Transfer to Texas

The Decision to Move

Joyce was pregnant with Kelly when some people from AT&T came into N.Y. looking for people wanting to transfer to Texas. Joyce and I discussed it, and she agreed to move. It was a big sacrifice, but we thought our family would fare better in Texas than in NY.  

I put my name on the list right away, and thought I would be a shoe in, because I spoke the language already. AT&T was offering relocation expenses for people who transferred down. Several other guys in Queens applied. All of them were chosen, but I was not. Not one of those guys had ever even been to Texas. I was completely devastated that I was not selected. 

A couple of weeks later I was chosen, but they stopped offering to pay relocation expenses. 

I left by myself to go to Dallas to start working, and find us a place to live. I left NY in Feb. Joyce was due to have Kelly in August. Joyce had to get the house mostly packed up and ready to move by herself while extremely pregnant. She was a real trooper about doing it.  

We sold our house, and the closing was set for November. I flew back to NY, picked up a U-Haul truck to move our stuff down to Dallas.  

One of our neighbors was Maureen, she lived across the street with her folks, and had babysat for Dani, Heather and Kim. When she learned, we were moving to Dallas, she wanted to move with us.  We said ok if she would help with the driving and taking care of the kids on the trip down. I’m not sure exactly why she wanted to move to Texas, but I surmised she just wanted to leave home.  This was a much safer option than just going into Manhattan and starting a new life.