We had housing and jobs. Would the rest of the summer flow peacefully and joyfully or would there be further disappointment?
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My previous blogpost ended with the above words. Now to continue...
We were trying our best to provide great service to our tables but the learning curve was very steep. It was a struggle to keep everything straight and please everyone - patrons, restaurant owners, other waitresses, bus boys, cooks, salad makers... We were exhausted each day.
We also continued at Mrs. Tagg's laundromat to iron on our days off. We were planning to use the extra earnings from those hours for a surprise we were hoping to bring about. But one day while ironing at the laudromat, Mrs. Tagg asked my sister if she would come to work full-time for her. She had become very fond of us and was happy with our work. Both of us had been ironing since age 10 at home so we came with experience in that career opportunity. Kathy was ready to hear those words and decided to accept Mrs. Tagg's offer.
Joyce Bennett was our sounding board and provided transport when Kathy moved from housing at Ranchouse to Webb Cottage. Some of the Inter-Varsity girls were sharing space there and they had room for one more. Kathy was relieved to move away from the extreme stress she experienced at Ranchouse. Webb Cottage cost $10 per week and she earned $1.00 per hour while ironing. She would continue ironing for the rest of the summer.
I stayed at Ranchouse. Our hours were long and time-off rare so letters home were far less frequent than they had been. I, however, wrote my mother a long letter for her birthday, July 23rd.
July 21, 1964
Dear Mom,
Happy Birthday! I'm sorry I don't have a card to send you but I haven't been anywhere lately where I could get one so this letter will just have to do....
It seems a little sad for us to think about you harvesting grain and baling hay as these things always have been such integral parts of our lives before & now we can only try to imagine what you're doing all the time. Here, of course, we see no farming whatsoever...
Work isn't going too bad for me here at Ranchouse. I made over $15.00 last Sat. nite as we were tremendously busy. ($15.00 in 1964 had the same buying power as $111.46 in 2013.) I made about $12.00 Sun. nite. Pretty good I think. ($12.00 in 1964 had the same buying power as $89.17 in 2013.)
We each got paid from Ranchouse yesterday so I'm sending home my check. I have about $100 in tip money here which I would also like to get in the bank but should I send cash in an envelope or what should I do? I could maybe buy a money order or something like that. Let me know what you think....I would begin to send money home as money orders. I averaged $100.00 a week in savings of wages and tips.
($100.00 in 1964 had the same buying power as $743.05 in 2013.)
The extra money we were earning at the laundromat was being saved for a surprise trip home to attend our brother's wedding on August 1st. We were hoping to fly to Chicago, be picked up by a friend who was going to the wedding, and then return to Estes Park following a couple days at home. But these plans were not realized. Our friend had a change in plans and our jobs required weekend hours so we were unable to attend our brother's wedding. It was heart breaking for us.
My mother's birthday letter also shared about another exciting outing with George and Joyce Bennett. I'll save that news for next blog.
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