MARRIAGE,  KIDS & COLLEGE                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                "What we do                                                                                                                                                                                             For Love" 
                                                                               
                                                                           

 I once read that of all human acts none is more courageous, more profound, or more foolish than that of marriage.  Without even considering the economic, emotional, or awesome personal responsibility, I am still shocked at how naively, how easily, and yes, how cavalierly Camilla and I took on the formidable tasks of husband and wife.  Almost children, barely past our teens, helplessly in love, and totally unprepared for the task we simply leapt into where angels would surely have feared to tread. 

We were married in a small church in Anacortes, WA on February 23, 1952, seven months prior to my Navy discharge.  After a brief honeymoon in Vancouver, BC we began our life together in a small walk-up apartment in downtown Anacortes.  I continued my work at the Navy base. After the squadron deployed I was assigned to the base ship’s company and worked as a master-at-arms, a kind of guard, in the base restaurant. Since I had night duty I was given three days on and three days off.  Camilla worked as secretary for a local cannery so, in order to earn a little money, I took a part time job with a local cement firm.  

 It was the worst job I have ever had.  I wore coveralls, it was summertime (an unusually hot one) and the equipment I worked with was crafted in the Iron Age.  I stood on a platform and poured bags of cement into a huge metal mixer below, added water and gravel and mixed the ingredients.   Trucks would pull up and load up the mixture.  After ten minutes of tearing open the cement bags every pore of my body was clogged with cement dust. I wore goggles and a facemask but they were useless.  When I came home at night it took the better part of an hour to get clean.  I could hear my mother’s voice, “Work Jack, make something of your self.”

On September 29, 1952 I was granted an Honorable Discharge from the United States Navy and recommended for reenlistment, a privilege I never exercised.  Let the record show that I received $484.56 in total separation payment along with $166.68 in travel allowance to return me to my place of entry – Buffalo.  My date of last civilian employment was listed from 1947 to 1948 as an Insurance Clerk for the John H. Brogan Insurance Company. I had, while serving my country, received The China Service Medal and The Good Conduct Medal.  The record fails to show commendations for service in The Korean War and Bering Sea submarine patrols during the Cold War.

In 1944 in the midst of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the “Servicemen’s Readjustment Act”, better known as the “GI Bill of Rights”.  It has since been recognized as one of the most important acts of Congress.  That law has made possible the investment of billions of dollars in education and training for millions of veterans.  The nation has, in return, earned many times its investment in increased taxes and a dramatically improved society.  

In September 1952 I became one of the millions of beneficiaries of this generous piece of legislation when I entered Skagit Valley Junior College for my freshman year.  It would be difficult now to express the emotions I experienced at this time.  A new civilian, husband, soon-to-be father and four years of college ahead of me.  At the same time I had to take two classes from the local high school in order to obtain my high school diploma.  

I found a part-time job in the auto section of Sears & Roebuck in Mt. Vernon. I worked every day after class from 1pm to 5pm.  The college was very good about giving me morning classes.  The school and Sears were located in Mt Vernon about 25 miles from our home in Anacortes. I clearly recall eating the lunch Camilla prepared for me as I sat in my car overlooking the Skagit River.  Hot coffee from a thermos, two sandwiches and (always) a generous portion of Camilla’s homemade cake or pie.  Camilla took to homemaking as if she was born to the task.  In addition to caring for John she made many of her own clothes.  She was accomplished as a seamstress and she was always a wonderful cook.   

I worked at various part-time jobs for the four years I was in school.  It should also be mentioned that despite Camilla’s meticulous attention to the Rhythm Method of birth control (we were Catholic at the time) she became pregnant early on in our marriage.  When our first child John arrived he was so pre-mature the doctor kept him in the hospital for the first month.  When we were finally able to bring him home Camilla set him on the dining room table and said, “My God Jack, what am I going to do with him?”

In our first two years together Camilla developed a talent as a homemaker that would serve us throughout our marriage.  On one occasion she collected old rags and was able to string them together to make a striking multi-colored carpet for our living room.  She was an accomplished seamstress and could do miracles with a sewing machine.  She made many of her own clothes as well as things for our children.  She was seldom without knitting needles in her hands and she could fashion beautiful scarves and sweaters.  At one time she knit a wool coat for herself that was so stylish my employer expressed surprise that we could afford such elegant clothing on my meager earnings. 

I had been a poor student in high school.  I would like to blame the fact that I worked every day after school but I simply was not motivated to get high grades.  I never thought of myself as a good student.  Being a husband and a father gave me a whole new outlook on school.  In addition the GI Bill required a certain grade point level – poor grades and they cut you off.  I was thrilled when I received my first report card at the end of the first quarter – straight A’s, a four-o grade point.  I was amazed to discover that all I needed to do to get good grades was attend classes and read the books.  

The job at Sears ended after the Christmas rush.  Over the next two years, in addition to academic studies, I worked part-time as an automobile salesman (my boss told me, “John, you’ll never make it in the auto business, you’re too damned honest.”)  I sold advertising for The Anacortes American newspaper. In June 1954 I received my high school diploma, an Associate In Arts degree and a two-year scholarship to the University of Washington..

When I was a young boy growing up in Buffalo I saw several movies that ended with a young man going off to “the university.”  The stories usually took place in Scotland or Wales and the mother or father proudly announced in a thick brogue, “He’s going off to the university.” For some reason I always felt that this was the finest thing a son could do for his parents and I was always envious of those of my friends who got the opportunity to go to college.

In September 1952 I was accepted for my junior year at The University of Washington in Seattle. I still clearly recall Camilla and me driving down to a small home we had purchased in north Seattle on the GI Bill –11742 Roosevelt Way. Some 60 years later it still stands.  Camilla carried our son John in her arms and the first of what would be many cats was in a box in the back seat.

At that time the university had a special pre-law program that would allow me to enter law school in my senior year.  Upon completion of my first year in law I would receive my bachelor-of-arts degree in business administration and continue for the next two years and receive my law degree.

My first part-time job in Seattle was at a fashionable men’s clothing store in the center of the university district.  I was paid one dollar an hour.  After the owner found out I was a married student with children he raised my hourly wage to a dollar twenty-five. The position proved to be valuable in that it provided the opportunity to learn how to choose good quality clothes when I entered my business career.  In my senior year I was offered a part-time position at a local men and boys shop.  Our biggest selling item was anything that involved the name of Davey Crockett, a big TV hit with the kids.

It would not be an honest account of this period of Camilla’s and my life without a glimpse of the struggle we both experienced as a result of some very basic decisions we made at that time.  Camilla had become a Catholic about a year before we met and I, of course, was the product of an Irish Catholic education since birth.  We simply believed that the wife and mother should stay at home to care for the children.  In my junior year Camilla gave birth to our 2nd child, Kathleen Ann. Following this Camilla experienced a period of what we now realize was post-partum depression.

By the end of my junior year it became clear that I would not be able to carry the study load that was required in law school – I had to work and Camilla was pregnant with our second child, Kathleen.  When I spoke with my advisor he suggested I consider a major in insurance.  

During my senior year I interviewed with several life insurance companies in Seattle.  I was a prime candidate since I had sales experience, I was married with a family and I scored high on all of the insurance aptitude tests.  In June of 1956 I accepted a sales management training position with Aetna Life Insurance Company out of Hartford, Connecticut.  My salary was $350.00 per month plus whatever commissions I could generate from sales.