The Adventures of Nellie and Doris: The One About Nights

Recently Missy reminded me of how Nellie and the kids ate dinner with their dad. Bobby worked nights while Nellie tended to the family or worked at the store during the day. The kids had little opportunity to see their dad as they were in school while he was sleeping in the daytime.

So, Nellie would cook dinner, pack it up, and then toss the kids into the back of their camper-shelled truck. They had made a bit of a camper in the back, including a table, chairs, and a bitty sink area. Then they would drive out to Bobby's work and all together they would have dinner. Every night they drove the 10+ miles up to Swan Island in North Portland. Brilliant!

Now, I am a person who needs to write about or talk out problems and issues in order to work them out. Since I was going to school days and working nights, I had little time to chat with anyone. Nellie would often come over to the store for a visit (and sometimes give me a potty break), but the neighborhood store was often too busy to really talk. So, I would call her many nights for these chats.

Nellie was a great listener. I'd call after she had gone to bed--Nellie was a very early riser. She had to get up in time to make Bobby's breakfast and then get the kids off to school, right? Therefore, she was an early bedder. I'd usually call when I went to bed and she would answer and let me talk. She would put in an occasional "Uh Huh" so I could know she was listening. And I'd talk about that guy who fathered my sons, or the guy who broke my heart. Or the guy I was falling for. You know...issues!

Now here's the real adventure.... 

Probably everyone in the world knew that Nellie slept in the nude. I mean she wasn't secret about it, so we just figured she had cover-ups when she went into the rest of the house. She didn't flaunt it, but we *wink wink* knew. What I never realized was that the house had only one phone--on the kitchen wall. None in her bedroom. So when I called--after everyone had gone to bed--she'd come out of the bedroom into the hall, out into the living room, and sit naked on the couch while I chattered, lamented, complained. For long periods of time. 

Now I wonder if she had at least a blanket during the cold nights...

Nellie was such a great person. She never complained that I called and she had to jump out of bed to sleepily sit starkers on that couch with a phone glued to her ear. For long periods of time. 

No, she was my friend, a wonderful star. No complaints from her. 

None from me when she needed to take a nap after she got off work weekends at 3:00p--I mean there were often about 500 people living and staying at her house--as I just started my shift. So, she would come to my house when my sons were gone, visiting their father, to take a nice long nap on my water bed. 

No complaints when I would go to her house to visit after the kids headed off to school when we should have been doing housework. 

No complaints when her dog, Sunkist, would come sleep at my house (you know...those 500 people across the street) while I studied or dusted or something.

We never complained about one another because we loved one another. We were all about laughter and adventures and teasing and raising kids and bitching about family people. 

No complaints.
Always love.

and so it goes...
peace~~~

The Adventures of Nellie and Doris: The One with All the Food

That first spring after we moved into our little place in SE Portland, I decided we needed to meet the neighbors. We invited the families around us for a neighborhood potluck.

Everyone brought tables and outdoor chairs, plates and silverware, cups. We lay it all out on our front yard--the best open space around the corner. 

Shirley made the taco salad. Nellie made the macaroni salad and fried some chicken. I made something, probably chili. I made chocolate chip cookies. Shirley made a fruit pie. And Nellie made something gooey and yummy.

The adults ate and laughed. What a great idea! And kids ran around free as the birds, or as the monkeys, chasing and laughing. What a great idea!

We continued this neighbor get-together over the years. After we went up Mt. Hood and picked huckleberries--Shirley made the pie for us that time. After one of the kids did something to celebrate. And along the way, we added people to the group.  Candy and Bill--owned the little market across the street. Whatever fella I was dating at the time. Friends of the kids.

And Shirley made the taco salad. Nellie made the macaroni salad and fried up some chicken. And Candy brought the coleslaw. And I made chocolate chip cookies and probably some chili.

And later we moved the potluck to Mt Scott Park and included the same old people, but added kids' spouses and kids' kids. And then it expanded to include kids' kids' kids. And Shirley made the taco salad. Nellie made the macaroni salad and fried up some chicken. And Candy brought the coleslaw. And I made chocolate chip cookies and black bean chili.

And again we moved this annual get-together to Home Town Buffet. After some of the people had sadly left us, as well as the adults getting older, it became easier to meet indoors--until Pandemic hit.

These days we met at Olive Garden, just Candy and Nellie and Mary and me. Candy et al would have the soup and salad. I'd have salad and bread sticks :) 

The final get-together with Nellie was celebrating Christmas last year in 2023. We had Shirley's kids and partners, Nellie and Mary, Candy and me. 

