1972

No, 1972 is not a good year to start with, except perhaps that we can look back and see how very young and ill-prepared we were for what the world had to offer. In 1972 I was 26. Oh my gosh I was so young. It all overwhelmed me at times, so much so that there were moments when I almost decided that everyone would be better off without me. I'm glad I chose to continue this life for, as the country western song goes, "I might have missed the pain, but I would have missed the dance." Or something like that.

At any rate, there we were, living in Lakewood, in that little government subsidized apartment complex. It was brand new at the time, so it was nice. Within 5 years it had been trashed. Nevertheless, it worked well for us. We lived on the second floor and I drove a little volkswagon. A neighbor helped me learn how to do minor repairs on the car. Gas was @ .50/gallon. I could get over 40 mpg.

I remember bright sunshine there, visits with grandma, shopping at the market, working for Eisenson, counting pennies. I made about $400/month. Rent was @$100/mo, childcare $160. Not a whole lot of wiggle room there.