Martha Muth and Ian Muth

00:12 My name is Ian G music. I am 37 years old the date today is April 27th 2006. I located in Austin, Texas and I am the husband of

00:32 Martha news

00:37 I am are the Muse my age is 46. It is April 27th 2006 at the Thursday and it's actually a beautiful day today.

00:50 We are at the Bob Bullock Museum or I should say the Bob Bullock Texas history museum in Austin, Texas and my relationship to the interviewer is I am his wife.

01:07 So if you don't know who you are, where were you?

01:13 Born, where were you born?

01:16 I was born in Houston, Texas. I think at St. Luke's hospital. But if you want verification on that, you should ask Clara Baldwin cuz she was born there to grab in Dallas for the most part for the most part. Well, yeah, cuz I moved out I family moved Allison I from Houston when I was about to or something. I don't really remember that. So what were your earliest memories of growing up in Dallas?

01:47 My earliest memories of growing up in Dallas would be living on wild Valley Drive.

01:53 And sometimes I'm not sure if these memories are more from looking at old pictures, but I remember my brother Paul and I was just a year older than me we were going it was at Christmas time and we were going someplace with some other little friends to see some Christmas thing and we were waiting for them to come get us and I had on my favorite little plaid skirt a little white shirt and we were just kind of looking at the tree and looking at ornaments I think but see I have a picture. My mom has a picture of me looking at the tree in that little outfit and I'm not sure how much I really remember. I think I remember some of that but I definitely remember the picture.

02:41 But I think that's pretty much my earliest memories, but you know what? I definitely remember going in my parents bathroom and watching my dad shave.

02:52 And I don't know I must have been before I guess but I do like to remember watching him shave political memories or no Oracle. Well historical my I could say my probably some of my favorite memories are family vacations when we used to take camping trips and

03:31 My parents had a tent camper that we pull behind the car and we just travel for a month in Camp and travel all around the US and we'd go to national parks and and National historic sites and all that kind of stuff and those were great memories and I think it must have been because the memories were so good because my parents split us up so much because otherwise I'm sure we would have tore each other's head off. So why did your parents split you up on these trips? Because we didn't like each other. We were probably 10 and 11 or something. I guess maybe even younger when we started these trips cuz we did him for about five years and then we play well hated each other in as time went by. Kind of worse, but

04:26 When we go on these trips, we had a Buick LeSabre 4-door car and mom made this cover to go around the seat of the front seat and it had slots in it so that we could put books and games in the slot and there were books and games for the front seat and books and games for the backseat. And so each of us had our own things to do in all sat in the front seat and I sat in the back seat and the next day we switch and I get the front seat in the back seat. So that way we don't have to sit next to each other and we didn't have to fight so that probably made vacations really nice for my parents and there's a story about what happened what happens at the end of the holiday holiday right at the end of the vacation whoever was in the front seat. Like if I were in the front seat when we finish that vacation mom had to make a note that the next year the first day of that next trip. Paul would be in the front.

05:26 Or a big fight with breakouts

05:31 When did Paul and I quit hating each other when Paul went into junior high and kind of all the sudden we became friends and I think it was because being in junior high, he started making different friends and from the hood come to the same Junior High from different elementary schools. And I think two at that time I was certainly interested in boys and he would bring over these new friends of his and I would start thinking that boy is kind of cute. Who is he?

06:01 So I kind of found all changed when he was in junior high and then the next year when I went into junior high we started getting along and it's been great ever since luckily. So we'll see. How would you describe your childhood? Then I would describe my childhood as a good childhood a happy one in general, you know, it's kind of funny because I don't really remember a whole lot of it, which maybe that means there is one part that have been blacked out for reasons, which I really don't believe but

06:42 No, I would certainly say my childhood was a good one night. I remember having lots of friends and lots of friends in the neighborhood little girl friends go and play with like Cheryl Hall. He lived a couple of house sister couple blocks away. And and that Andi Mack is he lived around the block from her and then a little girl named be offered lived a few houses down from us so I can ride your little bikes all around then we brought a little bikes all around the neighborhood and that was always fun. Yeah, they were pretty many kids in my neighborhood. So your parents. Oh, yeah, like my parents.

07:21 Because some well Dad was always easy because he was mom was the disciplinarian. So he got in trouble by dad. You knew you really were in trouble. And if he said he was going to spank you you knew it really wasn't going to hurt. But if you got in trouble by Mom, that's fine spanking may hurt a little more but I don't really recall getting in trouble all that much except for the one time that I ate about a half a bottle of children's Aspirin because they tasted really good.

