| Biographical Non-Fiction posted January 21, 2022 | Chapters: |
...144 144 -145- 146... 
|
  |
We deal with life the best we know how.
A chapter in the book Remembering Yesterday
Problems and Solutions
by BethShelby
| Background This chapter has bits of information about what is going on in the lives of each member of the Shelby family in February and March of 1995 |
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.
Among the many things which caused us concern during the early part of 1995 was the people who were leasing the house we had built on our 143-acre farm property in Mississippi weren’t paying the rent on time. When we contacted them by mail, we received a letter back with a list of complaints. Since the rent was extremely reasonable, we were surprised and disappointed. However, we knew the problems they listed would have to be fixed. The roof was leaking, and they claimed the house was too cold, because we had never insulated the attic. It was causing their heating bill to be too high.
Since Don was presently without work, and he and Kimberly were having financial problems, we saw it as an opportunity to give him some work and take care of our tenant’s problem as well. Don could stay with Mom and Dad and commute the forty miles to our property. Don had the building skills needed, and he worked fast. Also, he would be there if Mom and Dad should need his help.
Don had to leave Kimberly and Lauren, but her mom was looking for a chance to visit Kimberly and the baby. She was thrilled to have an opportunity to bond with her grandchild.
We were upset when Don told us the tenants were trashing the place. The parents worked and there were five kids. He said the house was filthy inside. He also said there were a couple of seedy looking characters hanging around, and the house smelled of pot. We had known there might be problems with leasing a place so far from where we lived. We'd used an agency to find tenants and hadn't met the Dodsons personally. The job cost us about $2,000 for Don to fix the leak and install insulation, but we were pleased to have it done. Without our son, I don't know how we would have managed.
*****
Connie and Charlie kept managing to get together, despite the miles. He made several trips up, and she went down with friends for Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Charlie met her there. By March, they were talking of getting married in May. Connie even seemed willing to move to Mississippi, in spite of the fact she’d never liked going there with us.
You and I didn’t feel they had known each other long enough. Connie had learned that Lenny, her boyfriend from high school, was engaged and soon to be married. We wondered if that might be influencing her desire for a wedding. We were relieved when they decided to wait until they’d had a chance to be around each other more. Charlie said he might think about moving to Chattanooga when school was out for the summer.
******
Both of us were having physical issues. You were convinced that you had a heart problem, and this kept both of us worried. In spite of our concern, your heart doctor wasn’t finding anything when he did numerous tests and had you wear a halter monitor for a week. Still, you often had weak spells causing your heart to race. It always managed to alarm you to the point you assumed you might be dying.
I had suffered from an electrical problem with my own heart, since I was in my twenties. A sudden movement on my part, or even eating sweets could trigger my heart to palpitate up to 160 beats a minute, and it always frightened me. The incidents were occurring more often. My doctor said I needed a cardiac ablation, which would cauterize the area of my heart triggering the fast beat. I didn’t like the thought of having that done, so both of us continued freaking out when we had problems.
Don had learned of something which he was convinced was a miracle cure. He was growing a mushroom-like fungus in a dark area and making something called kombucha tea. The fungus developed and grew when boiled water, sugar and tea were combined in given proportions and allowed to ferment for about seven days. In spite of the fact the growth looked like something alien and deadly, Don gave you a start, and soon, you were growing it as well and drinking the tea daily.
Amazingly, it seemed to have been an answer for you. Soon you had everyone in the family drinking it. You continued brewing this concoction for several years and apparently, feeling good as a result. I don’t know if it was really that beneficial, or if it was like a placebo that made you believe you were cured.
These days, Connie drinks Kombucha Tea, commercially bottled and sold everywhere, and she’s convinced it helps her with her health problems. It is supposed to be very rich in nutrients.
