Gerry was a Geologist! That probably doesn't mean much to most of you, but to me it meant "frequent moves!" We started our married life together in Santa Monica, California. Well, that was after we traveled to Denver, Colorado "the Geologist job capital of the USA!" We lived for two weeks with my cousin in Inglewood, Colorado while both Gerry and I looked for work. Neither one of us was successful. With much discouragement, we spent the last of our money on gasoline to drive back to California and lived with my parents for a few months.
In Santa Monica, I got a job with Winfield China Company in their accounting office, and Gerry took a job at Douglas Aircraft (later to become McDonald/Douglas) and worked on the moon landing project as a draftsman -- a far cry from Geology, but it was a job. We managed to save up enough money to move into our own apartment (one on Cloverfield Avenue, and then to another one on Pico Blvd., right across the street from my dad's restaurant). 9 1/2 months after we were married, we were blessed with a beautiful little daughter, whom we called Kimberlee.
Right after Kimmy was born, Gerry finally got a job in his field, working for Gladding-McBean in Glendale, California. He commuted for a while, and then they transferred him to Mesa, Arizona. I followed in May and we lived in a nice apartment with a swimming pool (a must for that hot climate!) and not far from the Mesa Temple. We were there for only 3 or 4 months.
Our next move was to Sacramento, California. By this time, I was pregnant again and enjoyed the cooler climate and daily walks with Kimmy in the stroller. We had a nice little apartment there, but no pool! In December, Gerry was transferred again. This time, we would go back to Santa Monica, and he would go on to Lodi, California. I wanted the baby to be born in Santa Monica, so I stayed there. We were fortunate to live in Lodi for a year and a half and experience many new challenges as a family of four. (Mark was our boy!) We started out in an apartment, and then moved to a house. We made lots of friends in Lodi and worked hard in the Church. The Oakland Temple was built while we were there, and our branch became a ward and we all worked hard on the building of that chapel. Back in those days, the members contributed money and labor toward the building of their chapels and Temples. They were rewarding times.
(Stay tuned...)
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