1973

Thirty-five years ago today something happened that I did not recognize at the moment.

I was sharing a small house with a friend. The monthly rent was $125 but I was paying $90 of it because I had just asked the other gal who was living with us to move out. It was not a good fit. Rachel was working second shift so we each had quiet time alone and yet could have fun together on the weekends.

I was working as the bookkeeper/inventory clerk at a medium sized book and gift shop. I enjoyed my work but was only making gross $95 a week. My car payment was $45 a month for a used 1969 VW Bug. I needed to make more $ and my mother told me they were hiring where she worked.

I interviewed and tested in November for a secretarial spot in the office building. When I did well on the math portion, they gave me advanced math tests just to see how I did. I did not get the job but was called back before Thanksgiving to interview with the head of Research and Development. I was hired as a statistics clerk in the Quality Assurance Department at the corporate level. I would be working on the same floor as my mother attached to a processing plant.

The job title alone rattled my confidence but I was assured the job was something I could handle. I gave notice at the book store and started December 10, 1973. My supervisor was pleasant but she had the responsibility of the technical typing pool and record keeping clerks for all of Engineering and Research. Before she handed me off to the math whiz in Procurement and Pricing, she gave me a quick tour introducing me to many new faces.

We stuck our head in the Chem Lab and she said hello to the two Bobs. One was short and one was tall. On to the Micro Lab where Mom worked, down the hall to the Engineering group and back past the secretaries to the department heads.

That's right. I met my Bob that morning. I would not get to know him until the place had a large fire in late January 1974 and most of us were relocated to a small industrial building across the railroad tracks. By then he was out of the lab and was the Director of Sanitation for all Eckrich plants. He had been hired in July and had "cut his teeth" in the labs and each of the plants.

Our first date was late April and we were married one year later. Now you know the rest of the story except I began my new job making gross $143 a week. That was quite a raise. It all changed my life. A new job and a new beginning.

'til later