07:51 But I got in trouble cuz I could didn't confess to it and my cousins were there. I think my cousins Barbara and Robert were in town from Florida and my mom discovered that there is a empty bottle almost a children's aspirin and I didn't weren't empty that long ago and they asked us all who ate them and everyone said I didn't do it. I didn't do it including me.

08:13 And so they made us all drink tons of water to flush your stomach out, but I really don't even remember. I don't remember getting in trouble at all for that. So who are your parents then my parents are Arison and McDaniel mom grew up in Oklahoma and Dad grew up in Itasca, Texas.

08:45 And what's your mother's maiden name her? My name is Wentworth and Wentworth McDaniel. So did your dad do my dad is now a retired Presbyterian Minister and he also is a psychotherapist and he still does a little bit of therapy work but not really that much. I think he's got a few lingering clients, but not that much anymore since he's 81 years old.

09:17 He will he was Austin College in Sherman, Texas, and then he went to Austin Seminary at the University of Texas.

09:29 And what churches was he at? Well, I don't remember all of them. But I know that when we first moved to Dallas he was with Northridge Northridge Presbyterian church. And then we move from there to University Park where I really have memories of my childhood growing up. He was at Highland Park Presbyterian and then he and a gentleman named Hank hunt left Highland Park Presbyterian and started their own church called the community of reconciliation church, and he did that until his retirement. Well that was a house church, and then they actually met at our house house church meeting. They don't have a designated church, so they met at our house for a long time and then they started meeting it in a room at Ursuline Academy in Dallas.

10:29 School teacher taught second grade until she married dad and then quit working. Should never have to see the inside of a school again and

10:41 Until Dad started this new house church, and I guess the money was getting a little tight and Mom had to go back to teaching school much to her dismay, but she ended up teaching for I don't know another shoot 10-15 years, I guess.

10:57 So you said your mother was from Oklahoma your dad's from Texas. So when your parents met they met in Dallas, and I know that they met through the church basically cuz Mom was supposed to turn into and she went to some church and Dallas and then Dad was at another church and

11:25 I guess people had said to her out. Do you need to you should go meet fares McDaniel? And she said well, there's McDaniel. I know Ferris McDaniel because Mom's older brother forest and dad were in Austin, together and my mom and dad are about six and a half years difference in their age. So when Mom was younger when she was a girl she would go visit her brother at Austin College and she met dad there, but she didn't I don't think she really thought anything about him because he was an older than her and she was in junior high and he was called boy.

12:03 So they're both Presbyterian which obviously back then was a good thing. But your dad was texting so when they got married was that a problem that your mother was an Okie. Wow, I don't know we try to keep it under live at mom is an Okie and not a text. And now I'm just kidding. No, I think it's probably good that they're the same religion.

12:28 I didn't and I don't think I caused any problem. Okay?

12:35 Now and then so you moved from Dallas and you went to college.

12:43 Went to college in San Marcos Texas State University, which is now Texas State University Meridian years because it's because it's the party squirrel and that certainly did happen and I think that I never declared a major until going into my fourth year, even though no no because I've been in school going on for years and I just decided it was about time I declared some well. I knew I was going to be taking psychology and I basically taken all the courses. I just hadn't actually declared anything cuz I always knew all these people that we declare major and then they get into it and they decided they didn't like it so they change their major and I thought well, I'm just not going to declare anything. I thought so so no, it was until my fifth year of college that my father asked me if I was going to be great.

13:43 Wedding soon enough question. A question, so I thought I'd better wrap it up.

13:55 So so then you when you got out of college went back to Dallas hung out with your college friends after college. Actually. I stayed in San Marcos and just lived and worked for another semester just because I didn't know what I wanted to do and all my friends were still there. A lot of them haven't graduated yet. So I just stayed living with my roommate, Julie and

14:24 Work and then when Julie graduated that next semester we decided that we wanted to go to Europe to go backpacking. So that's why we each moved home. I moved out and she moved to Houston so that we could we just got jobs waiting tables. And so we save money to go backpacking in Europe next year.

14:45 So that's what ultimately brought me back to Dallas cuz I figured I'd moved Austin or something ever did happen. Then I decided that not that I'd had enough of that, Texas, but I'd had enough of Dallas and I was just ready to do something different.

