After an uneventful flight from Norfolk to Akron, I picked up my car and hurried on to retrieve Ann in Findlay. We spent a few short days getting re-acquainted and packing. At this time, we still had no furniture with the exception of a TV and washing machine. The TV and washer was in storage in Norfolk, so we had to go via Norfolk to get those items shipped to Jacksonville, Fla. While in Norfolk conducting our business, we took the time to visit some old friends. Once we completed arrangements for the navy shipment of our two items, we commenced our trip to Jacksonville and NAS Cecil Field.

           It was a terrible trip. We had tire problems all the way to Jax. We had bought four new Phillips 66 tires at a Phillips 66 service station. Those tires were the sorriest tires I ever owned. They had a problem of tread separation in the sidewall. During that one trip, we had three tires go out on us in the two days it took to drive to Jacksonville. In less than six months, I think I had 7 or 8 new tires, and although they were guaranteed, you still had to pay for the tread used, at the regular retail price, not the SALE price I had originally paid. I was going broke replacing tires, so soon after arrival in Jax, I went to a Goodyear tire dealer, bought 4 new Goodyear tires, and had no more problems.

           We arrived in Jacksonville sometime in late June, and Chuck was due in August. We rented an apartment and prepared for his coming. The apartment was located at 2785 Forbes St. in Jacksonville 5, Florida. It was in an old home in a beautiful old section of town, We had the entire upstairs portion of the house. Our living room was a converted upstairs porch, and it overlooked a pretty, shaded back yard. The houses in the neighborhood were all huge and old, similar to the old homes that line the gulf front in Biloxi. The neighborhood was very shady from all the huge moss-covered live oaks trees. We lived there until after Chuck's birth.

           Weena, Ann's unmarried aunt, came down from Birmingham to help Ann during the few weeks after Chuck was born. Unfortunately, Chuck arrived about 3 weeks later than predicted, and Weena couldn't stay any longer, so she ended up going home immediately after Chuck's birth. At least, she lent Ann some moral support, though not having had any children, she was mainly just company for Ann. NO PROBLEM. Ann always managed. No matter what ever came up, Ann was able to make out, make do, and overcome any adversity.

           As soon as Ann was back up to speed after Chuck's birth, we went house hunting. We wanted to get out of the city, so we toured the surrounding countryside, searching for a small house that was large enough and was furnished with enough furniture to keep us comfortable. I had recently been promoted to ET2, so my pay check was getting larger all the time. We found a little 2 bedroom house out on San Juan Road (Route 4 Box 480). It was much nearer to Cecil Field than the apartment. Two weeks after Chuck was born, we moved into it. It was a nice little house and we really enjoyed it. During this period, Charles suffered from colic on a daily basis that caused him to cry continuously from about 4 pm till 6 or 7 pm. This went on for some time. It was very distracting to both Ann and me, and we went through a very trying period.

           We moved to Marietta (Jacksonville Route 5 Box 530M), after several months because the owner decided to sell the house we were living in. We spent Christmas in a little duplex with a pot-bellied stove and a fantastically beautiful Christmas tree that was loaded with gifts for our two babies. That was the year I got upset at Laura. We had spent many dollars (at least at that time it was many) on a "Wonder Mare" as her main present. The "Wonder Mare" was a horse mounted with springs to give a realistic ride. On Christmas morning, all Laura wanted to play with was the box that the "Wonder Mare" came in!!! Daddy was some put out. I was just learning a lesson. Money does not count when you are providing toys. Imagination is a more potent part of play than is realism. Charles was only four months old, so he didn't give a darn, so he just ignored most everything that went on. We had a room full of goodies for those children. Like all Christmases at our house, the tree has always contained excessive amounts of toys. That is about the only thing that Ann and I have never agreed on. She always got her way.

           While in Marietta, we were able to get the best steaks we ever ate (55› a pound) from the most unlikely source. I don't know what it was about those steaks, but it seemed as if those steaks were the best we ever had. They came from a small Mom and Pop grocery nestled in the trees along US 90 in Marietta, just west of Jacksonville.

Moving on Up

           We moved again right after Christmas to a beautiful UNFURNISHED house. It was located in the Hyde Park area near the south end of Cassatt St. It was near the water and just off Blanding Blvd. It was convenient to the commissary and medical facilities located at NAS Jacksonville. Our address was 5456 Appleton, our phone number then was EVergreen 4-6581.

           Sears provided us with a sleeper sofa, and a chair for the living room ($148), coffee and end tables, (the blonde ones we now have by our bed $50), a dinette table and chairs, (which we still have $89.95), bedroom suite ($206) with a hard foam mattress ($139.95) and lamps ($25 each) which we still have. We also got our first monthly payments of any size. The mattress is still the best sleeping mattress in the USA. The above, with the exception of our auto, along with the TV and washer we had purchased from Sears in Waukegan, was the extent of our material possessions. We had plenty to live comfortably and we really enjoyed living on Appleton St.  It was a very nice neighborhood, we had great neighbors, and plenty of backyard for the kids.

           While there, we had out of town guests twice. Jane Howell, Ann's first cousin, and her husband Al visited with us, and we were fortunate to have my Uncle Coy and Aunt Zoda visit with us. The reason I remember those visits, is that during all the time we were in the military, very few of our relatives ever came to visit with us. So those were red-letter days. We made friends with several neighbors, and became part of the community. We also started attending church at First Baptist Church of Jacksonville. That occasion was brought on by a joyful occasion that nearly turned into a disaster.

