In January 1961 we moved to Northern California while Dick attended the University of California at Berkeley. We were on the wait-list for married student housing or The Village as it was called, so we had to find somewhere to live during that six-month waiting period.
We found a nice little old house located on Shafter Avenue in Oakland which wasn't too far from the Berkeley campus and all the picketing student "radicals". Exciting times. The rent was $110 a month. Not bad, you say? Well, except for the fact that our total monthly income at that time in our life was $175, so after paying rent we had $65 left over to take care of Momma Bear and Poppa Bear and our two little baby bears.
The Co-op grocery store was a life saver for struggling students. For $5 dollars you bought a membership, received good prices on groceries and at the end of the year would get a profit sharing payment based on how well the C0-0p did the past year. What ever happened to those stores? I'll have to check that out.
I wonder if we were perceived as homeless to some? On occasion we would walk around and collect tossed out bottles and return them to the markets to collect the deposit refund. Today maybe we would be seen as being on an ecological mission. The reality of course was that we did have a home, didn't care that much about the environment, but we were broke and just looking for a little coin to buy candy or go to a movie or maybe out to dinner at some hamburger joint.
June is coming soon and we will be making our short move to Albany, CA. I guess I should be thinking about packing up again!!!!
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