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lawyer. She saw an ad on the underground for "law temps"
so she thought she would like to do that to get a feel for the
law. I asked a fellow member at The Little Ship Club if he
knew where that company was. He said she didn't need to
bother with that she could work in his offi ce as secretaries
took vacations during the summer. This was a brilliant move
as it proved to her that she didn't want to be a lawyer. We
joked that when co-workers at Biddle and Co. asked her what
temp agency she had used to get the job, she said "I guess you
could say the Atalanta agency." Although she didn't like the
work, she met some wonderful people her age, like Geoffrey
Tyler, Stephen Cox, Anthony MacCaulay and Patricia Thomas,
who became regular crew members on my sailboat Patience
around the Isle of Wight.
The next summer Jennifer worked for our local council
Planning Department in historic Amersham and loved it.
She went on to get a Master's degree in City and Regional
Planning from Harvard. She has enjoyed her career.
Ellen was not allowed to work, or even fi ll a signifi cant
volunteer position, because of the Status of Forces Agreement
with Britain. It was reciprocal and meant that the wives
of British posted to the British Embassy couldn't work in
Washington. The fi rst year, she took a very interesting course
on the history of London, which included a weekly walking
tour and museum/historic place visits with knowledgeable
guides. She got glandular fever and spent eighteen months
in bed. Harley Street specialists confi rmed that the only cure
was bed rest.
My eldest son, Jonathan, went to London Central High
School run by the U.S. Army in Germany. He was able to
indulge his love of sailing. He had a class boat, a National
Graduate, so we pulled it around the country on a special
trailer and sometimes stayed overnight, sleeping in our VW
bus that we had driven to England from Naples.
He was also able to go sailing with the Ocean Youth Club.
This organization was given about a dozen 72-foot sailboats
which they used to take 12 youths plus an adult skipper and