Page 107 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

In the summer of 1964, we rented a cabin at Goldhead State Park near Keystone
Heights. The crystal clear blue waters were surrounded by a powdery, soft white sand
beach. Wendy, being 16 months old, couldn’t walk on the sand; therefore I had to carry
her wherever we went. Upon returning home, she never had to be carried again. She
walked on her own two feet ever since. Over the years, she accompanied us to her
brother’s ball games. When she started piano lessons and was performing in recitals,
neither of the boys went to watch her play the piano to return the attention she gave
them when they were playing ball.

My greatest regret with working at a television station came in 1973 when I had to miss
my 10-year old daughter’s baptism. That evening, I had two Sunday evening broadcast
assignments, one reporting the 6 PM weather, the second being part of a live Sunday
evening show called “Sunday Evening with Pat and Jeff”. This was not the first family
event my hours at Channel 4 made me sacrifice. My wife, Virginia, had to attend
several family funerals over the years. In spite of these sacrifices, she was able to
appreciate Channel 4’s “50 Years of George Winterling” celebration in 2012.

But going back to Wendy’s childhood, she took up the flute and played in the school
orchestras, and I usually could accompany Virginia to these performances. Her brother,
Steve, played the trumpet and triumphantly played “Charge” during the basketball
games at Englewood High. Virginia was a busy homemaker, keeping an immaculate
house, doing the laundry (without a drier), washing the dishes (without a dishwasher)
and providing transportation to school and ball practices.

I had taken a small cut in salary when I left the Weather Bureau to venture into
television broadcasting. Neither of us came from families that had resources to help us
with our expenses. We had to borrow money from a Loan company for the down
payment on our house and we bought the furniture for our home on time. We were
always making car payments and refinancing loans from the Finance Company that
was charging us 36 percent annual interest. When Visa and Master Charge offered us
cards, we could finally reduce our interest payments to 18 percent. Nevertheless, we
struggled through our children’s school years providing a home and supplying their
needs.

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