Page 53 - Firehouse Pond

Mom and Dad soon followed me to Iowa, but Dad did not like Iowa winters,

so he made us all move back to Missouri. I talked Dad and Mom into coming
back. Well, Dad still didn't like Iowa, so back and forth, back and forth.

Mom and Dad split. Dad went back to Missouri. One-time dad took our '53
Chevy; he took off with it to Missouri. We had to bus down there to get the
car. Dad begged Mom to stay, but she didn't. I was a reason they split. As I
said, Dad enjoyed picking a fight with me whenever he got drunk, but I was

getting stronger than he.

Dad came back from Missouri one time to talk mom into going back to

Missouri with him. He came in drunk. I pushed dad on to the couch and said
some words about him and to him that I probably never should have said. I
could only take so much. I said, "Every penny I make I will give to Mom. I'll

never live with you again."

I talked Mom into staying and I never lived under his roof again. I considered

that I won finally if you want to call it that. I lost my dad, but my mother
ended up staying with me. I made my mother choose between him and me. I
guess I won. Mom and Dad split, and Dad went back to Missouri and I was a
reason they split.

I worked in a dry cleaner and would take off if it snowed (approved by my
boss) as I could make more money shoveling snow. I then got a job in

Smitty's Supermarket and worked in the produce department and the bakery.

Smitty's then became Randall’s. After three years of gaining experience, I
went to work for the nutrition department at the University of Iowa Hospital

as a cook. I soon became a relief supervisor, and then a full-time supervisor.
As the pay was not all that great at the "U", I had a couple of construction
jobs too.