Here's a photo from about 1965. These are the grandchildren of my folks at my sister's house for Christmas. Top, left to right - Michael Herman, Jimmy Herman, Scott Brown; center - Janey Brown, Bonnie Burns, Jill Brown; front - Doug Hansen, Diane Hansen. Dogs are Peppi and Cocoa.
In this shot, little Dave is with us in this shot. It must be about 1966. We were celebrating Christmas at the Browns, and even though this photo is very blurry, left to right are...Jean Brown, Bonnie Burns, my father, Doug Hansen, my mother, Janey Brown (I think...) holding David Hansen, Scott Brown, Jimmy Herman standing behind his mom, Dorothy Ann, and Michael Herman. On the far left is Diane Hansen in front of Jean, Jack Brown holding Cocoa, and Vern sitting in the center.
As you can see on the photo, the year is 1967. These are some of Wilma's grandchildren at one of the family gatherings that year. At the top, with his tongue out, is Jeff Brookner, and his brother Steve next to him; laying down is Michael Herman; then comes Doug, with Janey Brown looking in from the right side of the photo; at the bottom is Diane on the left, Jimmy Herman (we called him 'Butchy' back then...) and Susan Brookner partly missing! I think they were having some fun...
Here's one of the few photos with both Vern and me together. Usually one or the other of us was taking the pictures... this might have been taken in about 1972 or 73...I had started wearing my hair longer again... (I made the needlework pillow on the back of the couch.) I'm holding our beautiful cat, Rufus.
This is an earlier photo of Vern sitting in our living room on West 7th Street. It must be holiday time, because I see some 'Christmasy' figures on the table.
Here's one of those 'split' slides, and it shows Vern cooking some steaks or burgers on a little hibatchi grill on the porch of the cabin. He looks pretty young in this shot, so I'm guessing it was early in our marriage.
This is the same day shown earlier when the kids were shooting baskets at our hoop on the garage. In this shot, Vern takes a turn.
Vern is in the back yard, practicing his swing. That's actually a nice photo...action, nice scenery, and sunshine... He was doing what he loved.
It was in the spring of 1974 that things came to a head. Vern went to yet another convention, and I stayed at home to run the house (sometimes I negotiated something new for the house, such as new carpeting, since I was not going along to the conventions.)
About that time, I had become good friends with our neighbor woman, Ann Rueber. I spent a lot of time over at her house visiting with her, and she enjoyed my company. Her oldest son, David, had just come back from serving two years in the Peace Corps in Liberia, and he had pretty interesting stories to tell.
That summer, Vern and I and the kids went on a trip out to visit friends in Colorado and in western Nebraska. I will post some photos from those two trips together on the next blog.
My marriage was beginning to come apart, so I looked for and found a job at Doerfer Corporation, a design engineering firm in downtown Cedar Falls. I could walk to work from the apartment I had found to rent, as I had decided to move out.
In my thinking, with the small income I was able to make at that point, it was better for me to leave the kids with Vern. He had a good income, was staying in the house where they had grown up, and were already enrolled in school. They were within walking distance of all the schools - elementary, junior high and high school, and their lives could go on with as little disruption as possible considering that divorce is an awful thing for kids to endure. And, Vern also had family in town, and a support system who would help him out when he needed that.
So, I left home and my life after 14 years of marriage, and left my three beautiful children.
Our divorce became final on October 30, 1974. I did not go to court since I didn't have a lawyer anyway.
Well, that's about enough truth for one post. I think you will find that the rest of my life, and the last years of my mother's life, too, were interesting enough for you to come back...
It was in the spring of 1974 that things came to a head. Vern went to yet another convention, and I stayed at home to run the house (sometimes I negotiated something new for the house, such as new carpeting, since I was not going along to the conventions.)
About that time, I had become good friends with our neighbor woman, Ann Rueber. I spent a lot of time over at her house visiting with her, and she enjoyed my company. Her oldest son, David, had just come back from serving two years in the Peace Corps in Liberia, and he had pretty interesting stories to tell.
That summer, Vern and I and the kids went on a trip out to visit friends in Colorado and in western Nebraska. I will post some photos from those two trips together on the next blog.
My marriage was beginning to come apart, so I looked for and found a job at Doerfer Corporation, a design engineering firm in downtown Cedar Falls. I could walk to work from the apartment I had found to rent, as I had decided to move out.
In my thinking, with the small income I was able to make at that point, it was better for me to leave the kids with Vern. He had a good income, was staying in the house where they had grown up, and were already enrolled in school. They were within walking distance of all the schools - elementary, junior high and high school, and their lives could go on with as little disruption as possible considering that divorce is an awful thing for kids to endure. And, Vern also had family in town, and a support system who would help him out when he needed that.
So, I left home and my life after 14 years of marriage, and left my three beautiful children.
Our divorce became final on October 30, 1974. I did not go to court since I didn't have a lawyer anyway.
Well, that's about enough truth for one post. I think you will find that the rest of my life, and the last years of my mother's life, too, were interesting enough for you to come back...
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