BUSINESS GAL!

AFTER WE WERE BAPTIZED A WHOLE NEW COMMUNITY WAS OPENED TO US. WE STILL LOVED OUR OKINAWAN FRIENDS, THEY WERE VERY SPECIAL, BUT NOW, WE HAD MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH AS WELL. WHILE LEARNING ABOUT OUR NEW FRIENDS AND MEMBERS, I FOUND THAT THERE WERE MANY SINGLE ARMY MEMBERS. THEY WERE HOMESICK FOR THINGS AMERICAN, AND I CAME UP WITH AN IDEA. I ASKED THEM WHAT THEY MISSED MOST AS FAR AS AMERICAN FOOD, AND BOY, DID THE SUGGESTIONS COME IN! PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE, CHOCOLATE CAKE, PEACH PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, HOMEMADE BREAD, BISCUITS, CHOCOLAT CHIP COOKIES, CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS, AND ON AND ON. I TOLD THEM THAT I WOULD GLADLY COOK WHATEVER THEY WANTED AND BRING IT TO THEM FOR A FEE. NOW, YOU MAY THINK THAT THESE THINGS COULD BE EASILY OBTAINED, BUT NOT IN OKINAWA. THEY DON'T EAT SWEET THINGS. EVERYTHING WAS SAVORY, MEANING SALTY OR SEASONED, BUT NOTHING WAS SWEET. YOU COULD BARELY GET A CAKE ANYWHERE, AND THEN IT WAS AWFUL. THEY HAD SOME "COOKIES" THAT WERE ACTUALLY RITZ CRACKERS WITH VANILLA FROSTING IN THE MIDDLE. NOW THESE WERE SUPRISINGLY GOOD! THEY DID HAVE GOOD WHITE BREAD, I THINK THEY USED RICE FLOUR, AND IT WAS LIGHT AND DELICIOUS. SO, I STARTED A LITTLE BUSINESS. THE SINGLE MEN WERE SO EXCITED, AND THE ORDERS CAME IN AT AN ASTONISHING RATE. THE GUYS WERE SO HAPPY, THEY EVEN GAVE ME LARGE TIPS. WE HAD A SECOND INCOME! WITH OUR NEWFOUND FINANCIAL GIFT, WE WERE ABLE TO SAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY A LITTLE CAR. WE PAID TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR IT AND IT WAS A RUSTY LITTLE MESS. IT RAN THOUGH AND MARTIN TOOK SPRAY PAINT AND PAINTED IT BLUE. WE NOW HAD TRANSPORTATION. DRIVING ON THE ISLAND WAS NOT AS EASY AS YOU MIGHT THINK. THERE WAS ONE MAJOR HIGHWAY, AND AFTER THAT, YOU JUST TOOK YOUR CHANCES ON THE MOUNTAIN TRAILS. OH, AND IF SOMEONE WERE LEARNING TO DRIVE, (AN OKINAWAN, NOT AN AMERICAN) THEY HAD A HUGE SIGN ON THE CAR TELLING EVERYONE THEY WERE LEARNING. IF THEY HIT YOU, IT WAS YOUR FAULT, BECAUSE YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF THE WAY! THE CAB DRIVERS WERE MANIACS, AND THEY WOULD SPEED EVERYWHERE- THE ONLY WAY YOU KNEW THEY WERE EVEN COMING ON THE MOUNTAIN ROADS WAS BECAUSE THERE WAS A HUGE CLOUD OF DUST COMING AROUND THE CURVE, AND SURE ENOUGH THE NEXT THING YOU KNEW, A RED CAB SPED BY! NOT SURPRISINGLY, I LET MARTIN DO ALL THE DRIVING! SO, AT NIGHT AFTER HE GOT OFF WORK, WE LOADED UP THE LITTLE CAR AND DELIVERED OUR GOODIES. SOON AFTER WE GOT THE CAR, A TYPHOON WAS BEARING DOWN ON THE ISLAND. THIS IS A SUPER-HURRICANE, AND VERY DANGEROUS. WE WERE TRAPPED IN THE APARTMENT FOR THREE DAYS BECAUSE WE COULD NOT GET THE DOOR OPEN. I GRATEFULLY LEARNED WHY THE BUILDINGS WERE MADE OF CEMENT BLOCKS- THE STORM DID NOT EVEN BOTHER THEM. ABOUT THE SECOND DAY INTO THE STORM, MARTIN THOUGHT TO ASK ME IF I HAD PUT THE PARKING BRAKE ON THE CAR. "JIMINY CRICKET!"I SAID. I KNEW I HAD NOT PUT THE BRAKE ON. AND THE LITTLE CAR WAS PARKED OUTSIDE ON A DIRT DRIVEWAY. WE COULD NOT CHECK BUT WE WERE SURE IT HAD BEEN BLOWN AWAY. BUT, WHEN THE STORM DIED DOWN AND WE COULD OPEN THE DOOR, THERE SAT OUR LITTLE BLUE CAR RIGHT WHERE WE PARKED IT. I COULD JUST IMAGINE THE GUARDIAN ANGELS HOLDING ON TO IT DURING THE STORM! THE MOST AMAZING SIGHT GREETED US AFTER THE STORM, WE WENT ON AN ISLAND TOUR TO CHECK OUT THE DAMAGE AND FOUND THAT THE LITTLE HUTS WITH