One week after the honeymoon, Susan and Mike loaded the car up and moved to Dallas Texas.  They stayed at a Holiday Inn, bought the Sunday newspaper and started answering ads.  Within a week Mike had landed a job near downtown Dallas.  It was below his skill set but a job.  They rented an apartment near Baylor Hospital, close to Mike’s work location and Susan continued her job hunt.  Shortly after that Susan too found a job using her language skills.  Susan’s outgoing personality had her joining women’s groups and making friends.  Within six months Susan had new friends and was feeling much better about herself.  With the happiness, she was gaining weight. 

     After a year in Dallas, Susan weighed over 100 pounds, for a 5’2” person that was no big deal, but the anorexia was still an ever present issue for Susan.  She thought she was too heavy and started dieting.  Mike should have seen this as an issue but he didn’t.  Her happiness was his main concern. 

      Six months after our move to Dallas, we rented an apartment on Royal Lane, in North Dallas.  We were making friends through Susan's belonging to Bnai Brith Women, and we joined a temple.  We formed very close friendships with several couples that remain my friends.  After a year the building we were in went Condo, so we decided to buy a home rather than live in a condo.

My job had changed and I was an engineer for an aluminum company. 

     Within a few years we were thinking of having children.  Susan's weight was a problem and her doctor thought if she gained some weight she would have a better chance.  She did put on weight and we got pregnant.  Susan lost her first pregnancy, and the reason was unclear.  During the DNC procedure the doctor had to do surgery.  He found Susan had a divided uterus.  It would make getting pregnant difficult but not impossible.  Susan was depressed over this, but not in the sense that it consumed her.  We were able to get pregnant again after a year or so.  Susan went full term, and Aaron was born just before the end of 1981.

     I had changed jobs two years earlier and was now an accountant and studing for the CPA Exam.  I was working for a large contractor and developer.  The company felt that the US was due for a recession and they were going to shut down their US operations.  With a year notice, Susan and I decided that maybe we should move to Los Angeles, where her brother lived.

     Susan was not great at changes, but she did want to raise a family neat her family.  As soon as we made the decision, mid year, Susan's parents also decided to move west from Lincolnwood to LA. 

     By October I moved to California to look for work and temporarily lived with Susan's parents.  I got my eposure to the amount of drinkking, drugs, and fighting that went on in their household.

     I did find a job with a large aluminum manufacturer and made plans for moving Susan and Aaron out to LA. 

      That month of separation had it's toll on Susan, she was depressed over leaving her Dallas friends, her job, and of the unknown, including being in the same town as her parents.