About the last four years of 1970

The last four years of the 70's proved to be filled with many changes.

Gordon decided to get his own apartment which was great for him, but lonely for us in a way. But we always kept in touch.

Our Cadilllac (bought from my Dad) had seen better days and we started to look for a new four-door sedan. We were in shock. The prices were so high. Jokingly, I said: " For what these cost we could buy a house." Sooooooo, we did! One on wheels. We went to our very first RV show and found a great small RV that had only four wheels. It was a miniature of those around us, but not as small as those that sat on small wheels, they looked unsafe. It was a charming little house on wheels, and we decided to trade in our car for this one - getting a great deal. I still had my Opel which was used for work and shopping. But the camper came in very handy for other things.

I gave Mel the idea of having bridesmaids dress or ride in it to weddings. That was a big hit. We used this to go to close venues for lectures, and were able to sleep in it many times. We bought it in 1976, and had ten great years with it.

But, the next year, I found myself in a different sort of vehicle called a wheelchair. It seems that my Fibromyalgia had become very severe in my thighs, and the Doctor would not let me walk. He hoped this would help the pain cease. He also gave me crutches, still not wanting me to put any weight (still not that much) on the thighs. Poor Mel had to push me around, but we kept our schedule, This was my "carriage" for four months and soon the pain eased up. But came the next winter, and I had the same problem.

At that time there was a hospital just for arthritic patients and I was ordered there for bedrest. After nearly two weeks, there was no let up and the Doctor decided to try something different. On my hospital bed, he performed a very painful procedure by injecting each thigh 17 times with cortisone. First he injected pain killers, then came the medication. I think the first "shot" was worse than the second.

Not thinking, the next morning, I decided to walk to the community bathroom and fell - boom! I looked and each leg from the knee to my body was a deep, deep blue-black mark. Now, I was REALLY in pain! After a week I was released and back to the wheelchair, but this time getting one injection a day by the local nurse, then every other day until it was once a week, then slowly once a month until to this day when it is once every eight weeks.

Before I started my wheelchair adventure, the chief salesperson from Texas came to the see us at the studio and asked if we were interested in being sponsored for two large luncheon/lecture events. Mr. Gittings' studio paid for everything plus a neat size of money. We were to fly to San Francisco, get a car and drive down to L.A. for the second luncheon. Flyers were made up with history of the two of us, which by now was quite extensive.

There are always some people in every profession who are jealous and we found out that one had sent a letter to our sponsors that I was in a wheelchair. It made no difference. We brought our own (from the drugstore next to us) and all I asked for was a tall stool so I could sit instead of stand during my portion of the lecture. It was toward the end of the 70's and the lectures were super.

I was really angry at my husband who insisted on taking Route 1A by the Pacific Ocean which had no railings. I did not think we would survive, especially toward the end. The fog came in and we could hardly see our destination. Real scary! I hung on for dear life and when we called our son to say we were safe at the motel, he laughed at me for "hanging on". "Gee Mom," he said, "if you went over it would not help to hang on". (No so funny!)

I noticed that my clothes were getting tight on me and soon realized that cordisone adds weight. My size five clothes had to be put away, as I kept adding sizes until I was a Petite 14! I felt like a Horse! But the weight gain stopped as the injections were not as frequent. I slowly started to walk, first with crutches, then a cane, and then for many years, no help at all. IT WORKED!

New Year's Eve of 1979 found us celebrating at our favorite N.H. Motel where Mel had made from a small snapshot a wonderful color canvas of the founder and hung it over the lobby fireplace. He had taken a live portrait of his wife (still alive at that time) and they were together in that lobby. Everyone was pleased, and I am thrilled that my husband's name is at the Margate to this day on those two portraits.

We received an emergency call from our son who was having a party at our home, and as the clock rang in the New Year of 1980, so did the most traumatic part of my life.

Tell you all about it real soon. Marian