GRASS ROOFS HAD SURVIVED JUST AS WELL AS THE CEMENT HOUSES! PAPASAN TOLD US THAT THEY HAD KNOWN FOR MANY CENTURIES HOW TO PUT THE PALM LEAVES ON THE LITTLE HUTS TO MAKE THEM STORM SAFE. NEVER THE LESS, IT WAS AMAZING TO SEE THEM STILL STANDING. WHILE WE LIVED THERE, WE GOT A LITTLE MONKEY. HE WAS A SMALL SPIDER MONKEY AND HE HAD THE RUN OF THE HOUSE. HE WAS A GOOD LITTLE MONKEY, DOING HIS BUSINESS OUTSIDE, AND JESSICA LOVED HIM. SADLY, ONE DAY WE CAME HOME TO FIND HIM GONE. WE NEVER DID FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM. OUR LIFE IN OKINAWA PASSED MUCH TOO QUICKLY, AND SOON IT WAS TIME TO GO HOME. WE HAD BEEN THERE FOR 18 MONTHS, AND JESSICA WAS GETTING TO BE A BIG GIRL. WE DECIDED THAT IT WAS TIME TO GIVE HER A BROTHER OR SISTER. IT WAS NOT TO BE EASY FOR US, AND WE FOUND THAT AFTER A MISCARRIAGE, WE COULD NOT GET PREGNANT. IT WAS SO EASY TO GET JESSICA, THAT I DID NOT THINK THIS WOULD BE DIFFICULT. BUT IT WAS. EACH MONTH PASSED WITH DISSAPOINTMENT. IN FEBRUARY, 1975 WE CAME BACK TO THE STATES, SADLY LEAVING OUR LOVING FRIENDS BEHIND. WE WERE READY TO START A NEW LIFE IN THE STATES. TO OUR JOY, WE WERE STATIONED IN EL PASO TEXAS! HOW WONDERFUL TO BE IN TEXAS AGAIN. THEN, WE WERE TOLD THAT THE PAYROLL DEPARTMENT HAD MESSED UP MARTIN'S RECORDS AND HIS PAY WOULD BE DELAYED. UH-OH! WELL, WE HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO GET A SMALL APARTMENT AND SETTLE IN, BUT VERY LITTLE ELSE. I TOLD MARTIN NOT TO WORRY, I WOULD THINK OF SOMETHING. THEN, I GOT A GREAT IDEA! BACK THEN, YOU COULD PICK UP SODA BOTTLES AND TURN THEM IN FOR MONEY. I BORROWED A LITTLE WAGON FROM A NEIGHBOR, AND PUT JESSICA IN IT: AND OFF WE WENT. I WALKED BLOCK AFTER BLOCK, AND IT SEEMED THAT PEOPLE HAD THROWN EXTRA BOTTLES DOWN, BECAUSE I JUST LOADED UP THAT LITTLE WAGON. I WENT HOME, UNLOADED THE BOTTLES AND WENT OUT AGAIN. MORE AND MORE BOTTLES WERE FOUND, AND I TOOK THEM HOME TOO. THE NEXT DAY, JESSICA AND I DID THE SAME THING. IN A FEW DAYS, WE HAD COLLECTED QUITE A BIT IN BOTTLE REFUNDS, AND WERE ABLE TO BUY GROCERIES AND OTHER THINGS WITH OUR MONEY. I DON'T REMEMBER MINDING THE WORK, I WAS HAPPY TO FIND THE BOTTLES AND FELT PRODUCTIVE. SOON, OUR PAY SITUATION WAS CLEARED UP, AND I COULD LEAVE MY BOTTLE BUSINESS BEHIND! JESSICA LOVED HAVING DADDY COME HOME FROM WORK, AND WE LOOKED FORWARD EACH DAY TO SEEING HIM COME HOME. AS USUAL, THERE WAS NO MONEY FOR EXTRAS, BUT WE WERE SO HAPPY THAT WE DID NOT SEEM TO MIND. MARTIN WORKED IN THE MAIL ROOM AND SOMETIMES TOOK JESSICA TO WORK WITH HIM. HE HAD A NIGHT SHIFT, AND SO SHE COULD GO AS HE WAS THE ONLY ONE THERE. THE ONLY BUMP IN THE ROAD FOR US WAS THAT WE COULD NOT GET PREGNANT. FINALLY, I THOUGHT I WAS PREGNANT, BUT ONLY A FEW DAYS LATER I HAD ANOTHER MISCARRIAGE. I WAS HEARTBROKEN. I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHY HEAVENLY FATHER WOULD NOT LET ME HAVE ANOTHER BABY. MAYBE I WAS NOT WORTHY TO BE A MAMA AGAIN. MARTIN TRIED TO COMFORT ME, BUT I WANTED ANOTHER BABY, AND HAD A HARD TIME BEING CHEERFUL. BY NOW, IT WAS MAY, AND 2 MONTHS HAD PASSED SINCE THE MISCARRIAGE. THE DOCTOR SAID THAT WE COULD TRY FERTILITY DRUGS IF WE WANTED, BUT WHEN HE TESTED ME, TO MY AMAZEMENT AND JOY, WE WERE PREGNANT! OH, HOW HAPPY I WAS. I COULD NOT STOP THANKING HEAVENLY FATHER AND I PRAYED EVERY DAY THAT I WOULD KEEP MY BABY. FINALLY, ON MY 21ST BIRTHDAY IN JULY, MARTIN BOUGHT ME A MATERNITY BLOUSE AND TOLD ME THAT IT WOULD ALL BE OKAY. TOMORROW, I WILL TELL YOU WHO WAS ON THE WAY! LOVE, NANASEE