Good Times: MY LIFE BEFORE HUSBAND AND KIDS

This was Heidi's last full post, unfortunately she did not have a chance to publish. I hope you enjoy Heidi's story of falling in love

Movie review: Walk A Mile in his Shoes
This is "another "baseball movie with a nice twist. It's about a young man with Asberger's Syndrome, a coach that wants him to succeed , a family that fears for him but wants to have faith. This young man teaches everyone a specific lesson, deals with the cruelty of people who don't understand and opens a whole new world of understanding of this very real syndrome. PG 91 minutes. NETFLIX STREAMING Steve and I give it a 5 out of 5.

Through sickness and health. Love forever

Santa Barbara became my home purely by accident. A childhood friend invited me to visit, to meet her new husband and catch up. It took very little convincing to make Santa Barbara my new home. My boyfriend was off to Harvard to get his masters in Landscape Architecture and would not have time for a relationship. My best friend was moving back to her home in Georgia. I was 24, living on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and winter was coming. So, unencumbered, my savings in my pocket, I packed up my cat Hoser and moved out to California. Side bar: I had been raised winters in California as a child and summered at a family home on the Cape. I moved to the East permenantly for high school at Dana Hall in Wellesly, MA.
Back east my schooling and profession was psychology. . I worked with severly mentally and physically challenged. I changed professions when I did some fund raising and fell in love with accounting. I went back to school and studied business finance, accounting and business law. In between I got my EMT license. Talk about fickle. Before moving west I was working at the local Emergency Room and opened a bookkeeping business for B&B's.

I am a lifeguard on the Cape

My Daddy

I definitely needed to grow up. Moving to Santa Barbara was the opportunity to do this , to find myself. .
ONCE in Santa Barbara I was free and looking for adventure. I had to find a job and decided to do bookkeeping. After a few interviews I
decided to work for a Stock Brokerage Firm It was a dual job, bookkeeping and they would train me in stock transactions. I had made a few transactions and thoroughly enjoyed it, not knowing at the time that that was highly illegal. They ran into financial problems so I was let go, they gave the position to the receptionist. I was devistated. I had never been fired before! (Good thing, they soon went out of business )
I wanted to meet people but this was not when my adventure really started. After being laid off I decided to console myself with a couple of cocktails. I WANTED to meet people but I was not interested in any relationship ,. I went to a popular bar in town, Joe's Bar & Grill.

Where it all began

IT was shoulder to shoulder crowded. At a point I grew bored and decided to call an acquantance. This was 1985 and pay telephones were still the way, no cell phones. I am standing in line for the phone and I was standing behind this cute guy . I caught his attention and said "Did you know that phone booths and laundrimats are the new place to meet people ? " Personally I was appalled that I had said this. Instead of answering me he planted a big kiss on my mouth! Talk about shocked! That got my attention so much that we had a cocktail and got to know each other. MARCH 6th, 1985, 2 days after his birthday and, the first time I had been fired and only a little over 3 months after I came to town. That night I met Steve Swiacki, I met my best friend and future husband. He had been at the bar with a friend helping his friend through a difficult time.
Remember, I was not looking for a relationship. We spent the rest of the night driving around Santa Barbara, until the wee hours in the morning. Laughing and talking and unbenouced to me, falling in love. We were from 2 different worlds ,

Pink, green and frogs

I was sailing and he was power boat, I was wearing pink and green with whales and frogs on my courderoy Talbots pants

Unflashy, Steve with his dog bo and Mike

and he was understated, non flashy and had a mustache. He enjoyed making uninhibited mockery of my preppy attire; two days later I met his parents. WITHIN months we bought an investment property lived in the cottage in the back and rented out the front house.

Our first Christmas in the cottage

Steve's Parents house

Also remember that I was NOT interested in a serious relationship! WITHIN 8 weeks dating, he told me that he was going to marry me, I laughed. Within 6 months, he asked me marry him, I said no. He asked me again, I said no The third time he said think about your answer, as it would be the last time he asked. I made him wait a few days and said yes. I said yes. WE MET in March '85and were married September 13, 1986.
26 years and 2 wonderful children. What's our secret? TRUST< love and laughter.
The following is a pictorial of us pre-marriage. o