Lynn – Part 3
Lynn had a friend at LC3 who was a young Catholic priest, not much older than me. He agreed to marry us, so we set the date. I think we set it for September ‘71. It was held by the river in Beaver Creek Reservation Amherst, OH. Dale played prior to the ceremony for us. The priest read passages from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. My parents and my sibs, Chris, Jacqui, Becky, and Bryan, plus Lee, Jimmy, and the priest, plus Fred, Ellen, and Dale, constituted our wedding party. The reception consisted of a little picnic, then back home. Lee and Jimmy went back to their motel and left the next morning. Lynn and I continued living in my porch room for about a month. Then Lynn found us a small house on W 12th St. that we could afford, $100 a month. I quit school and did some earnest job hunting, and through Lynn’s uncle Jim, found a carpenter job with Bob Schmitt Homes, doing rough-in work. We set up (roughed-in) and roofed 2-3 houses per week in a housing development in Brecksville, near Cleveland. That lasted less than a year, working as long as there was daylight…only had Sundays off. Lynn was also working as a waitress and cocktail server at Aqua Marine, a higher end resort in Avon Lake (I think)… too long ago, can’t remember the details.
By ‘72, we had put enough aside to buy a new Ford Pinto. Lynn also bought a gelding quarter horse named Comanche, which we boarded at the farm where she and Ellen rode, and Ellen kept her horse. I had to work cleaning stables whenever Lynn wanted to ride to help pay the board. Unfortunately, I discovered the hard way that I was highly allergic to horse hair. Then Lynn decided that she wanted me to ride with her sometimes since Ellen couldn’t always make the time. So, Lynn bought another horse, a trotter. Don’t remember her name. So, I rode and took care of Comanche after that. Lynn sold her horses once she got pregnant. We got a dog instead, Nanook of the north, an Alaskan Malamute.
Toward the end of winter, I had to quit the carpenter job. I was having chest pains, which I assumed were from working in the cold all day, every day. I next got a job at US Steel working in the machine shop as a sweeper, chipper, and hooker (hooking up loads to the overhead crane). I saw a signup sheet for the machinist apprenticeship program and signed up for it. They gave me a couple of tests and accepted me into the program. Part of the program included taking classes at LC3. So I returned to classes there, switching between the machine shop and LC3 weekly. During that time, Lynn became pregnant with our first, a girl with downy red fluff, but lighter than Lynn’s hair, who we named Kristen.
To be Continued
–LE
CynOp 
12 responses to “Lynn – Part 3 – Memoir Continued”
Aw, you did get married. 😊 And fathered a baby girl.
From what you recounted here, it sounds like you were a good husband. Not many would work around horses when allergic for the sole of helping their wife keep her horse.
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Sole “PURPOSE”!!!
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Well, I’m as human as anyone, made plenty of mistakes. But yes, I have always tried to make my relationships work. Always tried to go that extra mile… if I could. But as you’ll see, there were times when I just couldn’t…; -)
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That’s understandable. There were times I couldn’t go that extra mile either. One can only go so many “extra miles” before it ceases being worth the cost.
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Agreed. But, I wasn’t always given the choice for an extra mile. It was taken away from me… more often than I care to admit…; -)
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I’m sorry…I’m sure it hurt. 💙 I read somewhere that women initiate 70% of all divorces. If you’re familiar with the term “hypergamy” it explains why a lot of women leave (but not all, by a long shot) their mate. I think it’s baked into womens’ mammalian brain, just as men leaving their wives for a younger women is baked into theirs.
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I had to look up ‘hypergamy’…. While I’m sure that’s true in many of the cases I’ve seen, I don’t think it applied in my situations… though it’s certainly possible that I missed something (or many things) along the way…; -)
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You would know better than anyone else.
I think women are harder to get along with than men, especially younger women. Speaking just for myself, when I was younger, it seems as if I was always fighting just to be heard and understood by men in general and my husband in particular. He really didn’t care to get to know the real Kat. The second wasn’t much better. For the most part, men and women have trouble understanding each other; it’s just how we’re wired.
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I totally agree. Men and women are ‘wired differently’. But if both parties are truly in love and willing to be open-minded, trying to see the other’s point of view, accommodation can be reached and love can deepen…imho…at least I hope so… Even though I have my cynical edge, I’m still an optimist at heart…; -)
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After two bad marriages, I’m a complete cynic regarding romantic relationships—at least for me. I don’t think I’m the marrying kind.
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My situation is similar, though my second wasn’t as bad as the first ended up being. But, I’ve learned my lesson… never again. I’ve told my oldest son that if I ever talk about getting married again, to please come and shoot me…; -)
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Ha! I told the same thing to my friends. 😆
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