Being a stay at home Mom was nice. But I was also, for all practical purposes, a single one. Sol was between New York, Canada, the whole United States, and even Germany, once. Even when he worked in their office, which has relocated to Saddlebrook, NJ, it meant a very long day for him. He drove every day and had to leave home early in the morning and returned after dark. It was a stressful job and a stressful life. So we made the most of our week-ends doing fun things together.
Our friends, the Beltons, had a large group of friends, so they introduced us to the locals and our kids had friends almost immediately. Rog, owned his own painting and wallpaper business and worked out of their home. Teresa noticed that he seemed to always be around, especially since he kept his painting supplies in our detached garage. She watched him and would hang around outside so she could talk to him. One day, her curiosity got the best of her. She said, "Mr. Belton, don't you have a job?" Rog got a big kick out of that. She had no idea that there were actually Dad's who didn't travel. We all had a big laugh!
Rog and Honey had purchased some acreage in the upper northwestern part of New York state in a farming area of Chenango County, near a little village of Smyrna. They were in the process of building a cabin and asked us to join them on several occasions. Sol and Rog would do some work on the cabin and Honey and I would cook and entertain the kids. They had two dogs, a beautiful Poodle, named Arpege, and a mongrel (I think) named Bandit. Bandit wasn't fond of us. Honey kept him leashed because she wasn't sure what his intentions were toward us. Mainly towards Sol. You know how dogs can feel your fear of them and intimidate you. Well, Bandit knew how to get under his skin. One morning, we were still in bed in our room, and all of sudden Bandit crashed through door barking and carrying on something fierce. Scared the daylights out of me, but you should have seen Sol. He was actually cornered between the bed and the wall and I never saw a grown man try to climb a wall before, especially in his underwear, but he was definitely making an effort. We all laughed until we cried after Honey rescued us!
In the summer of 1973, all of us, - six of them and five of us - set out for the New York State Fair in Syracuse. That particular year, Sonny and Cher were performing. It was said that their performance drew the largest crowd ever. The event was outside and Teresa was weaving her little self through the crowd toward the stage so she could see them. Cher somehow noticed her and yelled out to the people "let that little girl through!" Teresa thought she was really something special! She had no clue who they were, but she sure wanted to see them. Of course, we enjoyed all of the other entertainment and exhibits, but seeing Sonny and Cher perform was the highlight of this trip.
We have such special memories of those summers, when two families worked and played together in the rolling hills and mountains of Smyrna, New York. Once in a lifetime experiences for a gaggle of friends!
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