I've just been sitting here thinking about my life in general. I really do have everything I need, well, except for daily visits from the grandkids, but what are you going to do? I have a warm home, a nice bed, food, crochet and cross stitch patterns and projects galore, a sweet hubby who goes to work each day to provide for us and who does the major part of the household chores, freedom to do pretty much what I want when my body lets me and loving family members who will do whatever they can to help me.
All this has reminded me of a time when things weren't so grand; a time when we struggle to get through the month. We had just moved into our home, after 2 months of construction, when I discovered I was pregnant. We had been trying for almost a year and had finally decided to go ahead and build our house and then try later. Hah! Life sometimes likes to throw a monkey wrench into your plans. We both had decided when we did have children, that I would be a stay-at-home Mom. This was really high on the Hubs priority list. We came from a generation whose Moms were always there; after school, at night, summers. We didn't go to babysitters because Mom was there.
So in February, 1977, we had a little girl. At the time, the Hubs worked for a milk company, delivering milk to stores, schools and restaurants. His pay wasn't a lot; he worked on commission based on the amount of milk he sold at each location. It required 7 days a week work because the groceries didn't pull their milk then; the milkman had to go each day and restock the shelves. I'm not sure what happens now. I occasionally see a milkman in the store, but rarely. He got paid on the 15th and the 30th, so our bills were divided between those two paychecks. It took almost all of the first check to pay the house payment. Then we had to scrimp and make it until the next one and lots of times, the money ran out. I'm not complaining, but stating facts. It's hard to make one paycheck last for 2 weeks when there is so much needing to be dealt with. And the fact that we had a baby only added to the expense. I breast fed, used cloth diapers, went to yard sales for clothes, etc, but no matter how you plan, there's always the unexpected doctor visit, the growth spurt.
But we made it! I don't think I thought about how hard it was most of the time. I loved being a mommy and believe me, she kept me busy. She was all sweetness, most of the time, but she had a temper and a stubborn streak that just grew as she grew. When she got mad, her red hair would stand on end and those blue eyes would shoot sparks. Okay, I'm kidding but not by much. This child was the joy of my life and the bane of my existence all rolled into one. I couldn't ask for a more cuddly child, a more loving child until she was told "no". Oh my, look out!
The Hubs had been trying, for a year, to get a job as a local truck driver with a major trucking company. This meant more money and better insurance, something we definitely needed. Abby turned 2 in February of 1979 and he went to work for them in November of 1978. I found out I was pregnant in December of 1978. We hadn't planned it that way but like I said, life sometimes....... There was about a month when we were not covered by insurance because of a 30 day waiting period. The insurance at his old job ended the day he quit. So here we are with a 2 year old, no insurance and I'm pregnant. All you can do is cross your fingers and go with the flow. One day at a time was about all I could handle. I had already calculated the due date and it wasn't going to be in the time frame for the new insurance to pay for it. So each doctor visit, I paid something toward the delivery and had that all paid when Doug came along. He was born August, 1979, almost exactly 9 months to the day that the Hubs started with the trucking company.
Blessings come around in surprisings ways sometimes. We had to finance the hospital bill because we didn't have the money to pay for it. So the Hubs talked to the financial person and set up monthly payments. Those started in September. In February of the following year, we got a check from the OB's office. The new insurance had covered my office visits and since I had paid them already, we got a check for the amount the insurance had paid, which, covered the balance we still owed the hospital.
I know this is a wordy blog post. Sometimes I just feel like I need to write what's on my mind instead of what is happening today. And I also like the idea of writing these things down for my kids so they know something of what life was like back in the dark ages. I'm going to stop now and finish dinner.
As always, thank you for being my bloggy friends. I will never be able to tell you how much each of you mean to me.
Hugs,
Sharon
