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Here we were like Brer
Rabbit begging to be thrown into the briar patch trying to tell the world
it was alright since we had been “born and bred in this here briar patch.”
We were able to find protection and escape from thorn like conditions that
were much worse than any bramble on the hill. The difference being that we
were not like Brer Rabbit who was free after being hurled into it.
Our small family was down
to the bottom on our finances, and were even out of a car. Rod was riding
a bicycle back and forth to work. Our clothes were rags and I was using
the bits of change from teaching people to paint for Mark’s school
clothes. When the girl who was ironing for me told her husband while I was
standing there that she was tired of ironing rags it was a wake-up call
for me. The freedom from utilities and rent while we lived at Mother’s
inherited home from Grandmother Lizzie. had allowed us to survive but
after we moved into an older, rented, two-story house juggling Rod’s
technician wages was impossible. Again my lifestyle must have caught the
attention of someone up above and for whatever reason felt we needed to be
out of our folk’s back yard. These were the only hardships as far as being
at the mercy of the world around us. Sometimes folks must have believed we
didn’t have any sense else we wouldn’t have been struggling so hard to
work with a disabled child. One has to remember this was a time of change.
There was fear involved, too. Fear of the unknown. What consequences might
be involved for these people to be out where all society, suddenly, must
know there was less than a perfect race.
“I’ll go with you back to
Dallas if you want to move down there.” I casually mentioned this to
Rodney.
“Matter of fact, just had a
job offer the other day.” Rod was always short with words but I knew we
were on our way again. He was in electronics at the time which would have
been like saying Ponca City could offer up sandy, ocean beaches and
surfboards on sparkling blue water. That wouldn’t happen. He had been
working for the oil company and although a number of his inventions were
drawing small royalties we knew nothing great as far as being anything but
a technician was going to be forthcoming.
Here we were in Dallas and
just as always bouncing about here and there trying to find the best
solutions for our problems. Rod had nabbed a good job with Ling Tempco
Vaught or LTV. Ling himself had a disabled child and whether this had any
influence on my husband’s hiring was only a guess. English was a problem
for Rodney but evidently this was a common problem with engineers because
there were eleven secretaries hired to do but one thing and that was to
write for them. Rodney was happy he could work in his field, electronics,
again.
Carroll was now closed and
a search began for the best school for Rhonda. The first attempt was in
one of the Dallas proper’s school. We had found a nice location in which
to live and that was on Jonesboro Street in Dallas. |
