Obstructions

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She wore green at our wedding that winter day in 1969.  It was a simple church ceremony, with only my immediate family and a high school classmate as a best man.  Seems either no one else was invited, or they didn't care to attend; giving clue to the obstacles that I was about to encounter.  Then off to Knott's Berry Farm for a honeymoon with the $50 I had saved from my dish washing job. There, at a show, a very smart horse was able to tell the crowd how long we had been married.  Never quite figured out how.  Maybe my smiling face and that green dress were clues.

Monday morning, while at baseball practice, I was summoned to the school office and was advised that since I was an emancipated adult, I could no longer attend the school, but was offered an enrollment at the continuation school.  Needless to say, that didn't work for me because I couldn't see myself associating with "those" kind of students.  Actually I was one of those kind to many, but never realized it.

After school, I arrived a bit early for work knowing that I would have new tax forms to complete reporting my filing class.  Turned out I didn't need to because I had been fired.  I recall the owner strongly encouraging me not to get married, but I never dreamed that he would fire me over it.

She wore that same green dress to church that next Sunday.  The entrance to the very small church was blocked by three senior ladies with their arms locked together.  One was sobbing as another informed us that we were no longer welcome to attend.  Seemed odd that could happen at a church where my father-in-law was a Deacon.  We brushed past them and spent our last service at that church.   Should have not surprised me as he was not at our wedding either.  But it certainly was a clue as to the obstructions we were about to face.

It was easy for an unskilled worker like myself to find a job back then as most my age were off to Vietnam.  And I made the most of that by usually working at least two.  From washing dishes, to pumping gas, to picking up trash at a construction site, I worked hard where ever I could to work hard to pay the upcoming medical bills.  My new wife just graduated from job training and landed her first job.  Together we managed to pay the rent of our tiny duplex as I refused to accept any help from anyone.
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