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The setup

The Whittaker Saga: the setup

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 I  was vastly inspired when reading the decades challenge, and as a history teacher, I could not stop myself from giving it a try. Of course, true to my nature or refusing to do things by the book, the first thing I did was break the rules. How? By creating as my protagonist a single, working woman living on her own! Gasp! Why? Partly because a story popped into my head, but also, partly, to honor the many women who - by choice or necessity - actually worked, and worked hard for their living in the 1890s. We tend to forget them, but the working women were there - from the hard working farmers that we often downgrade by calling wives, as if they weren't an essential part of the economy of the farm, to the working class women working as domestic help or in the factories where they were only payed half of a man's wages.  So with that, I introduce Abigail Spencer, a single, working, middle class woman in 1890s Willow Creek:  As middle class there is only a few jobs avai...
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1970s: One college adventure comes to an end, another two begins.

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Having graduated, Susan returns home. It's not for long, she knows that, but she's glad to be home regardless. She hugs her mother, her father and even her annoying little geek brother as she walks through the door, the Foxbury t-shirt still on. Then she hugs Kaya who has gotten so big. "She was just a puppy!" "You've been gone a long time," her mother says. "Dog's don't stay puppies forever." Susan wants nothing but to stay for a while. To relax, to find her footing before taking the next step, but today is Beth and Cathy's birthday. So together the family head over to Arthur's house, where the bbq is used to make everyone dinner while the strawberry cake is waiting inside so that the frosting doesn't melt in the desert heat. When it's time to blow out the candles, Beth goes first, adding outgoing to her traits, then it's Cathy's turn to get a healthy dose of creativity. The two also gets new outfits, that they ...
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1970s: Growing up has its ups and downs

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At Edwards, focus has shifted. With a new boss, Tom E. Scott, and a new direction, the NASA High Speed Research Station changes names to the NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Center, or Dryden for short. But it's not the new name or the new boss that makes the entire work place feel different - it's the collaboration with the Soviets. After decades of rivalry, the Soviets and Americans are now working together on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. It's no longer a matter of racing to space, but of staying there for longer periods of time. Of building space-stations and facilitate research by working together. This mission, the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project is made to test international docking, but mostly to demonstrate that the two Cold War rivals could work together in space. And that is the important part. "This have to succeed!" Scott tells them. "The world is watching, and Kennedy Space Center needs all of us to do our jobs if they are to succeed. Once this is do...
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1970s: New jobs, new courses and women assassins

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It's valentines day, and in San Sequoia Michael is making an effort. He starts the morning by offering Robin chocolates and flowers. A bit predictable perhaps, but Robin seems to appreciate it. After breakfast, the two head out to the local park, where they stroll around the area, watch the clouds pass by, and - well Michael at least - watch the kids and thinking about having their own one day. He can imagine bringing them to a park like this. Pushing them on the swing, playing some hoops... Later on in the day, as Michael can barely keep his hands off Robin, they catch a movie. Jaws have been on for a while, but neither have seen it, so they do. Robin, unlike most girls (or so Michael thinks) actually loves scary movies. He himself is a bit more uncomfortable, and the movie has him swearing he'll never swim in the ocean again, while Robin is just thrilled by the action. They talk about the movie as they cook together. In this regard, Michael is learning that it's not alway...
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