*****
This was a period during which Carol, our quietest daughter, was having a very active social life, with a group of friends she had met at church. They went to Christian concerts, hiked, went on campouts and played volleyball at the school gym. Along with her friend, Neil and a Chinese boy, named Vincent, Carol had several admirers, but the guy she was most interested in, eventually started dating someone else. Carol had never mastered the art of flirting or letting a guy know she was interested. It was apparent if she ever found the right man in her life, he would have to be the one who would do all the pursuing.
******
Christi was dating a really nice guy named Matt, who had two small children Christi was crazy about. I think Christi really cared about Matt, and hoped they might eventually marry. But the relationship was stormy, because both of them had problems. They were constantly fighting about something and threating to break up. This kept Christi in an emotionally volatile state, which we had trouble dealing with. She would often forget she had scheduled a massage at our house, and the client would sit waiting, while we tried to contact her. She lost clients this way, and having strangers in our house waiting around, was a problem for both of us.
*******
In March, I got a notice that I had been selected for jury duty, and I might be called to serve within the next three months. You had served many times and had, at times, been excused from serving. Women weren’t called very often, and I was excited, because I’d always wanted that experience. I hoped they would call me for a major crime case and not something boring. The murder trial had started in California for O.J. Simpson and it was being televised. I hoped for a case like that.
If I had known what lay ahead, I think I might have tried to figure out a way to get out of serving. It wouldn’t be my proudest moment.
THIS IS US:
Evan is 66 and a retired drafting supervisor from Chevron Oil.
Beth is 57 and has had a variety of jobs. She is presently working temporary jobs.
Carol is 32, recently divorced, and a nurse, working at a hospital in Chattanooga and living in an apartment.
Don is a twin. He is 31, a recent graduate of Life Chiropractic College
Christi is Don’s twin. She is working as a receptionist at a chemical company and doing massages on the side.
Kimberly s Don’s wife. She is a nurse working in Atlanta. She gave birth to their first child in October '94,
Lauren Elizabeth Jane Shelby is Don and Kimberly's new baby (5 mos.)
Connie is our youngest daughter. She is twenty-one. She and a junior in college.
Charlie is the new boyfirend Connie's met at camp. He lives in South Mississippi and attends Mississippi Southern College.
Lennie is a boy Connie dated for five years. He is attending same University and is engaged.
Jane is Kimberly's mother.
Among the many things which caused us concern during the early part of 1995 was the people who were leasing the house we had built on our 143-acre farm property in Mississippi weren’t paying the rent on time. When we contacted them by mail, we received a letter back with a list of complaints. Since the rent was extremely reasonable, we were surprised and disappointed. However, we knew the problems they listed would have to be fixed. The roof was leaking, and they claimed the house was too cold, because we had never insulated the attic. It was causing their heating bill to be too high.
Since Don was presently without work, and he and Kimberly were having financial problems, we saw it as an opportunity to give him some work and take care of our tenant’s problem as well. Don could stay with Mom and Dad and commute the forty miles to our property. Don had the building skills needed, and he worked fast. Also, he would be there if Mom and Dad should need his help.
Don had to leave Kimberly and Lauren, but her mom was looking for a chance to visit Kimberly and the baby. She was thrilled to have an opportunity to bond with her grandchild.
We were upset when Don told us the tenants were trashing the place. The parents worked and there were five kids. He said the house was filthy inside. He also said there were a couple of seedy looking characters hanging around, and the house smelled of pot. We had known there might be problems with leasing a place so far from where we lived. We'd used an agency to find tenants and hadn't met the Dodsons personally. The job cost us about $2,000 for Don to fix the leak and install insulation, but we were pleased to have it done. Without our son, I don't know how we would have managed.
*****
Connie and Charlie kept managing to get together, despite the miles. He made several trips up, and she went down with friends for Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Charlie met her there. By March, they were talking of getting married in May. Connie even seemed willing to move to Mississippi, in spite of the fact she’d never liked going there with us.
You and I didn’t feel they had known each other long enough. Connie had learned that Lenny, her boyfriend from high school, was engaged and soon to be married. We wondered if that might be influencing her desire for a wedding. We were relieved when they decided to wait until they’d had a chance to be around each other more. Charlie said he might think about moving to Chattanooga when school was out for the summer.
