A Story about Jim and Emmy
The first thing I remember about Martinsburg (at about the age of 4) was that Ruthy Shaffer (Johnson), my next door neighbor and I ran away from home together. Well, we didn’t make it the whole way downtown, but it was a wonderful start for my worldwide travels.
In third grade at Martin School I said, “If you cut a tree, plant a tree, if you dig a hole fill a hole, when you buy a car, deposit $25 to get rid of it when it becomes junk.” I remember the grade and comment so well because a car salesman’s son was going to beat me up because cars were already too expensive at $650 each.
In about 1942 or ‘43, I had a horse race (on our farm just outside town) with three Lockheed P-38 WW II fighter planes. The pilots were smiling and waving to me. One pilot made a loop, and flew past a second time. Of course I lost the race, but it was fun! Poor Topsy almost ran out of her tail!!
When I climbed the stairs at Bean Hill and entered the room where the test to go from 8th grade to high school was to be taken, I fell immediately in love-at-first-sight with Genive. I don’t think she ever knew that. Come to think of it, about the only other thing I remember about attending Cove High was one day, as I neared the top of the stairs, Audrey was having trouble with her garter, and I helped her fix it. I’ll never forget that! Wait, but yet another story. I remember one teacher was concerned that some lucky boy was going to see Mary Ellen’s panties reflected in her shiny paten leather shoes. Oh, if only I could have been that lucky boy!
While my older brothers were off fighting the war, I hurt my back working so hard on the farm. That’s why I say that I have a WW II injury. I remember that fertilizer came in 167 pound bags, and that bag, a ten gallon can of milk, and a bale of hay were rather heavy for the back of a 14 or 15 year old kid.
While in the Merchant Marine, I spent my 18th birthday (March 1946, before your graduation) on a troopship, SS Marine Cardinal, in the harbor of Singapore, on my way from Manila to Calcutta. There were hundreds of sunken ships in the harbor, and flattened buildings on shore. We were not allowed to leave the ship.
While I was in the Army the first time, I was stationed at Ft. Knox, KY. The train from Louisville Ky., to Chicago went right in back of our barn/garage just behind the folk's home, just outside Flora, Indiana.
When I was called back into the Army during the Korean War, I met a Master Sergeant who was a Supervisor in an IBM Department. He said that each time someone asked what I did, I was to say, “I'm an IBM man,” (I knew nothing about IBM machines!) and when I met someone who knew what that meant, tell him the truth. That‘s exactly what I did at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey, and it worked. I was given a key to the building, and spent nights and weekends learning all I could.
In addition to learning about IBM machines, in 1951 I was a secret spy for the FBI, looking for members of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg spy ring at Ft. Monmouth, NJ.
By 1951 I was 23 years old; married; was raised on a farm; a diesel engine repairman; a spot-welder; lugged bales of rubber in a warehouse; operated a metal band saw; was a milkman (twice) in Chicago, and in PA; in the Merchant Marines; in the US Army. I didn’t want to do any of those jobs for the rest of my life.
Not Love at First Sight, it was LOVE AT FIRST GLIMPSE, as my Sweetie opened the door for our blind date, Nov. 3, 1950. I had to report to the Army in a few days, but I was able to visit her on Christmas and a few weekends. Seven months later — minus one day — on June 2, 1951, after we had seen each other maybe 10 to 15 times, we were married.
At an US Army surplus store I paid $13 for a new US Army Uniform (I was on active duty). Emmy had borrowed a dress from a girlfriend at work. The large church was being decorated for a wedding later that day ($10,000 worth of decorations, at least), and as we approached the Altar, the pastor yelled, “Hey you guys, quit hammering for a few minutes, doesn’t hurt to use this stuff twice.” The wedding took 5 miutes, the marriage lasted nearly 55 years.
For every one of our 54 Wedding Anniversaries, we ate at a restaurant we had never patronized before. Those 54 restaurants were located on three cruise ships, and in five countries and several states.
Some doctors still make house calls. When Emmy suffered several small strokes in 2000, her Cousin, Dr. Reinhold Herrmann, came direct from Bonn, Germany. He observed her for several days, then wrote a report to her doctors. While he was a visiting doctor, his medical kit included a complete set of golf clubs, so he could also analyze several golf courses nearby. We lived near Palm Springs, CA, at that time.
