| Biographical Non-Fiction posted January 29, 2021 | Chapters: |
...95 96 -97- 98... 
|
  |
Evan is anxious to leave the New Orleans area behind.
A chapter in the book Remembering Yesterday
In Search of Greener Pastures
by BethShelby
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.
As 1986 and your first year of retirement moved into the fall, you became antsy about being at home. Since our house was finished, you didn’t have much to do. You were still young and energetic enough that you didn’t like being idle. From the time we’d moved into the area, you had never meant for this place to be our permanent home.
Since Don, Christi, and I were away at work during the day, you started thinking about what you wanted to do with our place in the country. You made several trips there alone. I think in the back of your mind, you had always thought this would be the place where we would live as we grew older. Now, you were beginning to realize that if we moved back to the country, it wasn't likely that we would be seeing a lot of our children. Since they’d grown up in the New Orleans area, they didn’t really want to return to Mississippi.
You had been born in the state, but now, it didn’t feel as much like home to you as it once had. You didn’t know anyone around the house we'd built except the farmer whose land joined ours. Although the two of you talked occasionally, you didn’t have a lot in common. His house was far enough away that you felt nervous when you were there alone at night. It was too quiet. You found it wasn’t much fun walking over our 143 acres when it was just you by yourself.
In January of 1987, you asked your mom if she would like to come over and spend a week with you there. Mrs. Shelby was now eighty-five, but her mind was as sharp as ever. She was still active and seldom had an opportunity to go anywhere.
She was living alone again. At one point, she had tried moving into the house with your brother, Rhomas, who had bought a place in Newton after his divorce. Rhomus was no longer working due to his own health problems. From what you told me about growing up with your brother, he was a difficult person to live with. Your mom had lived alone for a lot of years since your dad died, and the two of them clashed. The move was a disaster for both of them, and after a couple of months, she moved back into the apartment she had rented before the move.
She was delighted at the invitation and the opportunity to spend some quality time with you. You told me later, that it was a great week. The two of you spent time talking about your younger years. It was good that you had that time with her, because in February, she had a heart attack and passed away. I was saddened by her passing, because I loved her too. I was blessed to have had wonderful in-laws, who had never given me any problems. Your four siblings were like family to me, an only child, who had always wanted sisters and a brother. We were all there for the funeral.
In March of that year, there was a political scandal in the news. President Reagan made a speech about it, although it was never clear that he had been aware of all the details. It was known as Iran-Contra, and it had first started in 1981 with only rumors leaking out. It involved senior U.S. officials selling arms to Iran, a country that was supposed to be under an arms embargo.
The reason given for the sale was in order to secure their help in getting seven U.S. hostages released. It had been further complicated in 1985 when Oliver North had diverted some of the money from the arms sale to support the Contra, who were a rebel group fighting against the socialist government in Nicaragua. Political scandals have always been with us and I’m sure they will continue to be. Of course, the news was filled with Senate hearings and fighting among the parties.
In April, I went to Mississippi with you, and we made an appointment with a Realtor to look at some homes around the Ross Burnett Reservoir in Jackson. If we moved back to Jackson, you could still enjoy the country place often. Our children would probably visit more often if we had a home on the lake. We were shocked at the prices in the area because the houses were a lot more expensive and on smaller lots than the ones we had looked at in Chattanooga. The houses were nice, but too close together and not offering a lot of privacy or garden space.
********
Don was talking about going back to college full time. He still wanted to get his degree and work as a physical therapist, but there were only a limited number of openings in the program, and the competitors for slots needed to have very high grade points to qualify.
I suggested that maybe he should consider another route. “Why not go to chiropractic school and become a chiropractor instead. Since you seem to want a career that involves health, but you don’t really like the idea of prescription drugs, it might be something you would find interesting. Being called a doctor, sounds better than a therapist anyway.”
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea,” he said. I already know that guy in our church who’s a chiropractor. I’ll asked him what I need to do. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
In a few weeks, Don had sent away and received college catalogues from three chiropractic colleges. The one nearest us was Life College in Marietta, Georgia, which was near Atlanta. The chiropractor who Don knew had graduated from Palmer College, which I think, is in Iowa. Don was anxious to go check out the one near Atlanta.
