It was cozy, comfortable and had the most incredible view of Santa Barbara below us and we could see for miles up and down the coast, as well as out to the off-shore Santa Barbara Islands. We had a small balcony and sliding glass doors out and it overlooked the whole panorama. We would get up at night to go to the bathroom and get completely side-tracked looking at the magic, sparkling lights below us. We were just high enough to be above the fog as it would roll in from the ocean, and my fellow workers used to ask me what the weather was like 'up there'.The days flew by, double jobs, then on weekend business trips to the motels and trips to Fresno when able to see Katrina and Dick's family. My beginnings with them were somewhat strained - after all I WAS the 'other woman', but as time went on we became friends and ultimately I was totally one of the family.
Dick had a long business trip he needed to make to some of the new motels opening up in the midwest, and Gordon and Irene had invited us to visit them in Montreal where Expo 7 was being held. This was obviously going to take more time than I would normally get off with Dr. Kuhn, so we made the decision that I would quit work, and be full time Mrs. Topper and that way could help Dick more.
The trip was great and I loved seeing Gordon and Irene again, and their boys, and having them all meet Dick. Expo 67 was fun and we spent one long day seeing a lot of the exhibitions. Driving back across country, hitting the motels on the way, was greatly enjoyed too and both of us were looking forward to getting back home, refreshed and ready to tackle the work again. But that wasn't to be. Dick's firing, and especially the way it was done, left a very bitter taste in my mouth. I was madder about it than Dick was - he always has had an amazing philosophical attitude to bad events and happenings! I kept thinking I wish I still had my job with Dr. Kuhn! And since I had quit, I couldn't even qualify for unemployment. I spent a few sleepless nights, while Dick went on with his always optimistic outlook and we looked at various ways to approach our future. Dick put a lot of feelers out, and had some interviews, but I will let him tell you that part of the story more.
Christmas came around - no job in sight, money VERY tight, and it was a wonderful Christmas. We decided that we would make it so and hustled up the cuttings off a Christmas tree at a lot and pieced together a tree. We hand made all the ornaments but it still didn't look finished. It needed an angel. I took a an empty toilet roll, stuck two pieces of stiff wire out from the side and draped it with kleenex. A small styrofoam ball was the head and I painted a face on it. Some cotton ball material (dyed red of course) became the hair. But it had to have a halo! Dick's prior wedding ring and lo and behold - a glorious, red-headed angel to top our tree. But what about gifts under the tree - we didn't have any money to buy each other anything, but I did have a bunch of wrapping paper, ribbons and bows left over from the previous Christmas. So we wrapped boxes for each other - competing to see who could make the prettiest and most elaborate wrappings! This remained a practice of Dick's and mine for many years - the only difference was that we had something inside the boxes.
So 1967 came to an end, a little uncertain on our future, very tight on money, but abundant with love. What more could we ask for.................
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