Full Disclosure

I wrote the other day about meeting Bob for the first time. We dated for 6 months before our engagement November 1, 1974 and were married in April 1975.

He was living in a furnished one bedroom apartment and I was sharing a small house with a friend. The friend moved out in early 1975 knowing that Bob and I would live in the house or I would be moving out.

It was in early January that we started talking about where we would like to live. He did not like my neighborhood out south and I was not fond of "cookie cutter" apartment complexes. So we talked about buying a house.

We sat down with our checkbooks and examined what we had together. I had very little but he had been living below his means and had accumulated nearly $9,000. His car was completely paid for. It was a 1973 Chevy Vega. So sporty and so small.

In February Bob closed on our house. We were not married so he bought it in his name based on his assets and credit history. We put $8,000 down on a yellow 2-story, 3 bed-room house part way between his apartment and my rental house. We got it for less than asking since we did not need to take possession until the middle of April.

Bob's $8,000 was 1/3 of the cost. Our first house cost $24,000. It's all relative. Bob made $17,000 that year and I made nearly $9,000. Plus, we had enough of his savings left to refinish the basement and buy living room furniture that was not used.

Full disclosure and honesty. Necessary roots for a healthy relationship.

'til later