August 1976 to March 1977 - Sacramento
Synopsis - Chapter 18
After Sharon Hodel flew back to California, we talked on the phone and wrote a few letters. She was fond of me and I was fond of her, so I asked her if she wanted me to come to Sacramento and live while she finished high school. Sharon was 16 going on 25, and I was 28. She said yes, so I packed up what I wanted to take, and left some things with Chip McClurg and Red Danner, made arrangements to ship my van via Matson, and flew to San Francisco. Sharon met me at the airport and we spent some time in San Francisco (Daly City), and I flew on to Florida to see my family. I had been in the islands for the better part of four years, without leaving. I flew back to San Francisco after a week or so, to pick up my van from Matson, and follow Sharon back to Sacramento. Sharon was driving her Mother's baby blue Cadillac Seville.
I was a little apprehensive about meeting Sharon's Mother and Dad, Pat and Ken, as I was considerably older than Sharon. They were very nice to me and treated me like family. I found a small cottage for rent a few miles away and moved in. I looked long and hard for a job in a gas station, as this was one of my few skills, and I wanted to be an auto mechanic. There was a recession on at this time, and I applied at nearly 100 stations, before I found work at Jeff Wong's Chevron in Davis, about 20 miles away. Jeff was not a very nice guy. The only nice thing he said all day was "Good morning". After that it was downhill. I stuck it out until the end of the year when I quit without notice. This was not my style, but the last attendant who gave notice was fired on the spot. I had a job lined up with Bob Phulps' South Hills Union service station which was conveniently only a few miles from home.
Sharon and I had some ups and downs, but stuck with each other, and moved in together in an apartment near my work and her family's house. I remember her Dad, Ken helping us move Sharon's furniture. I think he was glad someone else was going to be responsible for her. He loved her, but I can tell you, she was a handful. Sharon was good to me, I have no complaints. She must have graduated early, as we moved in together in January of 1977. Sharon got a job in a drugstore, which she didn't really like, but it was a job.
Around March, I was talking to my brother George on the phone, and he said, "Why don't you come back to the beach and work for me pouring concrete?". Sharon and I talked it over and decided to go. She had never seen Florida, and I wanted to spend time with my family. Rosemary was finishing up high school and would be out on her own in a few years. We gave our notice to our respective jobs, packed up and hit the road in my van. It was an interesting trip in that Sharon insisted on taking all of her houseplants, close to 30 as I recall, with us. We took them out for water and sunshine, and at night, so there was room to sleep on the bed in the van. We made it in a week or so, and we began our new life in Florida.
July18, 2010
Oleander Street - August 1976
