2008 - Glendale Community College

course designer for their PBX systems,
he was successful and valued. There was
no reason to think a job change would
occur in the near future, but cut backs,
reorganizations, etcetera had left him
unemployed. Job hunting takes more than a
day or two, especially since during that
period of time many people were affected
by corporate cutbacks. We had to regroup.
While attending an intense nursing
reentry program, I went to work at
Fry’s Food Store as a deli clerk. I had
previous experience as a deli manager so
I thought this would be ok. I was wrong.
I always worked the closing shift. This
meant cleaning deep fryers, meat slicers,
and every other surface in the deli, in
between waiting on customers. The store
manager told us in one breath not to have
any overtime and in the next demanded we
wait on the customers, even if the deli
was closed and most of the equipment
cleaned. The job was a real drudge. On
top of this, some of the customers that
came in during this
time of the day were
incredible. It still
amazes me what bad
moods people are in
when they need to stop
at the grocery store
on the way home from
work. I have never
heard such cursing
in my entire life. The quote of the day
became, “What just happened?”
Though Ed treated job hunting like a
full time occupation, spending at least
eight hours a day, he still hadn’t found
the job he was looking for. I continued
to attend classes during the day, and
then put on that silly black bowtie,
white visor cap, black pants with a
white shirt, and head for Fry’s deli
department. My small wages helped keep
food on our table.
We had so little time to spend
together. Ed missed being with me. I was
too busy most of the time to notice.
Periodically when I looked out over the
clear smooth glass of the deli counter,
I saw him at a distance down one of the
grocery aisles trying to blend in with
the crowd. He didn’t want to distract me,
or cause me any problem with my bosses,
yet wanted to be near and at least see
me. It warmed my heart to know how much
he cared. I’m not sure how often he was
there, but he was always home when I
arrived.
One night I arrived home from work
tired and frazzled. My clothes smelled
Glendale Community College
I felt the stressed look
on my face miraculously
change to a broad smile as
love radiated from my eyes.
like used deep fryer grease. My wrinkled
forehead and frowning mouth expressed how
I felt, stressed and unhappy. As I walked
through the door, I heard the sound of a
ukulele. The tropical music transported me
back to the beautiful islands of Hawaii.
I followed the music to our family room.
On our television was the most gorgeous
view of the blow hole on the North
Shore on Oahu. The water soared twenty
feet up. The camera panned down to the
clear crystal green water. A magnificent
sea turtle was swimming. As the scene
changed, there were purple, pink, and
white orchids, protea plants, brilliant
green fern, red and pink ginger, bird of
paradise, red and yellow hibiscus and
coconut palms swaying in the breeze. The
soft warm breeze of our ceiling fan was
reminiscent of the tropics. The sound of
squawking tropical birds filled the room.
In front of the TV, stretched out on
the floor, was a bright colored blanket
with our old beige reed beach mats
and blue floral beach towels placed on
top. There were
yellow bananas and
multicolored beach
balls scattered
around the blanket
and throughout the
room. The smell of
pineapple and coconut
permeated the air. Two
tulip shaped frosted
glasses filled with frozen piña coladas
were placed near Ed. Wearing dark blue
swim trunks with bold white flowers,
he welcomed me to Hawaii. He placed a
hot pink lei around my neck, kissed me
passionately on the lips, then handed me
a cool, frozen drink.
As I sipped the cold, sweet tasting
liquid, I headed for the “cabana” and
changed into my swim suit, shed my cares
and worries, and headed to our “beach.”
As I lay next to him, feeling his warm
skin close to me, I felt the stressed
look on my face miraculously change to
a broad smile as love radiated from my
eyes.
With a trip to the library, the grocery
store, and a well thought out plan, he
had transported me from Phoenix, Arizona
to a beach in Hawaii. He gave me a night
of fantasy without spending the money we
didn’t have.
Even after thirty six years of
marriage, our “third Hawaiian trip” is
one of my best memories. Ed transformed
a rough time of our lives into something
very special.
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