Emmy and I knew each other for a total of 55 years and 13 days, and my Sweetie passed away on November 15, 2005 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. Her illness lasted nearly 9 years, with me as her nurse, the last few years on 24 hour duty. I was sitting by her hospital bed one day when she said, “This must be awful boring for you.” I responded, “It ain’t boring, you’re my Sweetie. You took care of me the first 50 years, now it’s my turn.”
Her last 5 nights were in a senior medical facility. I was not her nurse those days, but I was there at the end.
11:12 AM, November 15, 2005
For the next several minutes I kissed My Sweetie all over her face, her eyes, her mouth, and all over.
_______________________________
As I lifted my head, I would swear she had a different expression on her face, she took two more breaths, then left for Heaven.
_______________________________
I was no more than 5 or 6 inches from her face,
so did not miss a thing.
_______________________________
It was as if I had given her permission to leave, and that was
her last look of love, especially for me.
_______________________________
I am crying as I type, I want to be with her, now!
Her headstone tells the story of her life, it states,
“Now the Angels have a Role Model.”
Thousands of pages of stories, and photos, can be found on my Web Site
http://www.travel-tidbits.com/
Do any of you ladies remember even a moment when you thought I just might become a wonderful fellow and a great husband?
I would like it if you could tell me even one time at Cove High, when you thought that a dozen years later I would be teaching rooms full of PhDs, all about computers.
I was a generalist, not a specialist, so could take care of many of the different jobs that needed to be done when computers were a new idea. I could carry the load most of the time, was astute enough to know when to call a specialist, and bright enough to know which expert to call. My middle names are “Trivia” (interested in many/insignificant things) and “Curious” (eager to learn/strange) in both their positive and negative connotations.
In the mid-1950s I spent some time with the Whirlwind computer at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the SWAC computer at University of California at Los Angeles, and the Johnniac computer at The RAND Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif. All were hand-built computers created in the late 1940s. I certainly was not an expert in any of them, but few people have even seen all three, let alone spent even a little time working with all three.
When I saw part of MIT’s Whirlwind Computer in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, many years later, it did sort of confirm that since I “worked” (a little) with that computer in the mid-1950s, I was “there” at the beginning of the computer revolution. The Whirlwind was operational from 1949 to 1959.
In the mid 1950s, at The RAND Corp. in Santa Monica, CA, I worked on a computerized War Game that was used to train Air Defense RADAR operators. When I traveled (to Wash. DC; MIT; and several RADAR sites), my plane tickets and hotel reservations were in the name, “Dr. James Humberd.” Most everyone I traveled with had at least one Ph.D., and they didn’t want to admit there was a black-sheep in the group.
In early 1960s, we moved to Sierra Vista, AZ (south of Tucson, near the Mexican border), so I could work on a computerized War Game for the US Army Signal Corp., on a computer located at Ft. Huachuca, AZ. The staff included some PhDs, retired Generals and Colonels, and ME!!
Sometime in the 1960s I obtained the consultant contract, studied the State of Arizona’s need for computers, then presented my findings to the Governor of Arizona, the Speaker of the House, and the President of the Senate, and their staffs. That report resulted in the creation of the State of Arizona’s Computer Center.
Fifty years ago when we put men on the moon, I wrote the programmer manuals for the RCA 110A (Saturn Ground Control Computer) and the RCA 4102 (Atlantic Missile Range, Picket Ship Computer), two of the computers used to put the men on the moon. Then at the Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville, Alabama, I taught programmer training courses. Since everyone got to the moon and back, I did my job perfectly.
I have had about 170 to 180 Letters to the Editor, travel articles (most with photos), Op-Eds, interviews, book reviews, and bios, published in 12 to 15 publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, St. Petersburg Times, US News, Morrisons Cove Herald, etc. The letter published in the Wall Street Journal 25 years ago said, “… … … it is amazing how many stupid, ignorant, inefficient, worthless people you meet when you are in a bad mood.”
I met with Gov. Ronald W. Reagan several times while he was Governor. Between Governor and President, his office was on the 7th floor, mine on the 4th, in the same building in Los Angeles. He remembered me, so we talked a few minutes, several times. Sure impressed my coworkers. He really was a wonderful, friendly man.
Due to a lot of work by my wife Emmy (who managed our apartment buildings) and President Carter’s inflation, I was able to get off the computer industry payroll in 1978 at age 50, after nearly 30 years of making my living in the computer business. I didn’t quit work, we just worked for ourselves, owning real estate and trust deeds. That provided enough time and money to live well (our opinion of living well) and permitted many trips, including nearly 1,000 nights of travel in Europe. It’s been fun, both the 30 years in the computer business, and especially the nearly 55 years of working and enjoying life with my beautiful wife, Emmy.