And so it goes.
peace~~~

The Adventures of Nellie and Doris: The One With the Roadtrip

It all started when I graduated with my Bachelor's Degree from Portland State University. I graduated with a degree in Speech Communication, in Sociology, and a minor in Journalism. I was an over achiever....

Not long afterwards, my long-time partner left me. In my devastation, I immediately cut my hair--why do women always cut their hair?--and tried to think what I could do to start over with my life. The same-ole same-ole just didn't sit well. I needed to get away and start over, bringing my sons along with me to our new lives.

Nellie and I talked over what I could do and we came up with a real change for my life. I could move to Southern Oregon and live as a free-lance journalist. I had been working as a columnist for a local paper, ghost writer for a local political figure, as well as a news journalist for the Vanguard. I was offered a house rent-free (for tending the house) on the Klamath Indian Reservation. I thought I could do it. So, Nellie and I decided to drive down to Sprague River to see the house and meet the neighbors.

As we both worked at Candy's Kwik Shop on the weekends, we were granted permission by Bill and Candy to take the weekend off. We grabbed the kids, tossed them into the back of the truck camper-shell, packed up some food, and took off.  Nellie's brother Dan wanted to come along, so the three adults crammed into the cab. Off we headed out the 278 miles.

At about 45 miles south, the truck started acting up. We pulled into a gas station in Salem to see what was the problem.  Oooops! It was the radiator! To repair, it would be an overnight wait. What to do. What to do.

Nellie and I looked at one another, looked at the truck, looked back at one another and said in unison, "Well, we are already almost half way there...let's hit the road!" And off the truck-load of people went, continuing the trip south.

We did okay along I-5. If needed, we would pull off the freeway and get water at a gas station, then roll back onto the freeway.  A few miles south of Eugene, we exited the freeway onto Highway 58, also known as Willamette Highway.  This route runs southeast to Klamath Falls, a "short-cut from driving I-5 all the way down the Willamette Valley and turning east: more like an "L". Hwy 58 just by-passes all the main towns as it gently moves across the mountains. It is a scenic roadway will goes over the Cascade Range, past beautiful alpine lakes and sparkling reservoirs, and through two national forests. 

We headed across Oregon along this gorgeous road. As a side note, Dan'l was quite the mischievous guy. I loved Dan so much. He always made me laugh and was simply full of life.  But he had a little trouble with the law.... In the cab of the truck, we sat with Nellie driving, me in the middle, and Dan'l shotgun. When he'd see a car heading toward us, he'd duck down just in case it was a cop and that cop could catch a glimpse of Dan, recognize him (both cars going 65 mph), and turn around to arrest him.  For what? Who knows. So Dan'l would duck down to hide, leaving Nellie and I to look like romantic partners. Yeah, it was a game, right? We all laughed a lot on this trip.

Now, the radiator.... It didn't heal itself and here we were on a gorgeous scenic route going through two national forests.... Yes, the truck heated over and what could we do? Well, lookie here! There was fresh snow on the side of the highway! So, we'd pull over and everyone would jump out--adults from the cab and all four kids from the back camper-shell. And we'd search for trash with which we could pick up snow. We found a couple cans, a plastic sandwich container, and maybe a cup or two. And everyone would grab up what snow we could and that was how we cooled off the radiator. Every few miles. We'd simply pull over and the circus would start up again, us looking a bit like the Keystone Cops.

We were all still laughing when we hit Klamath Falls--Nellie and Dan's parents lived there--and immediately took the truck to the repair place. After dinner with their family, we all settled in for the night.

The next day we went to the reservation for a tour. It was a grand place. The house was a simple mid-century model, one level. The yard opened up to the rest of the homes. It would be a good place to start over.

The trip home was uneventful. Dan'l stayed down in Klamath Falls, so no drama with approaching cars and possible cops. The radiator was repaired, so no snow bunnies hopping along gathering snow. We arrived back in Portland, unloaded the truck, and went back to our everyday lives.

As another side note, my sons did not want to move from their home and their father sued me for custody. The process was much too painful for my sons, so I decided to stay where we were and simply move through the dramas in my life. And we all lived happily ever after.

My beloved friend, my wonderful Nellie. I will always miss your grace and quiet humor, your desire to go along with whatever I said we could do, your laughter. Your beautiful soul. And our adventures will live on always in my heart.

 

and so it goes
peace~~~