Blame it on the Trailers

We frequently dig out old pictures - especially those of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. And then the numbers start to add up and I think to myself, "we sure have a lot of family. After all we only started with one - and another, and another, and another, and then, finally, a fifth. How come? Well, I guess we all know about the laws of nature but beyond that,
I blame it on the trailer(s).





When we were first married we lived in a one room apartment with a fridge in the corner and a hotplate in the closet and a bed that tended to collapse. Cost: $25 a month. Oh, and we shared a bath with five other couples. Then we graduated to a big one-room apartment with a shared kitchen. $30 a month. Next it was a remodeled railroad refrigerator car where I worked out my rent by refurbishing and painting other units. Finally we graduated into the trailer world.





First it was a 27 foot one-bedroom rental and then we bought a 33 foot one bedroom New Moon trailer just like Luci and Desi had in the movie "The Long Long Trailer." Our family grew and with two children we went to the pictured one, a brand new 38-foot Elcar than we hauled eight thousand miles behind a 1954 Olds 88 (one way) and a 55 Buick Special (the other way).

Another child and we upped to a 5o foot Buddy with two bedrooms (one with bunkbeds on one side and a small bed on top of a dresser. Another child came along (our Hallowe'en son - trick or treat) and we moved into a three bedroom Contempori fifty-five foot ten wide. Wouldn't you know - another child came along. This set us to thinking and we finally decided to buy a house in North Carolina. What do you know --- no more children. Thus it becomes obvious -- the reason for five children was trailer life. Blame it on the trailers!





We've lived in a lot of houses since then. Most were smaller homes - one or two were mansions that were provided as parsonages.





The point I want to make today is that condo living didn't become all that difficult. After all, we spent a lot of years in trailers. And now we're too old for children. Except for grandchildren and great grandchildren/ And that's a different story.