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| Parting Gifts as we prepare to move |
My co-workers wanted to have a party, but I had Tina Marie advise them I was not interested in their insincere desire to see me off. As I have previously touched on, my love for most of those I worked with had been tarnished. I did though, have a handful of those that I had been close to over the years meet at USA Cafe in East Lansing for a farewell celebration.
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| Celebrating at USA Cafe |
Most of the employees I had hired in with eight years ago were completely different people now. One particular man had been in the group of new hires that I trained. His wife was the bread winner. He dressed very nicely, but his ego could fill a universe. He bragged that they owned a big house in Okemos and he drove fancy new cars. I didn't see that he had much to brag about but one day he came to the office to inform us he was moving to DeWitt. Really? That is where I grew up. They were building a big expensive house. Really? And where might that be? He told me the location and I chuckled. I hadn't lived far from where he and his wife were building. In fact it was just down the street, in a corn field! You're building this house in a corn field? I had to bring him back to reality.
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| Roberto & Chappy |
He had a house warming party. He was in our unit and Bucky and I decided we needed to bring him back to Earth. We knew how much he liked nice clothes and how snobbish he could be, so we dressed in our finest sweats and wore very stylish hats, jewelry and heels to his open house. It was so funny!
One of the other women in the unit was named Donna. I didn't know Donna, but over time, I discovered Donna had been Neal's first love. I'm telling you the world is just so darn small some days. I knew that she had worked in a dime store when she and Neal were dating, but I had no clue what she looked like or who she was. One day we were chatting and I asked a few questions. She had gone to the same high school as Neal and I asked her if she knew him. "Why yes, we dated." Without even taking a breath, I responded, " Your dime store Donna?"
So to say good bye to these people who had betrayed me, stabbed me in the back or thought they were better than I was, I had no reason to celebrate, except without them.
Tina and I were having a difficult time, knowing soon, we'd live hours apart and not see each other every day. I just couldn't imagine my life without her. She was and is the best friend I have ever had.
I listed the house in Lansing. Luck should have it the former wife of one of Chappy's cousins wanted to move back to the area and bought the house. It was so simple. The moving company came in and packed us up. Chappy's company was paying for everything. The last day, the house empty, the warmth of our home packed in boxes en route to Fishers, we stood at the back door and said our good byes. Tears in our eyes, this was the house we fell in love at. It was filled with memories of our courtship, my friendship with Tina Marie, my first puppy, Cinnamon Marie, a break in where all my jewelry from Killer had been stolen, memories, good and bad, lingered in our hearts as we closed the door on that part of our life.
We were headed to fresh beginnings. A bigger home. More distance between Chappy's family. Perhaps we'd be able to spend more time together, living and working in the same city with no family pulling us to visit at every spare moment we had.
The next day, we met the truck in Fishers. They unloaded. Min and John Boy were there. They wanted to help us unpack and get started in our new venture. Min wanted to set up my kitchen. I thanked her, but I'd set up my own kitchen.
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| Our New Home |
The third bedroom was decorated for a baby. Once again I had to hear how that was the only room I didn't need to touch, I just needed to have that baby and the room was ready to go! She was never going to leave that subject alone.
Chappy didn't take time off from work to move, he continued to work and I finished unpacking and making this house our home. He covered the whole state of Indiana, so he was gone. He had developed a special fondness for the woman who managed the office. She was married, but shortly after we landed here, we were at her home in Cicero. She was having all her employees up to her lake front home. Rumors were she and her husband were talking of separation and her husband referred to Chappy as his wife's boy toy.
He didn't see any thing wrong with meeting her on an early Saturday morning to play 18 holes of golf. I grew up with a family that played golf, I knew how long it took to play 18 holes. If you teed off at seven thirty, you should be home by noon and have plenty of time to grab a hot dog to eat, but he always came strolling in at two in the afternoon with the explanation that they grabbed a hot dog afterwards and a beer. I was assured I had nothing to worry about, it was just Paulie and nothing was going on.
I interviewed for jobs and landed one. Maryland Casualty was centralizing their claims service center in Indianapolis. I started working there six weeks after we landed in Indiana. I lasted less than 90 days. No one was coming to work for them. Everyone had heard how poorly this transition had been managed. An average adjuster can handle 150 to 200 claims in one jurisdiction. I had five jurisdictions and 800 claims.
I sat for three weeks with nothing to do as they were closing the offices I was going to be handling. I offered to handle the Michigan claims they had. The adjuster who was handling them had no idea what she was doing and was settling them for more than they were worth. But they decline my offer, so I just sat at a desk and did nothing and then one day all hell broke loose.
My phone rang non stop. I averaged the calls one day. I was getting a phone call every 32 seconds. I was not going to work like this. I had taken a significant pay cut to come here. I started looking else where and within 90 days, I had a job as a supervisor for Indiana Lumbermen's. I finally had made it into management at the age of thirty four! As I left, my cube mate handed me his business card. He had moved his family here from St. Louis with hopes of promoting himself in to management. We both struggled trying to meet the demands set forth.
I promised him, I'd give him a call if there were ever an opening. Chappy was home even less if that were possible. Min and John Boy visited more often than I expected. That four hour drive was a piece of cake for them. Not only did they come, but they brought Sissy as well. She had separated from Wes after we had taken a trip to Vegas. Well, she didn't make that decision, she came home one day to find a note, he was history and she fell apart.
Her life had not been as perfect as she had thought it would be. She lost her teaching position at Fowler High School were she had taught business classes for eighteen years. The other teacher that taught business as well had been chosen to stay. Sissy was upset. She had more tenure, but this teacher had taken some course work that Sissy had not finished yet.
The summer she lost her job, Wes had bought her an Apple computer so that she could learn a new skill. It cost him $800 and she was furious with him for spending so much money! Chappy, again, without consulting with me, paid her $800 and we had a computer. Neither of us wanted one, but he thought if he gave her the money, she'd be happy and leave Wes alone. I guess he didn't think about what his wife might have thought. We didn't have $800 to save his sister's marriage and in the end, it didn't.
She ended up going to work for the State, but bitched that she didn't have her summers off and all the holidays. She was forty years old and she didn't have a clue what life was about. She didn't know how to defrost her freezer, Min did that. She didn't know how to plant flowers, we drove up one weekend and did that. She didn't know how to do any thing except eat and bitch, she had those two things down pretty good, but she had one thing going for her, Min and John Boy would take care of any thing that she needed, she didn't even have to ask.
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