Pamela: Missouri Years, 1987-1990
As told by Marty (with added comments by Pamela)
Last updated 20-August-2002, any feedback about this page should be e-mailed to Marty (after you remove the leading "z" in the e-mail address). |
Our move to St. Louis was done in stages. First Marty drove his 1980 Datsun 510 wagon from Warwick to St. Louis in May. But not before he had an air conditioning system installed. He hates heat and humidity! (So why were we going to St. Louis?) He had a rear-tire blowout on the way, probably because he had so much junk in the wagon. Marty moved into a Washington University student dormitory for a couple of months. Pamela flew down for house-hunting now and then. Marty just kept looking, and looking... The St. Louis housing market was tough, possibly because of the good economy and possibly because of the University. The market was so tough that we moved into a rented house while we kept looking for one to buy.
Once we had arranged for the rental, Marty flew back to RI to help with the moving-day activities. Marty then flew back to St. Louis with Pest and Squeak and our two guinea pigs while Pamela drove down in her 17 year old Maverick! The rental turned out to be a nice place to live. But we kept looking for our own home.
It took a while, but we did finally see the right house the very day it was listed for sale and immediately got an offer in.
Pamela then looked for work. At a Mallinckrodt social function she met Karen B. a researcher who was looking for someone. Pamela shortly joined her in Len Tolmach's lab. When Len retired, Pamela continued to work in other labs in the Radiation Biology Section in the Division of Radiation Oncology at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, at least 'till we left St. Louis. |
Now about that house. It was great. Traditional looking on the outside and very modern inside. It had four large bedrooms giving us a guest room, two studies and a master bedroom. The house also had a two-story atrium with shrubs and a tree. A bright red male cardinal took up residence in the atrium and sang to us every morning. There was also lots of glass letting lots of natural light into the house.
This house was one of the best things about our time in St. Louis. The best thing was some wonderful and enduring friendships. |  |
| While in St. Louis, many friends visited. Amongst them were Maureen and Sully, friends from New Haven. |  |
Well, Pamela's 1971 Maverick had made it to St. Louis and continued to serve. But, with Pamela's mother scheduled to visit, and given St. Louis' heat and humidity, the non air conditioned and rusty Maverick had to go.
The neighbors had been appalled by my Maverick. They believed that we were all in a very upscale neighborhood, one far superior to a 17-year old rust bucket.
It was replaced with a used 1987 Toyota Corolla with AC. |  |
 
Pamela's mom came to visit for about a month. During that visit we went on many trips (usually involving gardens and arboretums).
The right-hand photo was taken at the Washington University Arboretum where Mom saw her first deer! |
Then there was the big trip. Pamela, her mom Dorothy, and Marty flew down to Florida to visit Marty's mom, Ceil.
As part of that trip Pamela, Dorothy and Marty drove from Delray Beach to Key West for some sightseeing. (Truth be told, I wanted to see Hemingway's cats and a Key West sunset.) |  |
| While in St. Louis I had worked in a lab run by Len Tolmach. He was a wonderful scientist and human being. My coworkers in that lab, especially Karen B. and Jadwige L. (to the right of Pamela) were also very special people. Jadwige is ~8 months pregnant in the photo. |  |
| In 1989 Marty's mom died suddenly of a heart attack. She had been living independently at age 79 (or older - we're not sure and she never told) and was in her favorite chair watching TV when the heart attack happened. We went down to Florida to do the necessary things. Actually, Marty went down immediately and I joined him a couple of days later. All and all we managed. |
| A Medical Physicist working with Marty at Mallinckrodt moved on to become Chief Physicist at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia. Before long, Marty had an invitation to join that group. So, in October 1990 it was off to Philly. (At least I was getting closer to the ocean and back to my beloved east coast.) |