           We attended the gala opening of the long awaited PO1/PO2 Club at NAS Cecil. Baby-sitters were provided and we were enjoying the party and the steaks. Unfortunately, the club was featuring drinks for 10› a drink, and to me, that was too good a bargain to turn down, so I filled up. To make a long story short, I got an overload of liquor. To make matters worse, Ann couldn't drive and we had our two children in the car. Well, about halfway home, and it was only about 10 miles of straight country highway, my head and vision started spinning. I pulled over and while getting myself together the best I could, I told God that if he would help me get my family and me home safely, I would not drink that stuff again. We got home safely. We started to church. I quit drinking for many years and even until today, I drink very little. I still see that beautiful moonlit night while we were parked alongside Fla. 228.

Normandy Village

           We wanted a home of our own, and under the new GI Bill, we could buy a home cheaper than we could rent (or so we believed). So on July 22, we picked out a home located at 1831 Gabin Road in the new subdivision called Normandy Village. It was out Normandy Blvd (route 228) which was the road heading west from Jacksonville to Cecil Field. It was also near Normandy Drive-In Theater. The house was nothing but a slab when we first saw it. As construction progressed, it turned into a beautiful 3 bedroom home with a built in attic fan and all the goodies of those days. The total cost of the home was $13,150 and we had a range and venetian blinds added to make the total cost of the home $13,465. The total monthly payments were $81.

           We had some of the best pinochle parties while living there. Harold and Dorothy Brown, Relle and Val Lyman, (he was my Division Officer), Boyce and Katrina Baker (they would be with us and work with me for the next 7 years), and Leon and Doris Gorchyka, were some of our pinochle playing friends. We would all get together on a Friday or Saturday night to play, eat and drink coffee, cokes, and beer, sometimes all night. In fact Christmas eve , the Lyman's came and damn near stayed all night. That put a crimp in Ann's getting the tree ready. In fact, on Christmas morning, they came back up and if I remember, spent the day with us. You'll hear more of the Lyman's later.

           We finally got to the point where we could buy a new car, but our first one led to more grief than enjoyment. I still had lot's to learn in the auto picking and choosing department. We bought a small English Ford, and we decided to make a trip to Akron to see Dad and try out our new car. It was the most frustrating trip we ever took, even worse than the trip with all the bad tires. The car was so under powered that on a hill of any gradient, I would have to shift down into 2nd or 1st, and as you can imagine, that slows you down to creeping very slowly. What do you think those 18 wheelers behind us thought??

           Going into Bluefield, West Virginia from the south, you have a climb of probably 10 miles to the summit atop the Blue Ridge. Well, about half way up, that little car got so hot from running in first and second that the radiator just blew it's top. Luckily, it happened at a place where water was coursing out of a spring just above us and we were able to refill the radiator with cool water once the radiator cooled. We were sure got LUCKY there! Eventually, we made the summit and Akron. At the first opportunity an when I could afford to do so, my first priority was to buy a bigger, better automobile.

Driver Education?

One of the most frustrating things I ever tried to do was teach my wife how to drive a car, and I failed in that endeavor. After I bought that small English Ford, I thought, "Hm, this is a very small car. She should be able to drive this car." Her only previous experience driving same while we were still courting and I was the big guy letting his girl drive. Once, while doing this, she killed 4 or 5 chickens while they were innocently scratching for worms in the middle of the road in front of Roy Williford's store in Crane Hill. We didn't stop, I told her to keep on a'gitting it! She later told me that those chickens had sneaked up on her and deliberately jumped in front of her as she came round the bend....ha.

To get on to the story. This one weekend in particular stands out in my memory. It was on a Sunday afternoon, and after an hour or so of instructions and several demonstration rides, I deemed that she was ready to solo. The one bad thing about that little English Ford was that it had a stick shift with an un-synchronized transmission. With that type of transmission, which you can't find now but was common long ago, you had to hit that clutch just right or you would really GRIND those gears.. That, in combination with Ann's inability to coordinate her hands, feet and legs at the same time, spelled trouble with a capital "T" for Ann. To re-iterate, that little car had two bad features that Sunday afternoon:

 Promotion Time

In early 1959, we were installing some new cables in the control tower communications system, and due to operational commitments, we were having to do the installation at night. One morning about 1000 hours, Relle (my division officer) called and since I was in bed, Ann answered. He wanted to speak with me. Ann told him I had been working all night (which he knew), and was in bed sleeping. Relle told her to wake me up, that I would be glad to hear what he had to say. Well, the gist of it is, he told me that I had passed the navy-wide test for ET1 and was going to be promoted! I couldn't go back to sleep all day, I was so excited. I guess civilians might not get excited about something like that, but in the navy, Rate Has It's Priveleges (RHIP), and that was the most important milestone I had accomplished to that date. I said it then, and I still say it now. I owed much of the credit to Ann. She was always there when I needed her. I had the world on a string!!!

My shore duty tour was coming to an end and we received orders transferring us to Electronics Technician "B" school in San Francisco, California. The promotion made it possible for us to finally get rid of that small English Ford, and buy a regular car with automatic transmission. On September 5, 1959, we took delivery of a brand new 1959 Ford Custom 300 2 door 6 cylinder Fordomatic and Deluxe Trim from Lynch-Davidson Motors, 724 Hogan St. Jacksonville, Fla.. The car cost us $2540.80, taxes $11.78 and tag $10. It was a beautiful Wedgewood Blue, and it was the best auto we ever owned. In November of 1959, we gave our house away (no, it cost us over $2,000 later on, but that's another story) and moved to California for the first time.