Timely Expenses

When Paul and I were newlyweds in Coronado we may not have had much money, but we were able to make a little go a long ways. The cost of living in those days was nothing compared to what it is now. Our first little garage apartment didn't cost more than thirty or thirty-five dollars a month. It was one room plus a small kitchen and a bath, just right for the two of us. I don't remember anything about how the utilities were handled. We may not have had an extra bill for them. If we did they would have been very small. Our struggle was in having enough cash for food or any extras.

We were in that first little house on the alley for less than half a year. We moved to our next home on Margarita Avenue in the early part of 1955. This house was originally owned by Paul's Grandma Jones. When we lived there Paul's Uncle Ivor Jones owned it. We paid him fifty dollars a month rent. This house was an older cottage with three bedrooms, a large living room, a kitchen and a bathroom, besides a basement. There was also a large yard. We stayed in that house for four years. Kathy and Laura were born while we lived on Margarita Avenue. This was a block from where Paul lived as a child. He would have spent a lot of time at his grandma's as a child so the house we lived in was very familiar to him.

Paul's parents were on Pomona Avenue just two blocks from us. They lived in one of the homes that they had built. They bought their large lot for $500.00 sometime in the early forties. The first house they built was on the alley, in the back part of their lot, on Adella Lane. I understand that Paul's mother did some of the construction while Paul's father was at war. Paul's Grandpa Marvin was in charge of the construction as this was his trade. They lived in this house until they built their home on Pomona Avenue, the front part of the large lot. Paul's dad was the main carpenter as this was his skill. This is the only home they lived in from before the time I knew them until sometime after Paul's mother died in the seventies. This is the home that was Grandma and Granddad's house to our children. This is where many memories were made. Christmases, birthdays and many special events were celebrated there.

Paul's mother died in December of 1971 after a long battle with cancer. She was missed by all, especially Dad. Paul's dad remarried early in 1973. After a couple of years Dad and Myrtle sold the family home in Coronado and bought a home in LaMesa. There must have been several owners of our favorite house on Pomona Avenue as we noted changes over the years. Color changes, a second story added and whatever a new owner deemed necessary to make it their home. That was all fine and good, but when we drove by and saw that it had been torn down our hearts were broken. Paul always says that he had helped build that house as he helped with the roofing. The back house in the alley is still there and has a second story added. There are two houses in front now and they are not my favorite houses on the block.

Before Laura was a year old we moved to a house on the 200 block of F Avenue. This house was owned by some people we knew. I remember the older lady who lived there when I was a child. She was the mother of the couple we rented it from. This was a block from where I lived as a child. My parents and one of my sisters still lived on the 300 block of F, in the old house I lived in as a teenager. My Grandma and Aunt Clara, as well as Uncle George still lived at 300 F Avenue so we all saw each other quite often. The children got to know several generations of my family.

Paul and I paid $70.00 rent for the house at 238 F Avenue. This is where we lived when Bill and Griff were born. We were in this house until Griff was two years old. By this time we didn't have any family living on the next block. My grandma had died when Bill was a new baby. The old family house was sold for around $19,000. The last time I saw it on the market it was $700,000, billed as one of the least expensive houses in Coronado. Grandma was in the house for about forty years. It is my favorite house and I enjoy seeing it when I'm going down Third Street in Coronado. It was a quiet street when we were there, but it is a busy highway heading to North Island now.

Just before Griff was born Mom and Dad were able to make their first major purchase of a home of their own. They paid less than $15,000 for their new house, one of the first houses built in the area where we now live. It is part of San Diego now. In those days their mail was addressed to Imperial Beach. Another name for this area is Otay Mesa. Dad did not live very many more years so didn't get to see how this area developed over the years. He died in 1964 when my children were still quite young. He didn't even get to see the bridge being built. He would have liked the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge.

When my sisters and I were quite young there was a nice sized lot next to Grandma and Granddad's on F Avenue. It was part of their property. When we lived at our grandparent's, after the war, my parents raised chickens on part of that lot to earn some extra cash for our family. Mom and Dad were given the lot as their inheritance. They needed cash and sold the lot for $1,000. If you know Coronado now you know it would be worth a fortune.

Paul's Uncle Ivor sold the house on Margarita Avenue in the $10,000 range. If only we could have purchased it then. But we were kids with no money. Nobody would have dreamed that property would skyrocket. In our early years $10,000 was a fortune to us.

In 1965 Paul, the children and I moved to Olive Lane. Paul's brother and sister-in-law lived there with their first baby. They were expecting a second child and were moving for more space. We decided to move there even though it was very small. It was nicer than we had and it was also cute. It was two stories and had three bedrooms and two baths. I enjoyed this little house the first year we were in it. We paid $100.00 a month for several years and then the rent was raised ten dollars. A lot for us. Just add some zeros now and that would be reasonable for this day and age. After living on Olive Lane for eight years I was more than ready to move. We had a lot of history in that little house, not all good. It was not the house's fault though.

We bought this house in South San Diego in 1973 for less than $30,000. It is worth a lot more now. Our family has enjoyed many Thanksgivings and Christmases here. Our family has grown with more in-laws and grandchildren. We now have a great grandson. Life can be good. We can't depend on the things of this world to make us happy though. The only constant is the love we have in Christ.

Not all the houses we have lived in are still standing. But they are in the memories of our hearts. The family home on Margarita Avenue is still there and we enjoy driving past to see it. Paul's brother and sister-in-law knocked on the door and visited the lady that lives there on one of their trips to Coronado. I need to do the same thing sometime. I also want to do this for my grandparent's house too. Paul's other grandparent's home on H Avenue in Coronado is not there anymore. Grandpa Marvin built that house too. He also built the addition to my grandparent's house in the early years. Our homes become so much a part of us.

When I was little and lived in Coronado I got homesick for my grandparent's farm in Washington. And when I lived on the farm I would get homesick for Coronado. For years I wanted to go back to Washington state to see all the family homes there and see those loved ones we missed so much. I finally got to vacation there several times and it satisfied me. San Diego is home now and I don't have those old longings to move anymore. We are close enough to Coronado to satisfy me. I would love to live there , but do not need to do so. My only real need is to visit loved ones around the country. I especially need to see my babies.

My longing is to live with Jesus someday. This world is not my home, I'm just passing through. There is a home prepared for me in heaven. It is better than anything that I can imagine.

pictures from family album- first pic. Margarita Avenue
2nd pic.- Caroline with first two children on Margarita
3rd pic.- All four children with their cousin at Grandma and Granddad's
next pic.- At Grandma and Granddad's with a little friend
next scene- 200 block of F Avenue with two of our children and neighbors
another Margarita scene with Paul and the girls
Kathy, Laura, Bill and Griff on Olive Lane