willing to send her the money for the plane ticket but we didn’t think that was a good idea, and we eventually agreed to help her with the ticket. Glen said his grandparents in Sydney had a place for her to stay. Glen was in college in Sydney, but his father was a conference leader and pastor in New Zealand. In May, Christi bought a round-trip ticket with an open date as to when she would return.
The day of Christi's scheduled departure was a disaster. She always waited until the last minute for everything. She had stuffed the largest piece of luggage we owned to twice its capacity. We were pushing her to get to the airport early so she wouldn’t miss the flight. When we started out the door, the zipper broke on the suitcase. Everything had to be taken out and repacked into two smaller pieces of luggage. We barely got her there, but it seemed there was just enough time for her to make the flight. We went with her as far as they allowed us to go. She promised to call as soon as she arrived. The flight would go through Los Angles and wouldn’t arrive in Sydney for around twenty-four hours.
Three days later when she finally called, we learned she had missed the New Orleans flight after all, and had spent the night in the airport waiting for the next flight. She eventually arrived at her destination and Glen met her at the airport. The price of a collect call from Australia was extremely expensive, so we decided our conversations would need to be short. Christi seemed extremely impressed with Australia, and she said Glen's grandparents were nice. She didn’t act the least bit concerned about being so far from home. It appeared as though she wouldn’t be interested in returning any time soon.
A few days later, she called to tell us that Glen’s dad and another pastor would be coming to New Orleans in late June for the World Session of the General Conference of our denomination. They had asked her to find out if we could get them a place to stay for two weeks that wouldn’t be extremely expensive. Apparently there was a difference in the currency exchange rates, and the Australian money didn’t go as far in the U.S. as it did there. The amount they hoped to spend wouldn’t provide for a very nice place, but they said that wasn’t important. We told her that we’d do what we could to find something.
The General Conference had rented the New Orleans Superdome for the session and delegates from every country in the world would be in attendance. My mom had planned to come and stay with us, because she wanted to attend. There would be no room in our home for the pastors to stay with us. I had a feeling Glen’s dad, in addition to being a delegate to the convention, was also interested in checking out the family that had the daughter his son was so interested in.
With the wedding behind us and everyone back from their summer camp experiences, life returned to a somewhat normal pace. Don went back to taking classes at one of the local colleges in New Orleans. He also continued doing construction work on some student apartments near Tulane University. His propensity for being accident-prone continued. While working on the apartments, he fell two stories and might have been seriously injured if he had landed in a slightly different position. Luckily, he was only bruised. He brushed away the occurrence as part of the work experience. His social life, at the moment, involved dating a Spanish girl he had met at church.
Christi had a new job as a receptionist. Her jobs never lasted long, so I can’t remember exactly who she was working for at the time. Christi had a way of saying the most absurd things, and she often naively blurted out things which her acquaintances found amusing. She seemed to feel the need to fill any silence with chatter whether it made sense or not, and she often embarrassed herself when she realized what she had said. The World's Fair was continuing until November. Her boss was new in town, and Christi asked him if he’d had a chance to ride the gonorrhea, when she meant the gondola, across the Mississippi River. She said he looked at her in an odd way and said “Excuse me, Ma’am?" She realized she said something wrong, but had no clue as to how bad her mistake might have been.
Christi, like Don, always seemed to be dating someone. At the moment, in spite of constantly exchanging letters with her friend, Glen, from Australia, she was seeing a guy who drove a beautiful red convertible. He was quite well off and had been a dentist, but a severe accident left him disabled and had affected his speech. Christi felt sorry for him and was willing to go out with him, since he was attracted to her. When he called, if Connie answered the phone, she would annoy Christi by mocking his odd, almost robotic, way of talking.
Connie was ten and in fifth grade at Alice Birney Elementary school. She was happy to be back in a public school with friends she’d known for several years. She still spent as much time as we allowed with her friend Lesley, who had a large above-ground pool in her back yard and a TV that carried programs that we didn’t subscribe to. Connie decided she wanted to be in the school band and she thought she wanted to play the clarinet. We got her a used one, but she didn’t like to practice so that was pretty much a waste of money.
You sold your cattle and also some timber, and we were still debating what to do about the house and land we had in the country. It was still a subject that was hard for us to discuss. You weren’t quite ready to give up the idea that we might go back there to live. You were still hoping to be able to take an early retirement and leave New Orleans behind. Over the years you’d been with Chevron, you had a retirement plan where you contributed a monthly amount and Chevron matched it. It was growing but wasn’t nearly enough to support our family.
We talked to Carol weekly by phone. She always tried to put a positive spin on everything. She never said anything negative about Glen, but you and I sensed that she might be having trouble adjusting to being a wife and having to put another person’s needs ahead of her own. All the while she was in school, she was a very private person and valued her time alone. She had continued corresponding with Mac, an old man she met her first year in college. Glen resented her writing to someone he didn't know. Glen was a outgoing person who enjoyed being around people, but Carol was more introverted. Recently, Glen had decided he wanted to try to get into nursing school. He had to get his grade point average up and getting into the nursing program wasn't easy. Carol was doing what she could to help him.
In the spring of 1985, Christi had become more determined than ever to go to Australia and visit her friend, Glen. He was willing to send her the money for the plane ticket but we didn’t think that was a good idea, and we eventually agreed to help her with the ticket. Glen said his grandparents in Sydney had a place for her to stay. Glen was in college in Sydney, but his father was a conference leader and pastor in New Zealand. In May, Christi bought a round-trip ticket with an open date as to when she would return.
The day of Christi's scheduled departure was a disaster. She always waited until the last minute for everything. She had stuffed the largest piece of luggage we owned to twice its capacity. We were pushing her to get to the airport early so she wouldn’t miss the flight. When we started out the door, the zipper broke on the suitcase. Everything had to be taken out and repacked into two smaller pieces of luggage. We barely got her there, but it seemed there was just enough time for her to make the flight. We went with her as far as they allowed us to go. She promised to call as soon as she arrived. The flight would go through Los Angles and wouldn’t arrive in Sydney for around twenty-four hours.
Three days later when she finally called, we learned she had missed the New Orleans flight after all, and had spent the night in the airport waiting for the next flight. She eventually arrived at her destination and Glen met her at the airport. The price of a collect call from Australia was extremely expensive, so we decided our conversations would need to be short. Christi seemed extremely impressed with Australia, and she said Glen's grandparents were nice. She didn’t act the least bit concerned about being so far from home. It appeared as though she wouldn’t be interested in returning any time soon.
A few days later, she called to tell us that Glen’s dad and another pastor would be coming to New Orleans in late June for the World Session of the General Conference of our denomination. They had asked her to find out if we could get them a place to stay for two weeks that wouldn’t be extremely expensive. Apparently there was a difference in the currency exchange rates, and the Australian money didn’t go as far in the U.S. as it did there. The amount they hoped to spend wouldn’t provide for a very nice place, but they said that wasn’t important. We told her that we’d do what we could to find something.
The General Conference had rented the New Orleans Superdome for the session and delegates from every country in the world would be in attendance. My mom had planned to come and stay with us, because she wanted to attend. There would be no room in our home for the pastors to stay with us. I had a feeling Glen’s dad, in addition to being a delegate to the convention, was also interested in checking out the family that had the daughter his son was so interested in.
 Recognized |
I'm continuing to recall memories of life with my deceased husband, Evan, as if I am talking aloud to him. I'm doing this because I want my children to know us as we knew each other and not just as their parents.
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