15:10 I just I was tired of living there though. I absolutely love my neighbors John and Claire I needed to get away and do something different. So I figured while it was just me and my cat Paul Newman Paul Newman, and I packed it up and move to Boston.

15:32 And and then you were living in Boston working there. What were you doing? I was being a travel agent, which I had been in Dallas for seven years up at this point. So I knew it would be easy for me to get a job and

15:52 Thought but I had gone up to and I had one girlfriend my old roommate Julie that I live with at the end of college. She was living up in Boston because Julie got a job with the Hyatt and she was transferred to Cambridge. So Julie was the one person I knew cuz I didn't really want to move there. If I didn't know one single soul that I knew Julie and I have gone up one weekend just to visit and see what Apartments will I can see what jobs were like and I actually ended up getting a job that weekend cuz I went on a couple of job interviews and ended up getting a job. So that was really lucky that I had one before I actually moved.

16:33 So, yeah, so I moved to Boston in beginning of September. Actually, I got up their Labor Day of 1993.

16:44 Oh, I was very sad to leave Dallas. Well, of course, I do myself a big party and but then the morning that I left Mom and I I rented a budget truck or something and U-Haul truck and loaded all my stuff in it and Mom drove with me up to Boston and we left early in the morning and John and Claire were out there. Actually, I slept at John and their couch because my house is empty and and Cheryl came over and Cheryl and Claire and I stood in the street and cried and John said they're going okay girls. Come on. Come on.

17:27 So we cried and I was sitting there waving to them from the mirror in this big U-Haul truck this with tears streaming down my eyes and I think I was wiping away tears the whole way over to Mom and Dad's to pick up Mom and and then Mom and I took off for for Boston by way of Alabama to visit him them.

17:53 So then you were living in Boston working there made some new friends. Oh, yeah Boston, but I was real lucky to cuz Julie for the first year for 2 years. I really hung out and it was good to the first year. I hung out a lot with Julie and became friends with her friends at the Hyatt and that was lucky because it takes a little bit to to make friends at a new job and stuff. But then it my new job ended up becoming very good friends with Becky Cole.

18:32 And I will never forget when I first met Becky the first week that I started at my new job. Becky was just getting back from kind of taking some time off from separating from her husband. So she was in the middle of a divorce and was crying constantly and I just remember thinking of this poor girl. She just she's got bags under eyes all the time and you can't stop crying but once you got over her separation or divorce and everything and we just became such good friends in is a good thing. She had me and we still remain friends today as you know, so and then we became and we became friends at a good time because Julie was then transferred to a Hyatt in La so she moved out to the West Coast.

19:31 So then I had that Becky and I became very good friends and we hang out all the time and especially on Sundays watch football and drink beer.

19:43 And then so then so you're living in Boston and I need to stick a non come to the late 90s and you're flying home for Christmas and what?

20:01 It was December actually depress the story on I had tickets to fly home for Christmas on December 22nd.

20:12 Put no December 24th. I was supposed to fly home on Christmas Eve December 24th.

20:18 And my mom was looking at the copy of the ticket that I had emailed her and she said to me cuz I was flying from Boston to Chicago in Chicago to Austin and she said

20:31 Are you sure you have enough time in Chicago? It doesn't look like you have very much time. You're far from and I said, oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm sure I do I said but you know what? I don't have my ticket to hear when I get to work in the morning. I'll check it and this was on the 22nd that she asked me about this that evening and I didn't have my ticket cuz I would have had it in the computer at work.

20:53 So I said oh, yeah, and I'm thinking Mom. What does she know? I'm a travel agent. I know about my ticket. So I got to work the next morning and looked at my reservation and sure enough there had been a schedule change that I hadn't even noticed and I had a 15-minute connection time in Chicago and on the 24th of December in Chicago O'Hare that's not going to happen. So I called United and check to see cuz this is two days for Christmas and flights are sold out and and their item called United to find out what I needed to do and they said well, there's nothing available on the 24th. But if you can fly out tonight we can get you on a flight tonight.

21:39 And I check with my manager real quick. And I said yeah, that's fine. Go so I scheduled myself to take this flight. I don't know. It's probably around 5 ish PM, I guess on the 23rd of December.