When Don mentioned that aloud, you thought it wasn’t a bad idea. You said “Well, go get your stuff together and let's go. We might check out some houses for sale. Maybe we’ll move to Georgia, and you could save money by living at home.”
“Are you serious?” I asked. “Do I even know you? You never want to go anywhere but Mississippi. Don mentions going to look at a college, and you are ready to leave right way. Am I dreaming?”
“Well, It’s Sunday morning and I don’t have a job to go to tomorrow. You people are always wanting to go somewhere. I’m ready to move away from here. You two, go see if you can get tomorrow off, and call Carol and tell her we’re spending the night with her in Chattanooga. It’s only a couple of hours from Atlanta.”
Glen was now in his second semester of nursing school, and he was required to take this semester of classes at the Orlando branch of Southern College near Florida Hospital. Carol was working in Chattanooga and she was by herself in the rental apartment until Glen returned in May. Carol was delighted that we would be coming for a surprise visit.
I wasn’t about to miss taking advantage of getting to know the current version of the man I’d been married to for thirty-one years. If you were ready to go on a "spur-of-the-moment" adventure, I could handle that. Christi could be there for Connie so she could get to school.
A few phone calls later, having tossed some things into a bag, we were on the road toward Georgia, and only forty-five minutes had passed. That definitely broke all previous records for the Shelby family planning a trip.
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.
As 1986 and your first year of retirement moved into the fall, you became antsy about being at home. Since our house was finished, you didn’t have much to do. You were still young and energetic enough that you didn’t like being idle. From the time we’d moved into the area, you had never meant for this place to be our permanent home.
Since Don, Christi, and I were away at work during the day, you started thinking about what you wanted to do with our place in the country. You made several trips there alone. I think in the back of your mind, you had always thought this would be the place where we would live as we grew older. Now, you were beginning to realize that if we moved back to the country, it wasn't likely that we would be seeing a lot of our children. Since they’d grown up in the New Orleans area, they didn’t really want to return to Mississippi.
You had been born in the state, but now, it didn’t feel as much like home to you as it once had. You didn’t know anyone around the house we'd built except the farmer whose land joined ours. Although the two of you talked occasionally, you didn’t have a lot in common. His house was far enough away that you felt nervous when you were there alone at night. It was too quiet. You found it wasn’t much fun walking over our 143 acres when it was just you by yourself.
In January of 1987, you asked your mom if she would like to come over and spend a week with you there. Mrs. Shelby was now eighty-five, but her mind was as sharp as ever. She was still active and seldom had an opportunity to go anywhere.
She was living alone again. At one point, she had tried moving into the house with your brother, Rhomas, who had bought a place in Newton after his divorce. Rhomus was no longer working due to his own health problems. From what you told me about growing up with your brother, he was a difficult person to live with. Your mom had lived alone for a lot of years since your dad died, and the two of them clashed. The move was a disaster for both of them, and after a couple of months, she moved back into the apartment she had rented before the move.
She was delighted at the invitation and the opportunity to spend some quality time with you. You told me later, that it was a great week. The two of you spent time talking about your younger years. It was good that you had that time with her, because in February, she had a heart attack and passed away. I was saddened by her passing, because I loved her too. I was blessed to have had wonderful in-laws, who had never given me any problems. Your four siblings were like family to me, an only child, who had always wanted sisters and a brother. We were all there for the funeral.
In March of that year, there was a political scandal in the news. President Reagan made a speech about it, although it was never clear that he had been aware of all the details. It was known as Iran-Contra, and it had first started in 1981 with only rumors leaking out. It involved senior U.S. officials selling arms to Iran, a country that was supposed to be under an arms embargo.
The reason given for the sale was in order to secure their help in getting seven U.S. hostages released. It had been further complicated in 1985 when Oliver North had diverted some of the money from the arms sale to support the Contra, who were a rebel group fighting against the socialist government in Nicaragua. Political scandals have always been with us and I’m sure they will continue to be. Of course, the news was filled with Senate hearings and fighting among the parties.
