After graduating from college in June 1972 with a degree in Accounting, Paul got a job with Combustion Engineering in Windsor, CT. He started on an 18 month Financial Training Program which brought him to a two week assignment in Mentor, Ohio, near Cleveland.
Kristen was just 6 weeks old. I'm not sure exactly how it all came about, but Kristen and I ended up going with him. Paul's aunt Marjorie (Priscilla's sister) and her family lived in Cleveland, Ohio. She and her husband, Henry, were officers in the Salvation Army and were stationed there. Marjorie invited us to stay with them for those two weeks.
I was nervous about a few things, but I think I was more nervous to stay home alone with a new baby! I worried about the trip - it was about 12 hours. Thinking back on it now, I can't believe we drove all that way with a new baby in a car bed in the back seat of a Volkswagen! I remember that she slept most of the way, only waking up to be fed and changed. I worried about whether she would sleep the night that we got there after sleeping all day in the car. I didn't know Marge and Henry that well at that time and the thought of being up in the middle of the night roaming around their house trying to keep a crying baby quiet scared me. As it turned out, she slept all night long.
I remember Marge and Henry being so happy to see us and excited that we were going to be with them for two weeks. I always felt a special closeness to their family after that. Paul's cousins were all living at home. Steve was going to college and dating Sue (who he later married). Priscilla was in nursing school, and Kathy and Becky were still in school.
Kristen fit right in with the family. The picture below is of us watching TV on Marge's bed. Nobody could get over how well Kristen held her head up at only 6 weeks. I was so happy that they were so excited about having a baby in the house.
One of their family traditions was making pizza on Sunday evenings. Henry showed me how he did it, and he even typed out a recipe card for me.
They also babysat for us one night so that we could go see Fiddler on the Roof which was playing in one of the movie theaters near them.
I also remember that one day Marge made spaghetti sauce before she went to work and left it to simmer on the stove. My job was to make sure it didn't burn. I was so upset finding out that it did burn on the bottom of the pan somewhat, but Marge made sure that I didn't feel bad and said that no one would ever know (?!?).
These pictures are not the best quality, but I am so glad that I have them. I will always have very fond memories of that trip to Ohio.
