Here's my response to the query on the places we have resided for the StoryWorth Book of Memories.
We have resided in four States, California, Illinois, Missouri and Maryland.
We enjoyed our stay in the three cities in California,(Modesto, Pinole
and Fair Oaks (on the eastern suburb of Sacramento). We will always remember
our five years in Chicago, Illinois as well as our five years in Kansas
City, Missouri. Most of all, the happiest place that we had lived was
our 12 years in Colesville, Maryland- a suburb of Washington, D.C. The
coldest winter of our lives was of course in Chicago. But the warmest
winter of our lives besides, the Philippines was in Fair Oaks and Pinole, California.
My family have moved 12 times from the 1960's to 2002 . Most of these moves were paid by my employers. These moves are either intercity or interstate, voluntary or involuntary. Each move is for a different reason, but it is always an adventure, filled with anxiety and hopes for a better life and new experiences .
The places we have lived are as follows:
Chicago,
Illinois ( 2 moves), Kansas City, Missouri ( 3 moves), Modesto,
California (2 moves), Pinole, California ( 2 moves), Silver Spring, MD ( one move)
and Sacramento(Fair Oaks),California(2 moves).
Our first interstate move was from
Chicago,Illinois to Kansas City, Missouri in 1964. After my graduation
with a PhD. Degree from the University of Illinois in Chicago, I was
got my first industrial job in Kansas City, Missouri. The move was paid
by my employer, Chemagro Corporation. The movers packed and unpacked
every thing we owned which was not much. We first rented a 3 bedroom
house in Gladstone, Missouri, right in town. The family( Macrine and
three kids) got involved with the local church and country club
activities.
The house was right in town and after two years, our landlord wanted to sell his property, so we were forced to rent another house nearby. This house is more secluded with an undeveloped land in our backyard. At the back of the property is a small creek, where our three kids love to play. We are always on our toes if they play on the creek, since we are afraid an accident may happened. An accident did happened, when our little David scrapped his knees and had to be driven to the emergency room for several stitches.
Macrine was so scared ( too
much blood), she did not realized she was driving in second gear on her
way to the hospital. On our fourth year in Kansas City, we decided to
buy our first house in Platte Woods, Missouri, North of Kansas City. The
house was a 4 -bedroom ranch with a one acre of lot. We called it “The
Nipa Hut”. Our Christmas Parties with the Filipino-American community in
the area was featured in the two local newspapers, The Dispatch and
Kansas City Star. We live in the Kansas City area for 5 years,.
Our
next move was to Modesto, California. Modesto is in the heart of
Stanislaus County, a part of California Central Valley- a farming
community in 1969. This was a voluntary move. After five years of
Midwest weather, I wanted to move to California for a better paying job
and climate. With the move, I got a 20% raise and fulfill my wish to
live in a warmer climate. My new employer paid again all our moving
expenses, including relocation expenses. Shell Development Company also
paid for our hotel expenses and help us in the purchase of a new home
in Modesto, right in town. By this time we had 4 kids and decided to
apply for American citizenship. It was granted in 1972.
Our citizenship
party was featured in the Modesto Bee- a local newspaper. Macrine at
this time wanted to have a gift shoppe where she could sell Philippine
handicrafts and other gift products from the Philippines. So we decided
to sell our house right in town and purchase a farm house with a gift
shop in front at Skittone Rd, right in the border of Modesto and Salida.
The gift shop was doing well, but after five years in Modesto, Shell
Development decided to close their agricultural research and move all of
it to Houston, Texas. Since we do not want to move to Texas, I decided
to look for another job close to San Francisco or in the East Bay.
I
was lucky to find another research chemist job with Stauffer Chemical
Company in Richmond, California in 1974. We purchase a new house in
Pinole, walking distance to the High School. We selected Pinole, since
it had a “Debate-Forensic Program” that our oldest son wanted. When we
move from Modesto, our oldest son said, he will never forget the fact,
that we uprooted him from his high school at Beyer where he was active
in the forensic team. So his requirement was that we move to a place
where there is a local forensic team in the high school. When all the
kids graduated from high school, we decided to move from our 2-story
house to a ranch type house in the same area. This was instigated, when
one day, I sprained my ankle playing tennis and I had a hard time
climbing the stairs to our bedroom.
So we move to Silvercrest Rd up in
the hill with a nice view of the San Pablo Bay. This time we do the
moving ourselves. Since it was only about 2 miles from our former house,
it was not a hard move, although we have to hire a local moving
company for the heavy furniture and appliances. The expenses for this
move came from our own pockets. In this ranch home on the hill with a
view, we hold several parties for the University of the Philippines
Alumni Association, Berkeley Chapter, when I was President at that
time,1988-1989.
In 1990, my new employer, Chevron Chemical
Company, decided to close their agricultural division in Richmond. This
time I promised to myself, I will never work for a private company due
to stability concerns. My goal was to work either for the State or the
Federal government. My chance to work for the Federal government came
when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hired me as a review chemist
and later Team Leader, after I attended a Job Fair in San Francisco in
1990. Luckily at that time, the Federal government had a budget for
relocation expenses for employees under their Special Hiring Program. So
without touching anything, the federal government paid for all our
relocation expenses and also help us find a new house in Maryland. We
found a ranch type home in Colesville, MD, north of Silver Spring. We
live there for 12 years until my retirement in 2002.
The latest
move we had was in 2002 from Maryland to Sacramento, California. Why
retire in the Sacramento Area? We want to be near our children and
grandchildren, so at least we could help in baby sitting. Our youngest
daughter and husband live not too far from us. Our two other
children resided in Walnut Creek, about a 90 minutes drive. This move was our
hardest move. We had to pay for all the moving expenses. After a garage
sale, giving away some of our possessions to friends, relatives and
neighbors, we still have more than 500 boxes plus two cars to transport
across the continent. Since we were not sure where to buy a house in the
Sacramento area, we decided to rent first.
After one year, we decided to purchase another ranch type house in the city of Fair Oaks, the Eastern suburb of Sacramento. We love it here in Fair Oaks. It is convenient to shopping malls, the casinos (Thunder Valley and Red Oaks) and of course to my Pangga, Carenna. As of this writing date we have been residing here in Fair Oaks over 18 years.
Our life experiences in all the places above were already described in previous Chapters of this book. However, here are some photos that I will always remember.
Macrine and Stan Ackers Singing Duet-Indian Love Call-Modesto, CA 1971
Macrine and I singing Duet in one of Our Parties at our Residence in Silvercrest Street in Pinole, Ca,1984 (Our well-manicured and landscaped backyard with seating sun in the background)
Macrine and I at our Fair Oaks Residence Kitchen, 2013
Carenna, Dodie and Me, Stinson Beach, Ca 2020
We had also visited thirty(30)* other places in the US( including the Hawaiian Islands) and eleven other places outside the Continental US.
I have also visited ten other places in the US in connection with my work activities (business travel)
as a Research Chemist for Chevron and Stauffer Chemical Companies and
as a Chemistry Team Leader for FDA, Center of New Drugs in Silver
Spring, MD.
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