Hope those of you who might follow this blog enjoyed the videos.  No one has commented so I’m not sure who watched, but I’m going to check traffic a bit later.

For those who are reading this for the first time, I’ve been posting my Aunt Eleanor’s memoir to my blog. She’s 86 and has had polio since she was 4 months old.  Italicized comments are mine.  Read previous blog postings for more information.

Chapter 10

John & Jim

I was still in High school when two sons of a family we knew from Wilseyville (which is located in the foothills east of Jackson, CA), came to live at my Mom’s in Stockton (which is 70 miles west of Jackson, CA). Work was scarce where they lived and the Schaad boys, John 19 and Jim 20 (their parents owned the Shaad ranch in Wilseyville), had heard through a mutual friend about Mom providing room and board. They came to Stockton to work in the war effort while waiting to go into the service.

Our family home was a four bedroom, two bathroom, two story house and since I was the last of the kids still at home Mom had decided to supplement her income this way.

The boys moved in and immediately John and I got along great. I truly think that the reason Jim and I argued a lot.  I think it was because he really enjoyed the repartee. He was rather shy so the arguing took the place of normal conversation.

Jim went into the Army and John joined the CB’s (Navy – Construction Brigade). They had worked awhile before being called in. John and I were both working at Pollock’s Shipyard. On weekends, we often enjoyed going a little ways out in the country to rent horses for an hour or so. One afternoon I got a horse that really didn’t want to go anywhere. She would come as close to the rural mail boxes as possible in an effort to scrape me off of her back or at least make me give up and let her go back to the stable. John and I rode as often as we had time and money.  We had great talks while enjoying the rides and the scenery.

Chapter 11

A Real Job

Before I graduated from high school, someone at school suggested I see an educational counselor. His job was to see what I was capable of doing next. This didn’t go over very well as he thought I should give up any plans of furthering my education and get a job running an elevator. I could not picture myself pushing buttons and riding up and down all day, so I came up with my own plan. It was during World War II so I went to work at the Pollock’s Shipyard, using the office skills I’d acquired in high school.  I put off furthering my education.