We travel with the concept that:
If we have no schedule, we aren’t late.
If we don’t care where we are, we aren’t lost.
If we have no itinerary we’re exactly where we ought to be.
If we can’t see IT this trip, we’ll see IT next time.
In the RV our clothes are on a hanger. There are goodies in the refrigerator. We know who used the toilet last.
Our vacation is not a destination, it’s the Journey.
Turn here, explore there, relax and enjoy.
A picture is worth a thousand words, a visit is worth a thousand pictures, the video is priceless. The eye can see and the heart can love what the word cannot describe.
In addition to clothes, money, and a passport, the most important thing to take with you on vacation, is a positive attitude. It’s amazing how many stupid, ignorant, inefficient, obnoxious people we meet when (if?) we are in a bad mood. That’s true even when we aren’t on vacation.
We have eaten lunch in our RV right under the Eiffel Tower; within the arms of the Louvre; next to the Brandenburg Gate; just below the Parthenon; within sight of the Coliseum; from across the Tiber River looking down Via Conciliazione to St. Peter’s; with the Rock of Gibraltar out our window; across the street from Windsor Castle; across the river from le pont d’ Avignon; on a Norwegian fjord; and hundreds more.
Years of travel have taken us to dozens of countries on 5 continents; 11 islands in the Pacific; 9 in the Mediterranean; 2 in the Adriatic; and 7 islands in the Caribbean. Included are 49 of the United States (we never made it to Alaska); 10 cities in Mexico; El Salvador; the Panama Canal; 9 Canadian Provinces; and 29 European countries. We also visited a country or two in Asia, South America, and Africa.
When we visited the Island of Saipan, we could walk out into the ocean for a couple of hundred yards, and still the water would only be chest deep, filled with colorful fish and underwater plants of all kinds. And what colors! What form! What beauty! And that was just Emmy in her swim suit.
During nine trips in twenty-five years (from 1970 to 1995), we enjoyed 968 nights in 32 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa; slept at least one night in 452 spots in over 380 towns, cities, and other locations. That includes sleeping 605 nights in 406 different places in our RV; 307 nights with 10 of Emmy's cousins in 2 countries; 23 nights in hotels; three overnight trips on ferry boats; a cruise to Istanbul and the Black Sea; another cruise to several Greek Islands. In 1985, with the RV in the hold of the ship, we spent ten days on the Atlantic from Rotterdam, then London, and on to Montreal, Canada. We drove the RV home to California.
Cruise ships and ferry boats, with us aboard, have touched at perhaps 124 different points on 5 continents, on about 50 countries or major islands. At least 50 ferry rides sailed to and from perhaps 70 “spots” in 20 European countries. During one very windy boat ride, I could have helped Emmy hold down her skirt, but I was busy leading the applause. Marilyn Monroe received fame and fortune for a similar scene, but Emmy did it best. We also took a 7 week freighter trip to the South Pacific. As Emmy often said, “No wonder I’m tired!”
A favorite Canal story that I am not allowed to repeat in detail, tells about Emmy winning the prize for best performance in the middle of the Panama Canal. But just a hint — I was judge, jury and participant.
We visited the kennel at the hospice established by St. Bernard, at the mountain top in Switzerland. Enclosures held several of the famous St. Bernard dogs, and a half dozen St. Bernard puppies. The pans containing the puppy food were Coca-Cola trays. How’s that for a piece of trivia!
We would think the Italian police would want to check further when Californians say they own a French vehicle with German license plates while driving from Switzerland into Italy, but just a smile and a wave, and we went on our way. We crossed borders between European countries about 227 times.
The joy of travel without a schedule included accidentally meeting our daughter Linda and her friends across the street from the thousand year old Chateau de Fougéres, at Fougéres, France, a town none of us had even heard of earlier that morning. We knew she was in Europe, but had no idea where.
While looking for tickets to tour from Spain to Morocco, I pointed out a broken water pipe I had seen through a window in a closed Spanish government office, to a man in uniform. He remembered us a few days later as we returned to Spain from Morocco. He smiled, saluted, shook our hands, and escorted us past the long, complicated customs inspection stations, through the gate without even a glance at our passports or packages.
Emmy could spot a flea market anywhere. One time we were driving on I-90, across the wide open spaces of South Dakota on a Saturday morning when she picked up the map, pointed to a town-name and said, “Let’s get off the Interstate and see if they have a flea market.” Sure enough, their annual! once a year! flea market! How did she know?! By the way, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, in SD, is well worth your visit.
