thing I did was to go to the bank and organize a mortgage on a new home I wanted to purchase. But my chef had other ideas. He wanted me to buy a business. I had enough cash to pay for the goodwill for a city restaurant opposite the south parklands in Adelaide. There was a two bedroom unit at the back of the restaurant so we moved in and I started working 7 days and 7 nights every week.
My husband only worked for half of the first day and then disappeared and never worked again in the business. He was a gambler and spent a lot of time gambling on horse races, poker and worked in a bakery sometimes when he needed money. Some times he didn’t come home for a week or more at a time, it was a terrible life for me.
I couldn’t give up I had to keep the business going and I was determined to make it a success, regardless of how tired I felt each day. It was successful but I only had one helper at lunch time. Evenings and weekends I had to do everything by myself. Cook all the meals and serve the many customers.
One evening when I was very tired my husband helped himself as always to the money in the cash register and I got upset. We had a fight and he hit me so I walked out. The next day when I tried to get into the shop the locks had been changed and I couldn’t get in.
He came out and handed me a piece of paper it was a ‘Bill of Sale’. I had no idea what it meant so I took it to a lawyer. I was told to get my name off the business as it was worth nothing as it had been mortgaged to cover gambling debts.
Imagine how upset I was, I lost everything, my photo albums, my glory-box full of lovely things I’d been storing for my new home one day. Plus all the money I had saved to buy the home. Not to mention the money I should have earned as goodwill from the sale of the business, when I was ready to sell it one day.
If it wasn‘t difficult enough to lose everything, when I went to see my father he wouldn’t let me back into the family home. “You made your bed now you have to lie in it,” he said while shutting the door in my face.
There I was with no money and nowhere to stay. My older brother let me stay with him and his wife for a short while until I managed to rent a one bedroom flat at the back of a home. As soon as I had my own place my wonderful mother and 11 year old sister, came to live with me.
This was another hard time because my mother had no money and didn’t bring anything but her clothes with her. “I didn’t want to even bring a spoon out of the kitchen drawer with me, because I didn’t want anything to remind me of your father.” she told me when she came to the flat with one suitcase for herself and one for my little sister.
I felt sorry for my sister who came without her favourite toys, but she has told many times how grateful she was to leave our father. The three of us were so poor, but we loved our freedom and were thrilled to be together.
Once again I worked three jobs and saved every dollar I earned until I had $500 in the bank. In 1968 this was a reasonable sum. Searching again for a business to purchase so I could support my mother and sister I came across an advertisement for the sale of a business called the Green Door Deli. The song “what’s behind the green door” had been popular a few years earlier.
The commercial agent told me it would cost me $1,250 and I told him I only had $500. “Sorry can’t help you.” he said.
To my surprise he rang me the next day and said the finance company would accept my $500 as the full buying price. “But you will have to repair the fridges that are not working and there’s not much stock in the shop,” he told me as he hung up the phone.
At that moment I thought, “I’ve perfected the art of asking for what I want.”
The next 12 months were really hard work and very long hours. After working all day I was back at the deli working late into the night and several mornings each week I went to the wholesale markets to buy fruit, vegetables and groceries for the deli before I went to my work with IBM. Seven days a week I was working from early morning until very late at night.
I can remember my mother, sister and I getting back to our little one bedroom flat after midnight many times. My wonderful sister worked at the deli in her lunch break and also at night after school and on the weekends. We were all tired but very happy to be making our own way in life doing what we wanted to do and not having to answer to anyone else.
Freedom is the most important thing in life. I can’t stand being in a relationship that doesn’t allow me to be myself.
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