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CHAPTER IV

New Haven, Here We Come!

AS I MENTIONED earlier, we took off for New Haven as newlyweds and we obviously had more stars in our eyes than sense in our brains because we arrived there with no place to live and with no job for Marilyn. However, again my good-luck charm worked. We found a little spot north of New Haven that was literally a lean-to on a garage. The owner ran a beautiful tourist home next door (named Moose Manor!) and had built two lean-tos on his garage. There was only one room with a pullout bed, a little kitchenette, and a bathroom. That was our first home and it worked just fine.

There were a few adjustments that needed to be made. For example, I studied till quite late every night, and Marilyn would go to bed. In order for me to get from my desk when I was finished studying to hit the bathroom before going to bed, I had to literally walk over the bed where she was sleeping. However, we were both young in those days—she didn’t stir and I didn’t trip!

Another humorous story from these days concerns Marilyn’s experience with a gas stove. At her parents’ home they had always used an electric stove, so Marilyn had no experience with a gas stove until we moved here. Just as her family had done at home, Marilyn stored items such as cereal and bread in the lower drawer of the stove. Of course, this turned out also to be the broiler! So, the first time Marilyn turned on the broiler, not really understanding where or what it was, everything in it burned up. No harm done and a good lesson learned!

This was a disarmingly idyllic little place, close to the ocean and in a very rural area. We lived there through a glorious New England fall. Then we both began to focus on the fact that fall would turn into winter, and we had to drive into the city each day. So we decided it was time to move. So our next stop was the spot where we lived the rest of our time in New Haven, 320 Edgewood Avenue. I’ll have more to say about that later.

Our other major challenge was also successfully met when Marilyn found a terrific job as an assistant to the Dean of the School of Fine Arts. Marilyn was a great secretary (that’s what they called executive assistants in those days) and, as everyone who knows her knows, was (and is) great with people. So, this job worked out wonderfully for her and also exposed her to many top people in the School of Art, Music, and Architecture. She always laughingly said that her specialty was uncorking wine bottles for the seemingly endless stream of cocktail parties and receptions that took place at the school. This was only one of her skills, and as with everything else, she did it with great aplomb!

Our home at 320 Edgewood Avenue had three rooms—a living room, bedroom, and kitchen, but they were separate rooms connected by a central hallway. So, to go from the bedroom to the kitchen, for example, meant going out in the hall. This was really no big deal, however, because there was only one other couple living in the building in addition to the landlord and his wife. We loved this place and, as I said before, lived there for all three years in New Haven. Our landlady and landlord were delightful people and were wonderful to us, making our lives both richer and much simpler.