I shot this picture of Jilda a million years ago. It was not long after we married. We lived in a single-wide trailer without air conditioning. It didn't have much insulation either, which meant that winter winds blew in through our living room around the windows.
Both of us worked. She worked at a dress shop, and I worked as a reporter for a weekly newspaper. I'm sure that we probably qualified for food stamps, but it never occurred to us to check in to it. The poverty, we thought, was for those who were less fortunate.
We scrimped and saved. She's always been a great cook. A bag of butterbeans, a pone of cornbread, and some chicken or fish would feed us for days.
Things went south on my 25th birthday. I was fired. For the next year, I pumped gas for my cousin and drew unemployment.
A gentleman that visited us often in the newspaper office worked for the phone company. He visited me at the gas station and asked if I would be interested in a job. I almost hugged his neck.
On January 3, 1977, I started a new job with MaBell. It wasn't always easy, but the job made it possible to build the home in which we now live. The company also paid for my bachelor's and master's degrees.
I know I've written about bits and pieces of this story before. But tonight, as I was looking for a picture to post, I came across the one below, and it triggered the thoughts for this post.
Happy Wednesday.
What a great picture of your wife. It shows love, determination, full of life, freedom...everything one needed and somehow, we don’t have now.
ReplyDeleteWhat a stunning photo. The woman she was, is very evident in the photos of the woman she now is.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful inside and out!
ReplyDeleteI loved this story. Strange the roads that life takes us on, yet you made it work. Your wife is very pretty. Blessings, xoxo, Susie
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as though things turned out the way they were meant to, but we often don't see it until we look back.
ReplyDeleteFunny how some of us did not realize we were 'less fortunate', that was the folks down the street. Sherry got here first today and said, "Yeah I remember our un-insulated 8' trailer. Then she said, "Jilda was/is a pretty girl!" And she is right.
ReplyDeleteSherry & jack
Jilda is a beauty now and then! I often look back on our early married life and wonder how we did it when Jack was in school and I supported us. As my Momma always says, "You just do it"...She said that long before Nike did! Such a sweet post Rick!
ReplyDeleteI love my Mrs. C more than I could say, but I have to confess to having a bit of a crush on your Jilda.
ReplyDeleteI remember the days of living pay check to pay check, The 70's were rough!
And what the heck is a pone?