AN UNEXPECTED LOVE Sullivan: Continued Sullivan is a small town south of Terre Haute about an hour and halfs drive from Danville, so we didnt have a problem getting home often. The director of nursing at the hospital was Mrs. Bigger, Mr. Bigger owned the local service station. George had talked to him when he was there before we moved, he suggested I see his wife about a job. I did, she hired me on the spot! When it came time to take state boards, we drove to Danville, left the boys with mom, then on to Springfield where we wrote boards. George had been in nursing for a long time. He had worked medical and surgical floors, whereas I had only worked in OB. He was a much better nurse than I was. Perfect score on boards was 700. I don’t know that anyone ever aced it. George made 581 and I made 575. Those making under 350 had to retake the boards, three strikes and you were out! After getting Paul settled in school, Eric in day care, I took a part time position at Mary Sherman Hospital in the Recovery room and worked in the geriatric unit when needed. George made friends with the Director of Nursing at the home but soon discovered the owner was dragging his feet concerning the manager position, so he started looking elsewhere, because an administrative position was what he wanted. Because our rental house was on a farm, the boys had access to a fishing hole, a big barn to play in, horses and all kinds of animals. The owner was a widow who doted on the boys and was also good to George and me. I can still remember moving our bed to the sun porch in the summer and making love under the stars. It gives me goose bumps thinking about it. Our mailbox was at the end of a long lane. I walked Paul down that lane to the bus on days I didnt work, later in the day, Eric and I would walk down to meet the bus and get the mail. One day we came across a big black snake, I do not like snakes, so needless to say, whenever I could, after that, I drove down the lane! I don’t know what I ever did without George before I had him to talk to, to laugh with, to always be by my side. He became so much a part of me. My greatest joy in life was sharing it with him. While living in Sullivan we started taking weekend trips with the boys. We would laugh at some of George’s “short cuts.” Some across the southern part of the state were actual state routes but they cut across fields where the houses were on stilts because of flooding. We had some interesting trips in that little rust colored VW. George had altered the VW by removing the back seat to build a deck so the boys could lie down when we traveled. It also made it easier to transport groceries. George was good at making something out of nothing. His friends called him the idea man. We drove into Terre Haute every two weeks on payday to the big Kroger store on the south end of town. Groceries were much cheaper. The DON lived on a farm. They had numerous apple trees. She would bring George sacks of apples and I would busy myself making fresh apple pies, dumplings and cakes to freeze for later. We left Sullivan in March, had we been there through the summer I know we would have been laden with fresh produce from all our farm friends. That VW served us well. It got excellent gas mileage and when everyone else was stuck in snow drifts, we could scoot right on past them, dirty looks and all. George had to teach me to drive it because it was a stick shift. I can remember the boys sitting in the back laughing at me because the car was jerking and dying so often. My patient, loving husband , God Bless him, kept right on dealing with me until I could drive it without killing the engine. It got to the point where I could even speed shift just like he could. George applied for a position advertised in the Terre Haute newspaper. Sullivan was south of Terre Haute so we subscribed to the Terre Haute paper. The job was an administrative one in Casey, Illinois. The letter he received in answer to his resume was from the administrator who had just been hired for the position. He informed George that he had left a position in Gibson City, Illinois and they were looking for an administrator, so George immediately sent a letter asking them for an interview. We received a phone call from Gibson City setting up the interview. God was always in the details of everything we did. We were excited about the possibility of getting the position in Gibson City because we would be close to home. The day before the interview we packed the car and headed to my moms where we would leave the boys and go on to Gibson City. We were just outside of Paris, Illinois, when George remarked how well the VW was purring along. In the next few minutes the car rolled to a stop and the engine locked up. We were at a loss as to what to do. George had friends at the VW Dealership in Danville so he gave them a call. They brought a tow truck and towed us to Danville. They took a look at the engine and said it was blown, so we started looking at the used cars they had on their lot. His friend showed him a little white Falcon wagon that was in good shape and low mileage with an affordable price tag. We bought it out of desperation. Got to Moms a little later than planned, spent the night and got up bright and early the next morning to keep the appointment for the interview in Gibson City (60 miles north) George aced the interview and got the job. We spent the rest of the day house hunting. Found one that would suffice, returned to Sullivan, gave our notices, rented a truck and began packing to move to Gibson City. We were in Sullivan a little over 6 months. We loved the town, the people, made lots of friends, but there was no future there for us. To be continued:
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 01:21:09 +0000
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