A BUMP(us) IN THE ROAD... a pothole? (part 66e)

His new wife’s name was Judy and she was the youngest of four kids and the only girl. Her family had been involved in farming ”forever“ in Iowa. Lance’s family were also into farming and the families had known each other. Lance had, more or less, grown up with her and had been best friends with one of her brothers. Even though there was was a year difference between them they dated in high school. Upon graduation Lance joined the Air Force and she finished school. They weren’t ”together“ but continued to write. When Lance went home on leave they got back together and... well, the pregnancy and wedding were the result. Lance didn’t seem too upset but the tone of his voice told me he wasn’t overly thrilled with the situation. In any case, he’d received the the ”threat“ from her father and knew what he had to do. When he showed up at home to get married her father was really happy as she was a ”daddy’s girl“ and always got what she wanted. Her uncle (her father’s brother) also had four kids and they were all boys and he’d taken kindly to the only female in the immediate family. He owned a farm machinery company and had done quite well with it. According to Lance, at the wedding they had collected around $500 cash from his family and her relatives (Not bad for 1961!).

It had been the next day when Judy’s uncle approached Lance wanting to know what plans he had since everybody knew she wasn’t returning to the base with him. Lance explained that housing was hard to come by and that when he could make arrangements she’d join him. One thing led to another and Lance mentioned the possibility of a trailer. The Uncle said he’d loan them $2,000. Before Lance knew it Judy’s father said he’d loan them another $1,000. That’s when Lance called me.

We were almost back by the time we got to that part of the story and I was sitting there doing all kinds of calculations in my mind. I quickly figured that if I could get around $3,500 for the trailer from Lance along with the $1,000 I had on deposit with the ”boys” I’d need roughly a $2,500 loan to get the new trailer. Dick had let me know that his father was on the Board of Directors of a regional bank and that he could get loans for people he recommended. I certainly felt like he liked me so I was pretty excited about that possibility. I took a deep breath and told Lance that because I liked him I’d sell him the trailer for $3,600 but I was going to keep the car. He’d been slouched down in the seat but that brought up upright in a hurry. The first thing he said was he was interested but disappointed that I wouldn’t sell him the car back. By then we were back at the park and I pulled into the lot where the trailers that were for sale were displayed. I stopped in front of the used unit that I’d told him was probably going to sell for around $3,600. We got out and walked around it with me describing the layout as we did. The thing that had made the biggest impression on me when choosing my trailer was the efficient use of space. It had a unique layout. The trailer we were looking at had a “traditional” layout and was two years older than mine. I made sure to point those facts out to Lance as we walked around it. I don’t remember him saying much so I offered to drive back to the other unit that I knew was for sale. We stopped in the road in front of it but he said to drive on by. When we pulled up in front of my trailer he got out and looked down both sides of it commenting about what good shape it was in. That comment lifted my spirits which were lifted even higher when he asked that if he bought the trailer would I loan him the car until he got the ‘49 Ford he was working on up and running. I immediately said “yes” but he wasn’t done yet. He pointed to the metal shed behind the trailer and said he wanted it as well. I’d bought it used and it wasn’t in good shape so that was a “yes” as well.Then he saw the laundry rack. In making up the pad that I wanted to put my new trailer on I’d laid it out in my mind to put up two “T” poles so that wasn’t an issue either. By them I was so anxious that I could hardly breathe. Finally, he stuck out his hand and I grabbed it.(4)

I wanted to get some details from him but it was after 5pm and he had to be back on the base and on duty at 6pm. I gave him the keys to the car and watched him drive off wondering if it the right thing to do. Once in the trailer Elle was all over me for not letting her know where I was. I’d been gone for almost six hours. I had a lot to tell her, not the least of which was that we were going to get a new, bigger trailer. But something told me to suppress my excitement until I had something more definite from Lance than a handshake.

To be continued...