Saturday, May 22, 2021

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- When You First Left Home

 Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!


Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along - cue the Mission Impossible music!):

1)  When did you first leave your parents' home?  Why did you leave?  Where did you move to?  What was it like?  What did you learn?

2)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status post.  Please leave a link in a comment to this post.

Here's mine:

I stayed in my parents home at 2119 30th Street in San Diego until I was age 23 in October 1966.  I graduated from college in January 1966 and was working as an aeronautical engineer at Sunrise Aircraft in La Mesa, about ten miles from home (two bus routes each way, and a mile walk).  In the fall of 1966, I finally learned to drive, bought a car (a 1962 Chevrolet Caprice (?)) with help from my father and a bank loan, and rented a furnished apartment unit at 4568 Idaho Street in San Diego.  The apartment was four blocks away from my "home" bowling alley on 30th Street, and near several restaurants.  

I could cook bacon and eggs and fix cereal with milk, and had no other cooking skills - the plan was to eat lunch out with my co-workers and eat dinner at the nearby restaurants, and hope mom would invite me for dinner every once in awhile.  I don't recall going shopping for anything, but I must have occasionally. Laundry was a mystery - I took it to my parents house to wash and ran it down to the nearby laundry place to dry it.  I have no recollection of owning a vacuum or doing any cleaning or dusting in this time.

In March 1967, Sunrise announced they had no money to pay the employees, but promised back wages if we stayed on to work.  I stayed on until September 1967 when they closed the doors.  I had burned through my savings, still had the car loan, and went back to live with my parents - same old twin bed.  I filed for and collected unemployment and searched the want ads in the newspaper for engineering jobs.  

Then life changed for the better - I got the engineering job at Rohr in October 1967 and rented an apartment in Pacific Beach in February 1968 with my friend John who knew a lot of girls.  There were more challenges, but they all led to meeting Linda and life was never the same.

Why did I leave my parents' home in October 1966?  I wanted my own independence - probably a bit late!  I now had a car and more freedom.  I didn't want my father to control my life by telling me I was staying out too late or drinking too much.  I wanted a girlfriend, and living at home was a bit stifling, although the food was better.  

What did I learn?  Living alone is boring and lonely.  I watched TV, listened to the radio for distant stations in the wee hours, spent evenings at the bowling alley, and I drank a lot while there.  Working brings in money to support yourself, but not being paid is a challenge - not doing that again!  Lots of necessary life lessons!

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Copyright (c) 2021, Randall J. Seaver

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7 comments:

ByAPearl said...

Here is my post:

https://geneajournalsbyapearl.wordpress.com/2021/05/22/leaving-home-my-transition-from-child-to-adult/

Lisa S. Gorrell said...

Because we did something similar last September, I did this one from the viewpoint of my parents first leaving home.

https://mytrailsintothepast.blogspot.com/2021/05/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-when-you.html

Janice M. Sellers said...

I also recognized that we had done a similar post last year. I did this one about the next step in my departure from my parents' home.

http://www.ancestraldiscoveries.com/2021/05/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-when-you.html

Randy Seaver said...

Sorry about that - I duplicated the question. I even checked the SNGF file for keywords.

Everybody has adapted so far - thank you!

Linda Stufflebean said...

Here's my link: https://emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2021/05/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-143/

Elizabeth said...

I left home at 27 because my father thought it was a good idea. I am the oldest of eight with the youngest 20 years younger. I discovered silence and the loveliness of being alone. 50 years later I still love it.

D. Taylor said...

I first "left home" when I was 14 trying to get away from my abusive stepfather. After a month or so on my own, I was arrested by the police and eventually returned home. For the whole story, see:

http://dontaylorgenealogy.com/2021/06/when-i-first-left-home.html/