Long Journey Towards the Light

It was the beginning of March 1989, Yvette and I had been married for 9 months.  We were wed on June 25, 1988 and I had never experienced as much joy and love in all of my 32 years.  Yvette was 24 and we were very much in love.  We loved each other with a reckless abandon, and everyone could tell that we were in love.  We spent a lot of quality time together. There were days when we would not even get dressed; we would play with each other in our one-bedroom apartment.  Sometimes we would have whipped cream fights where we would each have a “Ready Whip” container and we would stalk each other and see who could squirt the other first.  It was so much fun.  We both would wind up covered with whipped cream, and the best part was that we would lick it off each other. Yvette was a great lover and we explored each other’s bodies and shared the intimacy of being newlyweds.

My chosen career is as a mechanical engineer.  I design spacecraft and their systems for TRW Space and Electronics Group.  I started working for TRW in December of 1987.  Before that, I designed and analyzed airline interiors: galleys, passenger seats, lavatories, crew seats, and ejection seats for fighter aircraft. I really learned what it takes to be an engineer in an aerospace company.  I made enough money to take care of most of our current financial needs. 

Yvette was working as a production assistant on a TV sitcom.  The combination of aerospace and the entertainment industry made for quite a varied collection of friends.  It was always great to go to a production party and meet the different people who had committed their lives to being in the “movie biz.” 

What I found was that people are all the same; whether they are designing technology that could contribute to humanity, or creating entertainment that enhances people’s leisure time.  Our best friends are Craig and Jessica.  Craig works with me at TRW, he and Jessica were married 3 months before Yvette and me.  They were our closest companions.  We spent many days and nights together and we always got along well. 

In the middle of March of 1989, I got a phone call from my sister Theresa:

“Travis, I just got home from work, and the Gas Company left me a note saying that my gas is turned off. I also have an eviction notice from my landlord.  I need your help.”

“Theresa, what happened?”

“Travis, I have been having such a hard time, and I guess I just got behind in my bills. You know how hard it has been for me, and ‘the boys’ need a lot of things.”

“Well, Theresa, let me talk with Yvette and see what we can do.”

“Thanks Travis. Call me back, OK?”

I went to Yvette, and we talked about what we could do to help my only sister through another troubled time.  We didn’t have much extra money, but I had to make sure that Theresa, Kevin and Jamal (my nephews) had a roof over their heads, and food in their bellies.  After putting our heads together and agreeing to tighten our belts, we figured that we could give Theresa $1,000.  I called her back and promised to bring the money over the next day.  I could hear her start to cheer up with my good news, and I was content knowing that I could help my sister and my nephews, (ages 18 and 15), financially.  She continued to apologize for coming to me for money, but she promised to get her finances back together.