The newly-weds had decided that they would both work at their current jobs until they qualified for a pension, which meant approximately seven years for Molly and seventeen for Charlie. They would live on Molly’s income, supplemented by withdrawals from her savings as needed, and they would give most of Charlie's pay check to Muriel for support of her and the children. In the case of Muriel getting remarried, they would cut Charlie's contribution for support of the children to about fifty percent. When Jesse learned this, he was very pleased, and even more so when he heard that Charlie had given his car to Muriel and paid for her driving lessons. Finally, when he learned that Charlie was an avid fisherman and that Molly was on her way to becoming one herself, he warmed up to Charlie even more. It was clear that, even though he did not believe in divorce, he was now accepting of Charlie being his son-in-law. Molly decided to withhold the information about her financial gifts from George, until a more appropriate time. She was hesitant mainly because she didn't want Maureen to know about it.
On the second weekend at her father's home, they rented a trailer and borrowed Jesse's truck to pull it, moving the small amount of mostly used furniture they had purchased over the past week or so to their new home. They would have a used bed frame, with new box springs, mattress and bed linens, a used kitchen table with four chairs and a used chest of drawers. They also hauled several pieces which her father gave them as a wedding present: an antique settee, a rocking chair, a chenille bedspread, an assortment of kitchen ware, a toaster, and her mother's silverware. He also gave them several boxes of home canned vegetables and fruit, as well as several boxes of potatoes, turnips, onions, tomatoes and green beans from his garden. They would add to their furnishings over the next few months as they shopped around for things which they needed.
For now, they had enough to set up housekeeping in their first home, which was furnished with a small Frigidaire refrigerator, an Amana kitchen stove, and a Whirlpool ringer-style, washer. In the little weedy plot of grass in the backyard, there were two poles strung with rope which served as a clothes-line. The basement included a coal-fired furnace, an ash can, a coal bin, and a lot of shelving for canned goods.
Over the next month or so, they spent most of their free time shopping for their home. Some of the first things which they purchased were an assortment of yard tools including a push grass mower, a hoe, a rake, a soil-turning fork, clippers, and pruning shears. Charlie intended to maintain a nice yard, and to plant vegetable and flower gardens in the Spring.
By the end of two months they had completed the furnishing of their home, stocked their shelves, pantry, and refrigerator with food, and cleaned and trimmed up their yards. Most days, Molly cooked breakfast and dinner for the two of them, and she would wash the dishes and Charlie would dry them and put them away. They ate their lunch in the factory cafeteria, and usually ate out one night during the week and several times on weekends for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Every other weekend, Charlie helped Molly with washing and drying their laundry. His job was mainly carrying the basket of wet laundry into the back yard, hanging the pieces on the clothes lines, using wooden clothes pins, taking them down when they were dry and carrying the basket into the house for Molly to iron and put away. On laundry days, for several hours, the back yard bloomed with a wide assortment of drying clothing, flapping in the wind. Charlie loved the sweet smell of the air-dried clothing as he took them down and put them in the basket.
In fact, Charlie loved working with his angel for life, setting up and running their first home. Even though it was a rental home, his most common dream while in prison - having a loving wife, like his mother, and owning a home, filled with his children, and with the aromas of baked breads and biscuits - was beginning to come true.
The first weekend of their third month of marriage dawned with great weather, so they decided to make a trip over to the lake to see if there were any cabins for sale and to have a meal or two at The Amish House. They had decided that they would probably spend a year or so in their rental home, while they took their time in looking around for a home to buy. In the meantime, they decided, perhaps, to buy a cabin on the lake, where they could go on weekend fishing trips - if they could find one on sale at a reasonable price.
They left for the lake early Saturday morning and arrived at The Amish House in time for an early lunch. Their many Amish friends were happy to see them, and during a delicious and filling lunch, they talked to a few of them about their desire to find an affordable cabin on the lake which they could buy. There were several for sale, and their friends also gave them a note of introduction to a realtor friend of theirs. He confirmed that there were, indeed, at least two properties for sale and that there might be a third that would soon go onto the market. They, then, accepted his invitation to take them to see the two properties that, for sure, were for sale.
They liked both listed properties and were trying to decide between then when the realtor suggested that they stop by to see the third property. They agreed, but when they arrived at the address, they found no indication that it was for sale. However, they noticed a man trimming the shrubbery on the next-door property.
‘Hello,’ called Charlie. ‘Are we right in thinking this place is for sale?’
‘I believe so,’ said the neighbor, ‘although it’s not on the market yet.’
‘Do you think they’d mind if we looked around?’
Molly could see the potential of it even from the car. The one-acre property had a nice, open stand of large maple, beech, walnut, oak, pines and assorted other trees. It also boasted a nicer dock than the other two properties, with a beautiful motorboat tied up to it.