Settling Down

I did not want to go back to the cage of the suburbs and live the same life that my mother lived, to be forced into the busy role of a housewife always trying to keep up appearances for the neighbors. So I explored for a bit and went back to New York, living up my youth with friends and cousins, dancing all night long at the discotheque, and shopping for the latest fashions and material goods with friends until we dropped. I began to become more and more disillusioned with politics when then ERA amendment did not pass. I was angry at women who rallied against it, as it would have secured equal pay for me and other women and I did not understand why women wouldn’t want that. In addition, Nixon’s Watergate scandal was disappointing and tasteless, and my cynicism with government would continue to grow. But things in my personal life began to brighten. I met the love of my life, Peter, at a Christmas party hosted by one of our mutual friends when I was 23. Our kiss under the mistletoe led to a coffee date the next week, which ultimately led to our wedding on June, 24 1976. From there, I wanted to move back to California so my parents helped us to buy a home in Manhattan Beach and we have lived in the area ever since. With the Recession, I wanted to go to work to earn more for the household, but I already had one child and was pregnant with the second. Luckily the economy recovered just as Peter earned a hefty raise at work, and I had my first three kids before entering the workforce officially in 1985.