Exceptional Shelby activities during the summer of 1994. Remembering Yesterday : The Summer of 1994 by BethShelby

For new readers, who may not have read my author notes, this is written in a conversational way as I talk to my deceased husband. When I refer to someone just as "you" this means I am addressing my husband, Evan. There was a break between the last week of camp training and the first week of actual camp. Connie took some of her new camp friends on a trip to Atlanta in her little red Hyundai. The camp was near Montgomery, Alabama, so they had to travel about 170 miles one way. Connie showed them all of her favorite spots in Atlanta.  Since the drive from Chattanooga to Atlanta was less than two hours, she and her friends had gone there often in the past. She had called Don and told him they planned to spend the night with him and Kimberly. They lived in Acworth, Georgia, so going there meant they would still have to drive 32 miles north of Atlanta. From Don, I learned they didn't get to his house until two a.m., when he and Kimberly were in bed. The  kids raided their kitchen looking for something to eat. Kimberly felt they were being used, but Don said he had done things like that at Connie’s age. I do remember him bringing about ten kids home with him from the camp where he'd worked in California. We lived in New Orleans at the time, and the kids stayed several days and went to the 1984 World Fair. They were sleeping all over our floors, and I had to feed them.  Connie’s car broke down on the way back, and they had to call the camp for someone to pick them up and arrange to have her car towed. The repairs were over $200, which you and I had to pay for. The following week was blind camp. Connie said some of the kids were nearly as old as she was, and they were totally uncontrollable. She told us her group was the worst kids at the camp, and everyone felt sorry for her. She was very relieved when that week was over. Later, she had a group of kids she really enjoyed. Her group won the award for the best cabin that week. She called home often, and it seemed she was making a lot of friends and enjoying her work. Connie’s boyfriend, J.P., called us and asked if we had heard from her. I told him we had talked to her once, after she returned from Atlanta. Since she hadn't bothered to tell him she was going to Atlanta, or to call him at all, he was pretty upset. He ended up calling her and reminding her she had promised to call him if she went to Atlanta, so he could meet her there. She wasn’t very happy with me for telling him. I have a feeling her new friend, Charlie, was along, and she didn't want J.P. to meet him. ******* The River Bend Festival started, and Christi went two nights with different guys. She had more boyfriends than she knew what to do with, and she'd also joined Match Makers. After joining, she had several guys she had talked to calling her, as well. She didn’t like anyone she met on that site. We were constantly answering the phone for people wanting to talk to Christi, or to schedule a massage. We began to feel like we were her answering service. At least, some of the guys were keeping our house filled with fresh flowers. Christi was still moping over losing Denny, but to our way of thinking, he was the last person she needed in her life. ****** You and I skipped River Bend, and went to a local amusement park to hear a country singer. Your taste in music, at this time in our lives, seemed to be country, gospel, and some pop. I liked all of that, but I also liked many other types of music. The 23rd of June was our 38th wedding anniversary. Our celebration only  involved the two of us eating out at a nice restaurant.  Most of your days were spent between working on your garden and digging on the storm shelter you were in the process of building. When I wasn’t working a short-term temporary job, I had started doing some creative writing. I’d taken a creative writing course at the university when we lived in New Orleans. Writing stories and poetry had always interested me, and for periods off and on, I had kept a journal. ****** We helped Carol move into the place she would be sharing with her friend Pam. Pam’s estranged husband, Phil, wasn’t pleased with Carol moving there, because he thought it was going to be the place where he could come to see Pam, and maybe get their marriage back on track. The apartment was owned by an engineer named George. He had built a four-car garage and was using it as his work space. He built the apartment over it to rent. Everything was finished except the bathroom Carol would be using. Pam had a huge collection of life-size dolls that looked like odd little children from a past generation. They were sitting in chairs all over the place and really looked a bit eerie. Other than that, it was a really nice place with a lot of trees and a mountain towering over it. George lived in a larger house on the property, which included six acres and extended to the top of the mountain.  Shortly after Carol moved in, her friend Neil invited her to fly to Chicago with him to visit his parents. Carol had been trying to distance herself from him, but she'd never been to Chicago, so she decided to go. You and I took them to the airport to fly out. You hadn’t met Neil before, and there wasn’t time to get acquainted before they had to leave, but you weren’t impressed. I think you visualized your daughter with a younger, better-looking guy. ******* Kimberly wanted to spend a few days at home with her family, so she and Don came up from Georgia. Don decided to stay with us and help you with the storm shelter. He had just completed a project, involving finishing out the interior of a basement in a house owned by a wealthy man in the Atlanta area. The guy had expressed an interest in investing in Don’s chiropractic-table-building business. He gave Don a book and some tapes on something called The Instant Millionaire, which had gotten Don all worked up about becoming rich. We weren’t impressed by what we heard, because the theory was people should start living like they were already millionaires, and by doing that, soon they would realize their dream. Don and Kimberly had been spending money like they were millionaires ever since they'd been married, and they were going deeper and deeper into debt. Don was a strong hard worker. He was able to finish the digging you’d been doing for months. In a very short time, he had the slab poured for the storm shelter. You would brick up the walls and build the roof, since he had to go back home before it could be completed. ****** Connie would return from camp before the end of the summer with a renewed commitment to finishing her education and applying herself more seriously toward life as a responsible adult. Evan is 65 and a retired drafting supervisor from Chevron Oil. Beth is 56 and has had a variety of jobs. She is presently working temporary jobs. Carol is 32, and a nurse, working at a hospital in Chattanooga and living in an apartment.   Don is a twin. He is 31 and just graduated from Life Chiropractic College.  Christi is Don’s twin.  She is working as a receptionist at a chemical company and doing massages on the side. Kimberly Dye is Don’s wife. She is a nurse working in Atlanta. Connie is our youngest daughter. She is twenty-one. She is a sophomore in college and only taking two courses. Glen Egolf is Carol's ex-husband. He lives in Florida and works in Orlando. J.P. is Connie's current boyfriend. Charlie is a new boy Connie's met at camp. Pam and Neil are Carol's friends. Recognized Author Notes I'm continuing to recall memories of life with my deceased husband, Evan, as if I am talking aloud to him. I'm doing this because I want my children to know us as we knew each other and not just as their parents.

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