21:53 So I left work and earn in the afternoon and went home to pack cuz I would certainly wasn't packed yet and went to the airport and got on the plane. And of course it's hacked because it's the 23rd of December and I had an aisle seat in the plane is almost full. I mean, it's there getting ready to close the doors because the plan is basically full and nobody was sitting in the center. There was a girl on the window and there's nobody sitting in the center. So you're a big-time. I get a sector C and all of a sudden I look up and there's this late passenger who is walking down the aisle and he has so much stuff in his arms. It's incredible. I understand that you can't check everything in.

22:50 And then I looked at the seat next to me and I thought oh, no, he's going to sit next to me.

22:58 Ensure enough he came and sat next to me, which ended up being you.

23:06 And I had to get out of my seat because you had so much stuff with you. You're so helpful as I found out later. You didn't check anything was running late.

23:19 And you are going to Canada for Christmas for two weeks and you didn't and you had presents with you including a Christmas cake or something and you didn't check anything and I had to get out of my seat and help you just put stuff is anywhere we could in the overhead bin and I think I put some of your stuff under my seat and I think even for a time I had to stand on my feet you are so helpful.

23:49 So yeah, so then we got you all organized.

23:55 And I guess I said that things kind of calm down because the plane I guess we backed off backed away from the gate and you don't remember. Yeah, you had your mind you were into your magazine and I was kind of tired and planes when they take off they always put me to sleep just kind of that motion of the airplane. So I kind of took a little snooze I think and then now this was 1998. So it's back in the days when they still serve food on airplanes and they were starting to serve food and I noticed that you were sitting in the center seat. You're trying to see what was what they were serving. And you said can you believe they're serving turkey?

24:47 I want to do like what the hell you talking about? And then I thought oh, yeah, it's two days before Christmas for all getting ready to eat turkey out the water and they're serving Airline turkey for our dinner and I said with mashed potatoes and stuff and I said, oh my God, you're right. And I guess that was that kind of broke the ice for us because after that we just chatted the whole way and laughed I remember laughing the whole way to Chicago.

25:28 And then and then we got to Chicago and that's right. And then we got to Chicago and of course our plane was delayed and your connection was a much tighter Connection in mine and you weren't I was pretty familiar with O'Hara but I don't think you were that much and cuz I gave you directions on how to get to your flight. And of course we came into one terminal and you were going out of the other so you had to go down the escalator and all the way down that underground anything and back up the escalator again in I was I think I was saying okay go down there and I just remember seeing you run. I think you might have turned back and way if there's something in that time.

26:12 And then I had to go down there too, but I didn't have a tight connection. So I was taking my time and then I guess it ended up that your flight was delayed and I ended up running into you because you were looking for a bathroom and I was looking for my gate. So we got a chance to chat a little bit more again then.

26:38 You gave me your email address, which was very smart on your part to do no phone numbers were exchanged just and I didn't give you my email or phone number. You just gave me your email which is really smart. So very settled because that meant it was up to me to contact you if I was interested and it's much easier nowadays to send an email then pick up the phone and say hi. This is Martha. Do you remember me?

27:15 So that was good.

27:20 What were you thinking when you give your email address? Well, I had I had just moved to New England myself. So I didn't I didn't know anybody and I'm being from Canada. I was living in Newport Rhode Island and or just somebody who's going to give me a tour Boston, so I thought perfect.

27:49 Allen sci-fi or in a best-case scenario a girlfriend and then so that's why I decided but then I thought giving a phone number was a little too for now, but I thought it an email like you was a little safer because you know, you're not having to just cold call Bob which is a little nerve-wracking things you did.

28:21 So we had Christmas we both I have Christmas in British Columbia. You had Christmas back in Texas. We got back to New England and then I guess I even told me that you were going to be gone for a couple of weeks. So I guess I waited for 3 weeks and I emailed you and I think I just sort of asked how your Christmas was. I can't really remember if I said, this is Martha from the airplane. I don't think I did because you were a slightly confused for a minute. There were two when I first emailed you okay, but yeah, I emailed you and just asked how Christmas was and that kind of stuff and I guess you emailed me back button myself up Noel not quite yet. Your first email was just saying Oh Christmas was good blah blah blah.

29:21 How was yours? I got a positive response back and then when I emailed back and I don't remember what the second email, mr. Lee was but then when you email back then you quickly invited yourself at 7. I came up to Boston on Saturday and you cannot during the day because we were doing we're going to do the touristy thing in Boston and my neighbor Kate I lived in a four family house upstairs and Kate the Kayla Kayla living upstairs in what state was upstairs 2 on the other side and I knew what you looked like, but you know, I'd been about 4 weeks or so and

30:09 You just have to kind of remember what a person looks like. And so and I've been telling Kate that I couldn't really exactly remember. So we are both tearing out our windows and then you drove up.

