My Family: Chapter 64

One day Dad and I went shopping in Columbus, I didn’t want to spend money for the bus so we walked. It was only two or three blocks and I brought everyone some clothes with the money I got back from income tax. I never had a pair of high heel shoes so I brought myself a pair and decided to wear them back home.

 The house we moved to on Main St.
 Mom, Dave holding Liz

As Dad and I were walking along Main Street, I had to hold on to Dad to keep from falling. I kept turning my ankles and walking on the sides of the shoes. Dad told me if I didn’t take the shoes off I was going to break my neck.  I took the shoes off and walked home barefooted.

      While they were living in Columbus, I paid all of my parent’s bills: rent, electric, and phone. They were suppose to buy the food, but I don’t know if they did or not because I never looked for food - I didn’t eat at home.  I ate a bag of chips at the drugstore (there was a soda shop in the drugstore) where I spent most of my non-working hours sitting at the counter reading.

            On Monroe Street behind us lived Mom and Dad’s drinking friends, Bob and Gina from the hollow.  This meant my parents picked up where they left off; getting drunk every day and fighting on the weekends. When Gladys and Bill left Ohio to go to Michigan, Mom took it very hard. She would cry all the time to go back to the hollow.  Dad and I had a hard time talking her into staying in Ohio.  The only reason she stayed was because she had no place to go back too.

Shirley, Mom holding Liz

We moved farther down on Main St. to a house that had four bedrooms and was fully furnish with a rent which cost about the same. Shirley and David came to Columbus and moved in with us by this time they had a baby, Liz. When David got a job, he took over paying the electric bill.  I still found a way to stay away from home as much as I could. I would walk down to the theater after work which stayed open all night and spent the night watching the same movie over and over.

Dad had made a friend at work and brought him home to met me. I liked him very much. The three of us went everywhere together his name was Charles and Dad liked him, too. Dad said he was a good OLE boy from West Virginia. Charles was just a couple of years older than me.  He had a '55 Chevy which is what I liked best about him. To me he was just a friend who let me have his car to drive around while he was at work and I would pick him up when it was time for him to come home.  Charlies' foreman would come outside and walk along the docks until Charles came out of work and got in the car.  I didn’t pay the foreman any mind until one day Charles said to me that the foreman was giving him a hard time.  When I asked him why he said the foreman was mad because I didn’t pay him any attention and took his anger out on Charles. He was about the same age as Charles and he told Charles he didn’t understand why I would choose Charles over him.  See he had asked my father’s permission to ask me out and sent me a message with Dad. I told dad to tell him to forget it.  However, I didn’t realize he was Charles' foreman. From then on when I picked Charles up from work, the foreman still would walk the docks but I still ignored him. I didn’t want any boyfriend.  

I went with Charles to meet his parents in Parkersburg, West Virginia to stay the weekend. His family lived on a farm and I slept in the same room with his two younger sisters. His brother was single also but he looked like he was a lot older then Charles. The farm was going to belong to his brother when his parents passed.   Charles had asked me to married him and I thought why not, I enjoyed his friendship and we had been friends for over a year.  The first and only time we kissed was when Charles gave me a ring up until then Charles made no move to kiss me - he was very shy.

So I didn’t know how much he loved me until I broke our engagement and gave back his ring.

My Family: Chapter 63

That police officer began to ride by me while I was waiting for the bus everyday. He came into the Bev regularly so we already knew each other. One morning, he stopped and talked to me until my bus came. After a few weeks of doing this, he asked me if I would like a ride to work. I figure I could trust him, he was a police officer, after all. He looked to be in his late 30’s maybe early 40’s and was divorced. 

After a while my police officer friend began to pick me up at the apartment. One day, he told me he would be back to take me home after I got off from work. I said ok, but that day I got off work early so I asked my boss to tell the police officer I went home and I would see him tomorrow.  Well, the next day he wasn’t at the apartment nor was he at the bus stop. He finally showed up at the Bev. I was in the kitchen where he barged in to yell at me for standing him up. I told him I thought we were just friends and hadn’t known it was a date. He told me he didn’t want to be any friend of mine and walked out. Right in front of everybody I worked with which included my boss. I refused to pay him any attention after that until Jane began to work for the Beverly and they started to date - they were closer in age. I never told her about that incident. She had asked if I knew him and I told her I did that he had been coming on the curb since I’ve worked there. I always thought he was a very nice person, however, he never spoke to me again. He still came on the curb but someone else would wait on him and get his coffee. 

