by Thelly Reahm - Tidbits of Time
1964
At the time of my divorce from the father of my children, it took one year for the final decree. That meant, unfortunately, that I did not get any financial help or final settlement for a year either. It meant a very difficult time for a single mom with two teenagers to feed and house.
That said, it might be more understandable that I ‘went off the deep end’ when I got my settlement check. My ‘pay’ for seventeen years of marriage amounted to $200.00 per year. It was pretty slim pickin’s considering my rent was triple what the payment was on my home, had I been allowed to stay there.
The first thing I did was responsibly go to San Diego Trust and Savings Bank where I opened a checking account, ordering 500 checks to be mailed to me. That seemed sensible to me at the time.
The second thing I did was go to Saks Fifth Avenue in La Jolla where I purchased a jade green chiffon dress and a white fox sweater.
The third thing I did was go to the beauty shop and have my hair dyed Coppertone red and styled in the latest bouffant look that was so popular then.
I had pre-arranged to meet Dick at Mississippi Room that night for a date.
When I walked in, he was sitting at the bar waiting for me with his RCA friend Gene Smith.
“Check out the chick coming in the door,” Gene said.
Neither of them recognized me floating across the room.
It was a special moment in time. I felt like Cinderella at the ball!
When I got over to them, I did a pirouette and said “Guess who?
That weekend I bought a bedroom set for Kathee, because I didn’t get custody of her furniture. I purchased two sharkskin suits for Dick, who was badly in need of decent clothing for his many trips to Home Office.
Then I placed a down payment on a four bedroom house in Clairemont.
By the time the checks came in the mail about six weeks later, I had zip, zero money left in the account at San Diego Trust and Savings Bank, having used up all the ‘temporary’ checks on the above transactions. But, “Oh, it left a lovely glow!”
The three day spree still brings joy to me because it gave us a new start in life.
The following week we were married.
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