Michael Don

Son, Michael Don Williams came on the scene on November 18, 1955. He was a beautiful baby and my wife, Jackie, and I were very proud parents. We were both nineteen years old at the time and lived in a small one bedroom apartment. With my meager state salary, we lived frugally and ate a lot of spaghetti. But Mikie was well cared for and we paid all of our bills, including medical and maternity, with no outside assistance. Entertainment, such as movies, was out of the question. A few times we did pool our money with some friends who were in the same position as us and, and with the seventy five cents or so thus pooled, purchased some soda pop or a six pack of Fisher’s beer and played scrabble for an evening. Three brothers followed Michael in later years. There were no sisters.

Looking back over the years, it seems impossible that I could have a son turning 54 years of age this next week. Michael retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel after 21 years. He is now a senior programmer with the University of Texas in Austin.

When Michael was born, I was employed by the state Department of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento as a Junior Clerk. My gross salary when I started in 1953 was $200.00 per month. When I retired from state service in January 1995, I had been a state employee for forty-one and one half years. My salary, by then, had increased immeasurably.

I had become engaged to a girl named Jackie Evans before my mother died in 1954. We were both eighteen years of age when we were married on November 7th of that year. My DMV salary at that time was $220.00 per month.

Jackie and I first lived in a small-furnished apartment in South Sacramento, which we rented for $62.50 per month. At the time we were married, Jackie was employed in a temporary clerical position with California Western States Life Insurance Company. We expected that she would become permanent and that we would soon be able to buy appliances and other furniture items needed for housekeeping. This was not to be. She was laid off at Cal Western after we had been married about two months.

Then began the morning nausea. The doctor confirmed what we expected, that is, we were to become parents. Since it was generally known that unemployment benefits weren’t paid to pregnant women, we gave up on unemployment insurance as a source of revenue.

I was able to obtain an additional part time job to support the family. It was a permanent part time night position with the Division of Driver’s Licenses in the DMV building. The job was three hours per night and four hours on Saturday. I held this additional position for three years.

It was a memorable time