Minnesota 1950-51

   Eleanor was at her parent's house, when a friend called to ask if she could help out at the Zumbrota hospital; there had been an accident and one of the injured patient's parents had requested special duty  a nurse to be with the them in the hospital. Eleanor agreed and wound up working the next three days in Zumbrota. At the end of the experience, the hospital director offered her a full time position. She declined, but he had even made arrangements for her to stay in the house across the street from the hospital. The owner's wife had died, and he wanted to go to live with his daughter, so she had a furnished home in Zumbrota that she could live in rent free. Eleanor's sister Florence came with her to baby sit Janet and David, and wound up working in a nurses training program at the Zumbrota Hospital. Eleanor enjoyed having her own place to live and even purchased a used car while she was in Zumbrota. It was the first she had ever owned; a tam Chevy which a friend helped her pick out.
   Fred's unit in Korea was the 13th air force which flew bombing missions into North Korea, his squadron was known as the "grim reapers", so they probably saw a lot of combat during the war. Eleanor remembers that when they would go to reunions after they retired, that several men claimed that Fred had saved their lives. One airman actually started a scholarship fund and recognized Fred as a reason why he was alive.
   When Fred returned from Korea, he called her from the airport in Washington and told her he would be arriving in St. Paul. Eleanor and Florence drove her car up to St. Paul to pick Fred up. This was the first time he had ever "owned a car" so it was a quite an experience. It was several months before Fred received his orders to Offutt Air force Base in Nebraska. Eleanor remembers that they went fishing almost every day and it was great to be a family again. They did discuss staying in Minnesota as Eleanor had a good position, and they even looked at the possibility of buying her grandparent's farm in Lake City, but they decided to move to Omaha and hopefully a more settled life.
   The first four  to five years of my parents marriage was characterized by constant relocation. California, Pennsylvania, Panama, Minnesota, California, Minnesota, and now a move to Omaha. I am sure they must have wondered how long they would be in Omaha as they prepared to relocate once again. All this moving did have a plus side as it made my mother unafraid of change. I recall that six years ago she called me and told me she had sold her home and was planning to move to Seward. She asked me to pick out an apartment at Heartland retirement living center, and that I should plan on coming to Mississippi in help her drive her car to Nebraska.