I came to Portland in 1997 as a school bus driver. I had been driving for Laidlaw Inc. down in
Medford, this was a non union company and I was bringing home $100. per week
which did not pay for my rental of $400. + a month, much less the needed
necessities of this life.
At the time there were two cities in the U.S. that needed
school bus drivers, Phoenix, Arizona and Portland, Oregon. This was 1996 and Oregon was experiencing
flooding from storms so I called ahead and got a job with the Scottsdale school
district. I sold my car so I wouldn’t
have to tow it through the traffic of Southern California that area had grown
so. I needed my car to get from one bus
barn to the next as things turned out so, destitute, I continued on to my mom’s
in central California. I did not connect
with a driving job in Monterey County but worked in a gift store in Monterey
until fall when I returned to Portland Oregon and drove for Portland Public
Schools.
The first year I drove normal children and the next year I drove
the emotionally disturbed at George’s middle School and for Alameda Elementary
School. I loved that job and had a very
hard time missing my children when I started driving for TriMet in February
1999. I drove six years for TriMet when
I became insulin dependent I chose not to drive. In 2005 I left TriMet and struggled three
years until the Great Recession when I no longer felt alone in my
destitution. I struggled for two more
years until I was put on SSD.
When I drove for Portland Public Schools and TriMet I had
two gardens at Reed College in their beautiful community garden. Such a beautiful garden and such a loss for
us to pull most of them out to build dorms.
When I left TriMet I moved in with my youngest daughter her
boy was 7. I lived with them four years
and gardened in the Brentwood Community Garden.
I now am retired and off disability. I live in St. Francis Apts and grow a little
garden in the Terrace of St. Francis.
I am an ex TriMet driver, so know how to get around town
which I do every day. I am out and about
five hours a day, usually stopping at one of the Libraries in Multnomah
County. I swim at Mt. Scott and belong
to the Oregon Zoo and take my walks there.
I take public transportation to Gresham and ride on to Rhododendron where
I like to hike and camp.
I feel that I live around people that are like me, urban and
from out of state and a bit out of the box.
I love living in Portland, Or and I love living downtown southwest.