30:26 So then we went out on that first date. We did the tourist stuff in Boston to the what's the

30:36 The place where two for clam chowder house and started dating.

30:44 And then your 1-year Visa ran out. So you decided to move in with my persuasion moved in with me for a few months and then decided to move to going to go back to Canada to Toronto to look for a job in that lasted two weeks before I found you at my doorstep when you proposed.

31:13 And then we got so I proposed and then before that when you left to go to Toronto, are you intending to I mean, what was brought you to that my intention was to go back was like if I hadn't met you I was going to go back to British Columbia because that's where I was from and that's for my family and friends because you were in Boston. I was going to just go to Montreal train English-speaking and then so yeah. I was just going to move back there if we would date long distance relationship and then maybe eventually we get married but I got up there and then I was talking to my friend Martin and then the conversation America came up and I thought what the hell

32:12 So that I decided I was in I left but I was gone two weeks, but I was only really in Toronto for the weekend and that's what I've decided and turn right and surprise you on your doorstep. You did surprise me on your doorstep and I also like the fact that when you proposed

32:35 You instead of having a ring or anything you had a bottle of champagne.

32:46 It was it was very good actually and then and then we got married on got married on September 9th 2001 in Newport Rhode Island. It was beautiful.

33:04 And when we get married exactly at Castle Hill at the lighthouse in my dad perform the wedding for us and it was just our mediate Families my brother gave me away and it was my parents your parents my brother and sister-in-law your sister my cousins your cousins. And that was it. What were there about 24 people will and we did have for Crashers we had ham bone and Lisa and Bill and Barbara butcher is the official Crashers of the wedding, but that was fun, too.

33:38 That was good. And so that was a beautiful day, but it was interesting because two days later was September 11 and your sister Nancy ended up spending the whole week but with us cuz she couldn't get back to Calgary September 11th weird. It was very weird. He's falling away.

34:06 Did you know what it happened? Yeah, we we had fun we found out that morning. It happened because we were getting up and we were married on Saturday.

34:19 And no we are married on Sunday and it happened on Tuesday morning. So two days after we got married in the morning we were waking up just to go to breakfast at yeah, we kind of well the first we didn't realize what happened while we went downstairs and the woman we are waiting for table for breakfast in the woman said have you seen the TV and we said no and she said yeah two planes went into the World Trade Center and I thought two planes there was a little surreal because you didn't realize it was a what it was at the time. You only realize later what you were saying and feeling so weird and then breakfast you remember the TVs were on in the bar next to the some people were rather, and other people were there was one woman who is just really panicky and crying and we still didn't

35:19 The grass for the whole thing and we're wondering you know why she's upset and then she was upset with her husband because my husband me there's nothing we could do and even then I remember on the news and the TV there were saying the first Tower is going down and I would just thought how can a tower go down that's impossible and we finish breakfast and went up to our room and turn on the TV right when the second tower was coming down and that was just the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen.

35:57 But yeah, I mean, I guess nobody was out because everybody was probably glued to the TV all day, but we so we went over to your cousins and they wanted to go boating so we went boating and it was very odd, but I found out it was it was that here this huge on this huge terrorist attack mass destruction and death but we were out sailing around for us it was because nothing was moving around there was no there is literally no people out. There is no boats. There was no airplanes no cars Harley and so it was actually quite a peaceful Serene day and we certainly talked about what was happening while we were all together, but

36:48 Yeah, cuz they were explaining it to the kids to their the cousin's kids that it was weird. It was just a weird week.

36:59 So yeah, it's quite a week with getting married and having that event. I mean after our wedding, so it was the wedding was wonderful fabulous. Actually that wasn't it at all.

37:18 Are events that was good in the reception at the errands that your cousins had on their deck the sun setting over the water with beautiful. That was fun and reassessing. Actually everybody sang me a lot of singers that was very fun. And then we started I guess a couple of years later we decided to look for a house realize it Boston wasn't going to happen the other way too expensive and ended up an Austin. So do you like it here? That's good. I'm very happy. We moved here to Texas close by to it is so Texas to Stephanie unique

38:13 Texas is unique.

38:17 So as everything else.

38:21 You want to say?

38:25 Gosh

38:27 Thanks for asking me to marry you and thanks for moving Austin with me more years. Yeah.