In April, I went to Mississippi with you, and we made an appointment with a Realtor to look at some homes around the Ross Burnett Reservoir in Jackson. If we moved back to Jackson, you could still enjoy the country place often. Our children would probably visit more often if we had a home on the lake. We were shocked at the prices in the area because the houses were a lot more expensive and on smaller lots than the ones we had looked at in Chattanooga. The houses were nice, but too close together and not offering a lot of privacy or garden space.
********
Don was talking about going back to college full time. He still wanted to get his degree and work as a physical therapist, but there were only a limited number of openings in the program, and the competitors for slots needed to have very high grade points to qualify.
I suggested that maybe he should consider another route. “Why not go to chiropractic school and become a chiropractor instead. Since you seem to want a career that involves health, but you don’t really like the idea of prescription drugs, it might be something you would find interesting. Being called a doctor, sounds better than a therapist anyway.”
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea,” he said. I already know that guy in our church who’s a chiropractor. I’ll asked him what I need to do. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
In a few weeks, Don had sent away and received college catalogues from three chiropractic colleges. The one nearest us was Life College in Marietta, Georgia, which was near Atlanta. The chiropractor who Don knew had graduated from Palmer College, which I think, is in Iowa. Don was anxious to go check out the one near Atlanta.
When Don mentioned that aloud, you thought it wasn’t a bad idea. You said “Well, go get your stuff together and let's go. We might check out some houses for sale. Maybe we’ll move to Georgia, and you could save money by living at home.”
“Are you serious?” I asked. “Do I even know you? You never want to go anywhere but Mississippi. Don mentions going to look at a college, and you are ready to leave right way. Am I dreaming?”
“Well, It’s Sunday morning and I don’t have a job to go to tomorrow. You people are always wanting to go somewhere. I’m ready to move away from here. You two, go see if you can get tomorrow off, and call Carol and tell her we’re spending the night with her in Chattanooga. It’s only a couple of hours from Atlanta.”
Glen was now in his second semester of nursing school, and he was required to take this semester of classes at the Orlando branch of Southern College near Florida Hospital. Carol was working in Chattanooga and she was by herself in the rental apartment until Glen returned in May. Carol was delighted that we would be coming for a surprise visit.
I wasn’t about to miss taking advantage of getting to know the current version of the man I’d been married to for thirty-one years. If you were ready to go on a "spur-of-the-moment" adventure, I could handle that. Christi could be there for Connie so she could get to school.
A few phone calls later, having tossed some things into a bag, we were on the road toward Georgia, and only forty-five minutes had passed. That definitely broke all previous records for the Shelby family planning a trip.
As 1986 and your first year of retirement moved into the fall, you became antsy about being at home. Since our house was finished, you didn’t have much to do. You were still young and energetic enough that you didn’t like being idle. From the time we’d moved into the area, you had never meant for this place to be our permanent home.
Since Don, Christi, and I were away at work during the day, you started thinking about what you wanted to do with our place in the country. You made several trips there alone. I think in the back of your mind, you had always thought this would be the place where we would live as we grew older. Now, you were beginning to realize that if we moved back to the country, it wasn't likely that we would be seeing a lot of our children. Since they’d grown up in the New Orleans area, they didn’t really want to return to Mississippi.
You had been born in the state, but now, it didn’t feel as much like home to you as it once had. You didn’t know anyone around the house we'd built except the farmer whose land joined ours. Although the two of you talked occasionally, you didn’t have a lot in common. His house was far enough away that you felt nervous when you were there alone at night. It was too quiet. You found it wasn’t much fun walking over our 143 acres when it was just you by yourself.
In January of 1987, you asked your mom if she would like to come over and spend a week with you there. Mrs. Shelby was now eighty-five, but her mind was as sharp as ever. She was still active and seldom had an opportunity to go anywhere.
