The Road to Where We are Now

  Colorado Springs:  Our first apartment we couldn't open the living room closet once the new sofa got delivered.  So we moved, and it was a good thing because that apartment was haunted.
  Colorado Springs #2:  Cute apartment upstairs in another old house.  Our living room was above the bed room of the tenant below.  We knew the man's name even before we met him because his girl friend was a screamer.  "Bob, ohhh Bob!  Bobbbbb!"
  Then Bob got a doberman and a rottweiler that hated uniforms.  When Mark tried to enter the yard to get to our apartment, the dogs would try to eat him.  So we moved to a nice townhouse not far from that apartment.
  Colorado Springs #3:  If you rent a place from someone who works for the sheriff, it's probably going to be very safe.  That would be because you've been subjected to a back ground check that includes everything but a colonoscopy.

  First Move to Tucson:  M's a grad student at the University of Arizona, a nice assignment since he's a full time student and never has to wear a uniform.  Used to the mountains, trees and green grass of Colorado, I'm shocked as to how brown the desert is. One day M takes me for a drive "to get to know our new town."  He drives down Speedway Boulevard, not knowing that LIFE magazine recently declared Speedway "The Ugliest Street in America".  We pass pawn shops and strip joints.  I look at Mark and croak (I've stopped speaking to him for two weeks) "NICE town."  We burst out laughing and prepare to make Tucson our home.
  We choose an apartment complex just because it has a patch of green grass out front-the only grass in the complex and I'm thinking-all of Tucson.  The night we're supposed to move into our apartment, a pipe bursts and floods it.  Management offers to put us up free in their "Show Apartment".  The towels are tied prettily so we can't use them.  The "bed" is a large cardboard fake, covered with a flimsy blanket.  It is the hottest day of that year.

  MASSACHUSETTS by way of NEW HAMPSHIRE:  Mark gets his MIS and it's time to move.  So we move to Massachusetts on the coldest day of the winter.  We've celebrated New Years Day on the road.  That sets a pattern of holidays spent not in a home.  We spend a few days in the temporary lodging at Hanscom AFB in Bedford, MA.  We rent a home in Nashua, New Hampshire because we're told the commute is not long.  It's a big lie and the liars should be punished.  Get on the road just a little late and it takes M almost 2 hours to get home.  If it snows, which it always seems to do, M can be 4 hours getting home.
  We like our rental house in Nashua, but a neighbor says to us "Houses never come up for rent in this neighborhood".  Well, howdy yourself.  Our other neighbors are retired Air Force-a real blessing.  I can't wait until we get base housing and leave Nashua.
  I have to supervise the move down to base housing on Hanscom because M is at a school in Mississippi for 6 WEEKS.  Our movers, Larry, Darryl and Darryl, lose my dog, not long after I tell them to not open the basement door.  Max, my schnauzer, runs away, apparently back to Tucson.  I make the movers find him after I've told them "I've put up with a lot during this move.  DO NOT lose my dog!"  Max is found and we drive to the base.
  While the movers are sitting on the curb, taking a break, I hear one of them say "This move is taking a long time."  At the end of my rope, I open the window and yell at them "It wouldn't have taken so long if you HADN'T LOST MY DOG."  Embarrassed looks all around.
  Note to Self:  Even if they deserve it, DON'T YELL AT YOUR MOVING MEN.  They are responsible for hooking things up.  The first time I used our washer, the water hose blew up, spewing dirty water all over me, the basement and Max who still wants to go back to Arizona.
  Not knowing what to do, I go across the street, and introduce myself to the neighbor. Dale looks very scared, opening his door to this woman who apparently looks wild eyed and crazy.  Dale helps me with the washer, goes back to his house and locks all the doors behind him.
  Meanwhile, the phone company is on strike and I can't get a home phone hooked up.  Mark is in school hundreds of miles away and the only way I can talk to him is by using the one and only phone booth on base. I want to kick out glass in the phone booth.
  By now, I've met my neighbors on base and they are no longer afraid of me.  My friend, Jan, takes me shopping one morning.  That's the morning Mark is finally back from school.  He's locked out of his home-the one I had to move into by myself.  Our dog, Max, still nursing a grudge that he had to leave Arizona, won't let Mark in.  I finally arrive and we start our life in Massachusetts.
 
Good things about Massachusetts:
  1. we made wonderful friends there
  2. Boston and all its attractions was a short drive away.
  3. I discovered "coffee regulah": coffee with lots of cream and sugar at Dunkin' Donuts.  (Apparently you couldn't be trusted to add your own condiments to your coffee)
  4. Autumn in New England
  5. Lobstah, scallops, clams, etc.

  Bad things that happened in Massachusetts:
  1. I found a lump on my breast.  Good: it was benign.  Bad:  Mark was gone during this time. I felt so alone, I can still remember that ugly green hospital room.
  2. I slipped on the stairs in our housing and tore my ACL.  Surgery, then 6 months of twice a week rehabilitation.  Mark was gone when this happened.  My friend, Barb, drove me to Boston for my physical therapy sessions.  I've never forgotten her kindness.

  This is just the beginning of many moves and adventures.  Every place we lived has its good and bad things.  One thing they have in common is the friendships we made.  I'm still in touch with those friends we made at Hanscom, over 20 years ago.