Much later when I was getting married, I asked Jane to be my maid of honor and since she was still dating the police officer, I let him decorate our car for the wedding. His brother was also a police officer and he would often stop at the Bev and talk with me, he had a wife that also would stop by. Now, I realize they were looking me over, because his brother once said to me that he told the police officer I was too young for him.

My Family: Chapter 62

My parents found an apartment in a house where the stairway went between the bedroom and kitchen of the first floor apartment to get to the second floor apartment, and through the second apartment to get to the attic apartment and we lived on the second floor. The apartment was furnished already so we didn’t need any furniture. It was located off of Main Street on Monroe Street and I walked about four blocks over to Broad Street to catch the bus instead of going downtown and switching buses to go to work. The Beverly sat on the corner of Broad and Livingston. The streets were no picnic to walk.

One day on my way home, a young boy walked up beside me and walked with me. We just walked and talked; when I got to my parent’s apartment, I was about to say goodbye when he grabbed me between the legs! I hulled off and hit him across the face. He took off crying he was going to tell his big brother on me. I went into the house and told Mom about the incident and she tried to get me to change my walking route. I didn’t because it was the easiest and fastest way home. The next morning I had another scare, there was a man following me; he stayed abreast of me on the other side of the street but once we got closer to Broad Street he passed me and crossed over to my side of the street then disappeared between two buildings. I became nervous, so I also crossed the street and as I passed the spot where he had disappeared there he stood waiting for me. A policeman, who I had befriended at the Bev, was at the end of the street. I walked up to him to tell him about the man when I glanced back over my shoulder, the man stood in the street watching us, I never saw him again.

My Family: Chapter 61

Alma Jean Dillow

Columbus was a military town and Dad warned me, before we got there, not to date any of the service men. I remembered this advise and didn’t date military men but I did date this one boy; I don’t remember his name because the date didn’t even last three hours. He ate lunch everyday at the Bev and one day asked me if I’d like to go to the State Fair with him, I said yes. I had no idea what a State Fair would be like. So, we went and walked around fair looking at all the farm animals. I was got bored and I guess he was too, because he asked me if I wanted to go see the circus next. I thought more animals I didn’t want to see, so I said no. As we left the fair, the circus had just started and you could see it on the way out. I walked over to the fence to watch the circus and asked him why we didn’t go to see this? He said he asked me if I wanted to go to the circus and now it was too late as they had stopped selling tickets and had closed the gate. I said I didn’t realize that was the circus.  Another date who couldn’t get me home fast enough. 

We still lived with Aunt Eloise and on payday her husband, Bill, would stand at the door and take all of our pays. One time, Bill bragged to me how much money he had in his wallet - it was stuffed. After that Dad said he had enough, he was going to get an apartment in the city where it would be closer to the bars. Aunt Eloise and Bill lived way out in the farm country.  

My Family: Chapter 60

David, me, Mom with a friend, and Dad

Dad and Mom met a new drinking couple, one weekend they decided to take both families on a picnic where Dad’s friend had a motor boat and were taking turns with it in the river but no one would ride with Dad so I said I would. Mom threw a fit and begged Dad not to take me out but he promised he wouldn't let anything happen to me. Well, he almost turned us over while Mom ran alone side the river blank; screaming for Dad to get out of the water.  After that he did bring the boat to shore because none of us could swim.  I went back to live at Aunt Hannah's to stay. 

I was 17 years old now. Dad and Mom had taken in a border and I didn't want to stay at home any more. One day, one of the waitress who worked for Aunt Hannah at the dance hall sent word there was a girl and her husband looking for me (it was my girlfriend from school). By the time I got to the dance hall they had gotten into a car and drove away. I went in and asked if my girlfriend had left me a message and the waitress said “no” because they had been there a long time. Which is why the waitress sent for me, they wanted to get them out of the dance hall. The waitress said they finally had to ask them to leave. See, my girlfriend had gotten jealous of another woman and hit her over the head with a beer bottle. I was sorry I missed them; I hadn’t seen my girlfriend in nearly two years. 

 Shirley, David, and me

I hadn’t been home for almost a year, so I didn’t know my parents had moved to Columbus, Ohio until Dad came for me a week before Christmas. He and Aunt Hannah got into an argument over me, she didn’t want me to leave and he was telling her he wasn’t leaving without me because I was old enough now to get a job and help him and Mom. Dad and Mom were now living with Aunt Eloise and her family. Mom and I got a job at the same place, Beverly Drive-In, she was a waitress inside and I was a car-hop outside. However, Mom quit after three days but I stayed there making twenty dollars a week for a year and half. Dad worked at the Ohio Wire Co which was where Aunt Eloise’s sons worked.

Alma Jean Dillow