My Sweetie loved to visit street markets, flea markets, and antique stores. We considered them to be living museums. My one rule was, “If my Sweetie wants it, I will buy it.” That is the reason we collected over 200 items of interest. Of course she never wanted overly expensive, ridiculous items (except me!), and many were items I wanted (mostly for her!). Most times an “Emmy-spending-delay” was a synonym for “momentary.”
From my desk I can see dozens of collectibles, including about 50 items in my cane collection. One very nice cane was purchased across the street from a McDonald’s restaurant. That McDonald’s was located at the west end of the Charles Bridge, in Prague, Czech Republic. We visited Prague three different years.
Among the collectables are a 10 pound black volcanic lava rock that we found when we climbed to the top of Mt. Vesuvius, Italy; another lava rock, reddish in color, from the Island of Hawaii; a salt-incrusted rock from Death Valley; and two 10” pieces of the Berlin Wall, along with the hammer that did it.
Dozens more, including links of anchor chain from the Island of Saipan; clocks from Shipshewana, Indiana; another clock from the flea market near the Porte de Montreuil in Paris; scales from Athens, Stockholm, and Heidelberg; several items of beautiful framed art; copper and brass pots, kettles, and trays; and on and on.
On more than one year Emmy was on a “Venetian glass bead” hunt, so she often bought several necklaces and bracelets. She didn’t have several necks, wrists, etc., but she did have a lot of friends. Not many people have seen as many of Venice’s 117 islands, 150 canals, and 400 bridges, as we did, during our seven visits.
In the Caribbean Sea we visited Nassau, Bahamas (twice); Oranjestad, Aruba; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas (twice); and Christiansted, St. Croix. My Sweetie loved the five rings I just could not resist buying for her — one ring each on three islands, two on St. Thomas. They include cultured freshwater pearls, and a variety of jewels of many colors. Sweetie had the greatest taste in jewelry, as well as other things, including guess who?
Speaking of having great taste in things, I am often accused of having an extremely narrow taste in people, food, music, politics, and all those kinds of things. I just mention my extremely narrow taste in women, and that’s the end of that complaint! Not a taste for just any woman, a taste for the one and only, my beloved Sweetie.
Thanks a million for reading my story. Comments, questions, or corrections would be appreciated.
Here are some of my Favorite Nuggets.
The only reason to Live, is to Love.
The eye can see and the heart can love what the word cannot describe.
Alzheimer's is the disease where the caretaker suffers more than the patient.
I could have spent my life with her in a phone booth,
that's all the space I needed - the closer to my Sweetie, the better.
When I check-out in the supermarket, I don't look for the shortest line,
I look for the line with the cutest lady I can talk to!!!
The way to my heart was my Sweetie’s beauty, her character,
her figure, and especially her hugs and kisses.
There's nothing more beautiful than a beautiful lady.
The less the clothes, the more the beauty.
We celebrated my Sweetie's birthday on 12345670.
Jan 2, 2003, at 4:56. Her 70th.
When I would squeeze my Sweetie I always heard bells and chimes.
There's good news - there's a lady in the hot tub without her bra.
And there's bad news - I need one as much as she does!
Your spirit of adventure will be modified by your gumption for walking.
You must demand some reasonable association between
effort and excitement.
The shopping rule was; “If my Sweetie wants it, I will buy it.”
Lucky for me, the only ridiculous item she ever wanted was me.
When my Sweetie complained about my narrow taste in food, politics, books, etc., I just reminded her of my extremely narrow taste in women.
The best diagnosis for my problem is “Eightyitis.”
Not Love at First Sight, it was LOVE AT FIRST GLIMPSE,
as my Sweetie opened the door for our blind date, Nov. 3, 1950.
You should see the enchanting, delectable,
heavenly view that I saw at most every meal!
I don't remember seeing a sign. Maybe I thought
I was on a Scottish ferry and L-a-d-i-e-s spelled “Laddies.”
For Sweetie's 50th birthday I gave her 50 tiny pieces of gold,
and 50 small emeralds, in a glass vial, held by a chain.
For Sweeties 70th birthday I had a necklace with
70 stones made especially for her.
I told my Doctor, “How do I know if I am feeling as I should,
I've never been this age before”
Your adaptability can make the difference.
Plans may be changed by factors outside your control.
What a fascinating place for these people to live!
What a fascinating place for us to visit!
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