Despite the fact that she had lived in Chicago for almost 15 years, for a small town country girl like Ida Morgan, living in a city the size of Chicago was a daunting daily task. When her husband had accepted the promotion from the manufacturing company he worked, that necessitated the Morgan's move from Cedar Rapids to Chi-town, Ida had been far from crazy about it. With the second of their three children getting ready to go off and start college at the time back in 1986 however, the family needed the added income that came with the move.
As Ida looked back 15 years later, she accepted that the move to the big city had been for the best. After successfully putting all three of their kids through college, having each of them bare a grandchild already, and seeing the way her husband, Bruce, had climbed the corporate ladder, all the way to Vice President, Ida saw the harvested fruit of their difficult decision a decade and a half earlier.
For Ida, a 55 year old woman with a bachelors degree in marketing that had never been put to use, after all of her kids grew up and were out of the house for good, she discovered she had an ungodly amount of time and energy on her hands. Tiring quickly of the normal social outlets for rich women her age, Ida thankfully stumbled into an opportunity in 1994, that would help her build up a glowing sense of accomplishment as well as a great way to supplement the couple's retirement fund.
The woman that had been Ida's Avon representative ever since she had moved to Chicago, Emily Catchings, had finally decided to cash in her chips and move to the condo in Florida that her and her husband had bought. On a lark, Emily had asked Ida one afternoon if she would be interested in taking over all of her existing accounts.
Thinking Ida had the perfect temperaments as well as the right look and personality to highlight the line of beauty products, Emily was pleasantly surprised when her friend and customer reluctantly agreed to give it a try.
Not use to actually having to work on a consistent basis outside the home, Ida didn't know quite what she had gotten herself into at first. Once she gained a comfort level with the demands of the job and expanded her client base however, the money started rolling in.
From late '94 to 1998, Ida Morgan's life was a good as it had ever been. For the first time in her adult life, she felt vital both in and outside the home. To actually have some spending money of her own was also a neat diversion as well.
Having saved up nearly $25,000 for just part time work over those 4 years, Ida and Bruce began making serious plans for their own retirement.
When Bruce Morgan went for his yearly checkup in late '98 however, the smooth ride the couple had been on suddenly hit a huge speed bump. Bruce had been diagnosed with kidney disease and had to go through a difficult surgery that forced him to take a early retirement from his company.
Even though they had enough money in the bank to pay the bills and insurance covered a good deal of the medical expenses, Ida suddenly felt the need to become the breadwinner in the family while Bruce was ill.
With the money in their retirement fund drying up, Ida dedicated herself to a fulltime pursuit of her Avon selling to maintain the household income. Ida went from spending 10-15 hours a week on the job to well over 40 and sometimes as much as 50 hours a week while Bruce was in and out of the hospital.
Even when he finally came home to stay, the combination of her husband's grouchy attitude and the addictive emotional outlet that her own work gave her, kept Ida Morgan pounding the pavement. The lure of a commission check that was nearly quadruple what she was making before she went full time and the connections that all her new customers provided kept Ida's head spinning to keep up with all her accounts.
One of her regular customers was a middle aged black woman named Deloris Franklin, who managed a Burger King that Ida frequently stopped at for lunch when she was downtown.
Deloris lived in a housing project on the West side of town and over the years had provided several contacts for Ida's blossoming customer list. Many of those women that Deloris turned Ida on to were either too poor to afford a car, many didn't work for various reasons and a few were too elderly to venture out often. Deloris often played the role of courier for Ida in getting the products to several of those ladies and then in turn, getting Ida her money.
There were certain occasions however, when Deloris and Ida couldn't get their schedules to jive and Ida had to take it upon herself to make a special visit to deliver merchandise and collect payment in the mostly black neighborhood.
The last place Ida Morgan thought she'd be servicing while selling Avon was a low income housing project but most of the people she encountered were very sweet and Ida was frankly surprised by how much money that particular clientele brought in, upwards of about 15 % of her total Avon income.
The worries about her safety that she, her husband, and many of their friends had about going into those neighborhoods all turned out to be unfounded. When she did venture to those places, Ida usually planned it out to where she would be going on mid mornings when the sun was out and all the bad people she worried about, in the stereotypical reaches of her mind, were still in bed sleeping off their hangovers.
There were only a few instances when Ida got as much as an occasional stare from the men and women that hung around the projects. Even though she did feel like a sore white thumb sticking out on a black hand, Ida usually walked peacefully on by, holding her tongue and breath as she went about her business.
* * * * *
For over 30 years, Bruce Morgan had been everything Ida could have hoped for in a husband and a friend. He had been the best provider, confidant, lover and supporter Ida could have prayed for when she said "I DO" in the Summer of '69. Through thick and thin, Ida and Bruce stared down each obstacle that blocked their path, together.
When Bruce was confronted with his kidney disease and impending surgery, Ida knew that it would be just another trial put in front of them by God that they would eventually overcome.
Three and a half years after Bruce finally came home for good from the hospital, Ida secretly knew he wasn't the same man she had married. The combination of self esteem loss that came without having his job along with diminished ability to do many of the hobbies he cherished, was a rough blow for her husband to take.
Even after her change of life, Ida had retained her vitality for intimacy that mirrored her socially bubbly personality. She completely understood that the plethora of problems Bruce faced, from the normal effects of aging to the aftereffects of his surgery, gradually cut into his interest and stamina in the bedroom.
As time went on however, Ida could clearly sense that Bruce was giving up in all phases of his life. While he outwardly supported her new role as primary breadwinner, she knew he was old fashioned to the end and could tell his mood worsened every month when it was time to sign the checks to pay the family's bills.
In the bedroom, Bruce steadily lost interest in pleasing her ,as well as himself, for that matter until his thirst for sexual gratification was nearly nonexistent. There were occasional nights when Ida could coax Bruce into being his old self, but those nights were few and far between.