******
Both of us were having physical issues. You were convinced that you had a heart problem, and this kept both of us worried. In spite of our concern, your heart doctor wasn’t finding anything when he did numerous tests and had you wear a halter monitor for a week. Still, you often had weak spells causing your heart to race. It always managed to alarm you to the point you assumed you might be dying.
I had suffered from an electrical problem with my own heart, since I was in my twenties. A sudden movement on my part, or even eating sweets could trigger my heart to palpitate up to 160 beats a minute, and it always frightened me. The incidents were occurring more often. My doctor said I needed a cardiac ablation, which would cauterize the area of my heart triggering the fast beat. I didn’t like the thought of having that done, so both of us continued freaking out when we had problems.
Don had learned of something which he was convinced was a miracle cure. He was growing a mushroom-like fungus in a dark area and making something called kombucha tea. The fungus developed and grew when boiled water, sugar and tea were combined in given proportions and allowed to ferment for about seven days. In spite of the fact the growth looked like something alien and deadly, Don gave you a start, and soon, you were growing it as well and drinking the tea daily.
Amazingly, it seemed to have been an answer for you. Soon you had everyone in the family drinking it. You continued brewing this concoction for several years and apparently, feeling good as a result. I don’t know if it was really that beneficial, or if it was like a placebo that made you believe you were cured.
These days, Connie drinks Kombucha Tea, commercially bottled and sold everywhere, and she’s convinced it helps her with her health problems. It is supposed to be very rich in nutrients.
*****
This was a period during which Carol, our quietest daughter, was having a very active social life, with a group of friends she had met at church. They went to Christian concerts, hiked, went on campouts and played volleyball at the school gym. Along with her friend, Neil and a Chinese boy, named Vincent, Carol had several admirers, but the guy she was most interested in, eventually started dating someone else. Carol had never mastered the art of flirting or letting a guy know she was interested. It was apparent if she ever found the right man in her life, he would have to be the one who would do all the pursuing.
******
Christi was dating a really nice guy named Matt, who had two small children Christi was crazy about. I think Christi really cared about Matt, and hoped they might eventually marry. But the relationship was stormy, because both of them had problems. They were constantly fighting about something and threating to break up. This kept Christi in an emotionally volatile state, which we had trouble dealing with. She would often forget she had scheduled a massage at our house, and the client would sit waiting, while we tried to contact her. She lost clients this way, and having strangers in our house waiting around, was a problem for both of us.
*******
In March, I got a notice that I had been selected for jury duty, and I might be called to serve within the next three months. You had served many times and had, at times, been excused from serving. Women weren’t called very often, and I was excited, because I’d always wanted that experience. I hoped they would call me for a major crime case and not something boring. The murder trial had started in California for O.J. Simpson and it was being televised. I hoped for a case like that.
If I had known what lay ahead, I think I might have tried to figure out a way to get out of serving. It wouldn’t be my proudest moment.
THIS IS US:
Evan is 66 and a retired drafting supervisor from Chevron Oil.
Beth is 57 and has had a variety of jobs. She is presently working temporary jobs.
Carol is 32, recently divorced, and a nurse, working at a hospital in Chattanooga and living in an apartment.
Don is a twin. He is 31, a recent graduate of Life Chiropractic College
Christi is Don’s twin. She is working as a receptionist at a chemical company and doing massages on the side.
Kimberly s Don’s wife. She is a nurse working in Atlanta. She gave birth to their first child in October '94,
Lauren Elizabeth Jane Shelby is Don and Kimberly's new baby (5 mos.)
Connie is our youngest daughter. She is twenty-one. She and a junior in college.
Charlie is the new boyfirend Connie's met at camp. He lives in South Mississippi and attends Mississippi Southern College.
Lennie is a boy Connie dated for five years. He is attending same University and is engaged.
Jane is Kimberly's mother.
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. (picture; Kombucha tea)
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.
