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Fog descending over East River Mountains, Bluefield, WV. Photo by Mel Grubb.
1989 is one of those years that I don't remember "fondly". I moved in with my boyfriend (fiance) from the radio station...his name was Mark. He was fired from the station where we worked together, and went to work at another station. I quit my job, and just kind of floundered around, doing temp work.
In June, he was offered a position at a radio station in Bluefield, WV (we were still living in Charleston at the time). He accepted, and we made the move 100 miles to the south, to Bluefield. Talk about culture shock. Bluefield was very small (in comparison to Charleston) and there were no available apartments for rent when we got there. There was, however, a single wide trailer available, so that is where we lived. I was able to sign on with a temp agency there, and worked sporadic temp jobs. Mark was "the morning guy" at the radio station, and a manager, so it was a step-up for him.
I remember first arriving there and seeing the sign "Welcome to Bluefield; Nature's Air Conditioned City" and wondering what that meant. Bluefield is referred to as The Southern Gateway to West Virginia. Bluefield is nestled in the Southern Appalachian Mountain Range. Its relatively high elevation is responsible for its moderate summer climate which earned the city its title.
Right after we moved in, I went to the animal shelter and adopted a kitten, because, a house is not a home without a kitten! I chose a tiny torti and named her Katie. She immediately became my baby and I spoiled her rotten.
With the lack of steady work there for me, I fell behind paying my debtors. An opportunity arose for me to go to NY and work for the telephone company. There was a strike going on, and they were looking for people to man the phones in their call centers. My best friend from high school worked there and got me on as a temp. I flew up there and lived with my Dad, and worked 10 hour days to pay off my credit cards. Of course, no one warned me that I would have to cross picket lines every day, and would be considered a "scab"....how lovely. I endured 8 weeks, paid off all of my cards, and returned to West Virginia in time for Christmas.
What about you? What were YOU doing in 1989?
5 comments:
Wow, I'd have to think a bit, but a couple of memories come to mind...I was, of course, still single-parenting, having been on that course for a few years by then.
I remember that in late 1989, after living in a horrible townhouse for a few months, we found a great condo, with lofty ceilings, an upstairs, and a loft that overlooked the downstairs. I moved in there with my two teenagers. By then, the older two were away at college.
Your story about the single-wide reminded me of 1971, when my husband and the three kids we had then moved into a single wide in a town called Coalinga (in Fresno County, CA)...there was no other available housing.
I was living in US in 1989 and was having a lot of fun :-)
1989 was a great year for me. My son was born the summer before so he was really coming into his own personality in 1989 and celebrated his first birthday. In May my husband completed his Master's degree and we celebrated Christmas at our house for the first time with the in-laws.
I've been through Bluefield a few times heading into VA. It's lovely but it is a small town (like the one I live in now :( LOL)
I had moved back to Alaska the end of '88 so in 1989 I became engaged and then on Nov. 22nd I became a mother to my beautiful son! It was a fast courtship !! :D
(the marriage part will have to come in next week for 1990 LOL)
Oh, and while I was pregnant I also got a cat I named Harold, an orange tabby that was my buddy for years- I still miss him.
1989??? Ummm, well, I think this was a down year for me. Not much happened. But the good news is I met my future wife the following year.
Stephen Tremp
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