Starman Years

All of a sudden I was alone, dreading to go home to an empty house.  My husband of 34 years, Karl-Heinz Schomaker, and the father of my two sons, was no longer with me.  It was August 1986.  I buried myself in work.  My Century 21 RSVP office at 601 Main Street was a bustling place.  Although I had only about 10 full-time agents, they did much of the business in Ramona.  Paperwork kept me occupied; usually I was the first one in the office and the last one to leave.

Outside the office there was only one thing that captivated my imagination.  “Starman”.  I was anxiously awaiting the first TV episode of the continuation of the Starman movie.  The movie had left a lasting impression on Karl-Heinz and me when our eldest son Steve had rented it a year ago.  Quite taken by the concept of the movie, by the riveting action combined with romance, we rented the movie again during this last summer.  It was even better the second time around.  The TV series was supposed to deal with Starman’s return to aid the son he had fathered 14 years earlier.  Both of us had been looking forward to this event, but now I had to watch the story unfold by myself.

Finally the great day arrived.  With my husband at my side, at least in spirit, I watched the first episode.  Too soon it was over and I had to wait a whole week for the second installment.  The series captured my heart immediately.  Robert Hays in the title role portrayed just the right combination of ethereal spirit and human frailties.  As his son, C.B. (Christopher) Barnes played his role of the confused earthly offspring to the hilt.  Then there was Michael Cavanaugh, the government agent George Fox, hot on the trail of this unearthly being.  He was the character everyone would love to hate.  Last, but not least, was Patrick Culliton playing his bumbling assistant Wiley most ably.  Little did I know then that we would become good friends, just a year later.  For now all I could do was wait for next week.  Without a VCR I could not even tape the show and watch it over again.  When ABC moved the show from Saturday to Thursday missed it altogether and practically cried myself to sleep that night.

The grief over my husband’s recent death was somehow intertwined with the show.  With very little spare time I did not watch much television, but never, ever would I intentionally miss Starman.  The show nearly became an obsession.  I told all my friends about it and suggested they watch it with their children.  Without violence and sex, so prevalent in TV shows, the series needed families with children to support it.

I was not looking forward to my birthday in November, being by myself for the first time in years.  Then Steve came to my rescue.  We tried to celebrate our mutual birthday in each other’s company as often as possible and Steve had made sure we would be together this year.  Stationed near Phoenix, Arizona, after his tour of duty in Korea, he was able to get a short furlough.  While he stayed with me for a few days we went car shopping.  I had sold my old Chevy that was nearing the 100,000-mile mark and was driving my husband’s Oldsmobile.  It, too, was giving me some trouble.  It was time to buy a new car.  In Escondido’s Auto Park we spotted a beige Buick with a sleek design.  It looked a lot like the Chevy I had just sold.  I really liked it, but the price tag of $17,000 left me breathless.  Steve thought it was a great car for me and I should consider it. 

When my sister Barbara came for a visit in December she almost missed her flight back to Seattle, because my car nearly died on me twice on the way to the airport.  Somehow I made it home, but next morning I had the car fixed sufficiently to drive it to the dealership in Escondido.  “My” car was still on display.  Over a month had passed since I first fell in love with it.  The new models were out by then, and the price tag on my car had been reduced to $14,000.  I bought it right then and there, trading in the Olds. 

During these last few weeks an irresistible opportunity had presented itself.  It was at a lunch with a friend, that the possibility of a second office, in San Diego Country Estates, was mentioned.  I had just received a check for $7,000 from my husband’s only life insurance policy.  Before buying into the Century 21 franchise we had been troubled financially due to a sagging economy in general and a downturn in construction in particular.

True to my nature I was willing to gamble on a new venture.  Not that I was a habitual gambler; if and when I visited Las Vegas, which was not often, I stayed with the nickel slot machines,