I’ve mentioned this in passing, but never really went into
detail. Lessons learned here have carried me through my life thus far so maybe
I should drag it up from the trenches of my memories. I’m sure my older
siblings remember things differently, but to my little kid self, this is how it
was.
In the early 70s, my uncle Bill was living in Hagerstown, Maryland and was opening a new restaurant in nearby Edgewood. He needed help
and reached out to my mother to bring her on board. She, being the workhorse
she is, thought maybe it was time for something new and different for our
family. Plans were made for us to head east!
I only recently learned this part of the story, but my big
brother Tim went east first to find our new home. He and Bill toured many Baltimore
houses and then he found our perfect new home. It was a short walk to the
elementary school, on the bus route, and in the perfect neighborhood for our
family. I don’t really remember any of the leaving the Midwest details but I definitely
remember the excitement about our new home!
We knew it was bigger than our current home. We knew it was
a Victorian style three story house with a screened front porch, built in window
seats, and a back yard. We knew it was grander than we could imagine and it was
exciting! I remember planning with my brother Rick on the drive east that we
would share a room on the third floor and we’d load our window seat with Funyuns
and Reeses Cups that would be all ours!
This was an adventure! We were moving with eight of our nine
kids (Tim was already on the road as a working musician so he didn’t move with
us) PLUS two extra teenage boys who were moving with us. What could go wrong?
This is where the movie folks would put in a record scratch
sound.
As it turned out there was a paperwork glitch that meant we
couldn’t get into our new Baltimore home. Thankfully, my uncle knew the man who
owned the closed motel next to his restaurant site and we were allowed to move
in there while we waited to get into our house. As I remember it, we travelled
east during Spring Break so we had a little bit of time to enroll in schools
and figure out next steps.
Remember, I said this motel had been closed for some time.
This meant that luxuries like electricity and properly running water were not
available. Still, to at least the younger kids in the family, it was kind of an
adventure – like camping indoors! We ran extension cords for power and prepared
meals with a camping stove, an electric griddle, and a popcorn popper. We
explored all of the rooms and each had our own favorite nooks.
School started and we’d all pile into the station wagon for
the 30-ish mile ride into Baltimore for the drop off at the elementary school,
the junior high, and the high school. I don’t know what my mother did while we
were there but since I was in kindergarten, I only had half days. She’d pick me
up, and we’d go to a park or playground or something to eat sandwiches for
lunch and explore the area while we waited for the older kids to be ready for
pick up. Then, back to Edgewood, to do homework, make dinner, wash the dishes
in the bathtub, explore the motel, etc. Lather, rinse, repeat. I’m not entirely
sure how long we were there, but it was probably at least eight weeks before we
could get into our Baltimore home.
As a grown up, I don’t know how my mother did this. I never
saw her collapse. I’m sure it was hellish for the older kids. For me – and probably
a few of my younger siblings – I have only fun memories of that time. It was an
exciting adventure! We explored this strange place and made it fun. We wandered
the neighborhood and went to the arcade and movie theater – we saw Jaws! We were
a united team, we helped each other, and we turned our lemons into delicious
lemonade.
Obviously, these things are all about perspective. I’m sure
the older kids’ version won’t be as rainbow colored but my view was exciting
and joyous. I know my mother is a badass and I stand in awe of her abilities.
I’m grateful for the skills I picked up by osmosis because
I’m still able to improvise my way through hardships. For that, I thank my
mother for taking a leap and the El Dorado Motor Lodge for catching us when we
landed.