She was living alone again. At one point, she had tried moving into the house with your brother, Rhomas, who had bought a place in Newton after his divorce. Rhomus was no longer working due to his own health problems. From what you told me about growing up with your brother, he was a difficult person to live with. Your mom had lived alone for a lot of years since your dad died, and the two of them clashed. The move was a disaster for both of them, and after a couple of months, she moved back into the apartment she had rented before the move.
She was delighted at the invitation and the opportunity to spend some quality time with you. You told me later, that it was a great week. The two of you spent time talking about your younger years. It was good that you had that time with her, because in February, she had a heart attack and passed away. I was saddened by her passing, because I loved her too. I was blessed to have had wonderful in-laws, who had never given me any problems. Your four siblings were like family to me, an only child, who had always wanted sisters and a brother. We were all there for the funeral.
In March of that year, there was a political scandal in the news. President Reagan made a speech about it, although it was never clear that he had been aware of all the details. It was known as Iran-Contra, and it had first started in 1981 with only rumors leaking out. It involved senior U.S. officials selling arms to Iran, a country that was supposed to be under an arms embargo.
The reason given for the sale was in order to secure their help in getting seven U.S. hostages released. It had been further complicated in 1985 when Oliver North had diverted some of the money from the arms sale to support the Contra, who were a rebel group fighting against the socialist government in Nicaragua. Political scandals have always been with us and I’m sure they will continue to be. Of course, the news was filled with Senate hearings and fighting among the parties.
In April, I went to Mississippi with you, and we made an appointment with a Realtor to look at some homes around the Ross Burnett Reservoir in Jackson. If we moved back to Jackson, you could still enjoy the country place often. Our children would probably visit more often if we had a home on the lake. We were shocked at the prices in the area because the houses were a lot more expensive and on smaller lots than the ones we had looked at in Chattanooga. The houses were nice, but too close together and not offering a lot of privacy or garden space.
********
Don was talking about going back to college full time. He still wanted to get his degree and work as a physical therapist, but there were only a limited number of openings in the program, and the competitors for slots needed to have very high grade points to qualify.
I suggested that maybe he should consider another route. “Why not go to chiropractic school and become a chiropractor instead. Since you seem to want a career that involves health, but you don’t really like the idea of prescription drugs, it might be something you would find interesting. Being called a doctor, sounds better than a therapist anyway.”
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea,” he said. I already know that guy in our church who’s a chiropractor. I’ll asked him what I need to do. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
In a few weeks, Don had sent away and received college catalogues from three chiropractic colleges. The one nearest us was Life College in Marietta, Georgia, which was near Atlanta. The chiropractor who Don knew had graduated from Palmer College, which I think, is in Iowa. Don was anxious to go check out the one near Atlanta.
When Don mentioned that aloud, you thought it wasn’t a bad idea. You said “Well, go get your stuff together and let's go. We might check out some houses for sale. Maybe we’ll move to Georgia, and you could save money by living at home.”
“Are you serious?” I asked. “Do I even know you? You never want to go anywhere but Mississippi. Don mentions going to look at a college, and you are ready to leave right way. Am I dreaming?”
“Well, It’s Sunday morning and I don’t have a job to go to tomorrow. You people are always wanting to go somewhere. I’m ready to move away from here. You two, go see if you can get tomorrow off, and call Carol and tell her we’re spending the night with her in Chattanooga. It’s only a couple of hours from Atlanta.”
Glen was now in his second semester of nursing school, and he was required to take this semester of classes at the Orlando branch of Southern College near Florida Hospital. Carol was working in Chattanooga and she was by herself in the rental apartment until Glen returned in May. Carol was delighted that we would be coming for a surprise visit.
I wasn’t about to miss taking advantage of getting to know the current version of the man I’d been married to for thirty-one years. If you were ready to go on a "spur-of-the-moment" adventure, I could handle that. Christi could be there for Connie so she could get to school.
A few phone calls later, having tossed some things into a bag, we were on the road toward Georgia, and only forty-five minutes had passed. That definitely broke all previous records for the Shelby family planning a trip.
 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.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. 
You need to login or register to write reviews. It's quick! We only ask four questions to new members.
© Copyright 2024. BethShelby All rights reserved.
BethShelby has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
