[JWBear]

After Boston George was sent to Tonawanda N.Y. to study Oxygen Generation. I went with him and we rented a bedroom in a private residence. He was on substance, which meant he had to pay his own rent and food and the Navy would give him money to cover said bills. Well great in theory but not in practice. Someone lost the paperwork and time went by, and no money arrived. We were behind in our rent (thank goodness the landlord understood our problem and did not kick us out) but we had a bit of a problem about food so we budgeted ourselves to one hamburger a day. We figured that was the most nourishing thing for the money. Asking our parents for money was out of the question.

When the check finally arrived from the Navy we went out and had a big dinner and to top it all off, we had a hamburger.

After that George went to two more schools in Cambridge, Mass. and Moffet Field in Calif. and I went home pregnant with our second child.

After his schooling was over he was sent to the Navy Yard, in Mare Island, Calif. where he waited to be shipped overseas. He waited and waited and still no orders but they kept him busy doing things, like shore Patrol in San Francisco.

Meanwhile back on the home, front I moved into a old farmhouse in Union Center. It was divided into two apts. An older couple lived in the other apt. when I moved in but soon they moved closer to town. Another girl in the same position as I was, moved in (two babies and husband in service). She only lasted a few months and disappeared (her things were still there when I moved months later). I couldn't blame her, I had a coal stove for heat and the bathroom was out back. When it got real cold my car refused to start and the water lines would freeze. About this time I had my second daughter; Georgianna was born on
Dec.8 1944.

In Jan. we had a blizzard so bad that everything in the house froze, as usual the car refused to start and the phone lines were down, so I packed the baby on a sled and we walked to my in-laws about a mile away and stayed there until it was over.

Later that month friends of ours told me that they were going to Calif. He had been discharged from the Army and had been offered a job out there. They asked, “did I want to go with them”? After talking with George's mother and sister, who were staying there with her baby while her husband was in the Army, I decided to go with them. I knew the children would be well cared for. I made arrangements with Charlie, who owned the local grocery store, to cash my Navy check for them. He was a good friend who did things like saving bananas for my baby when they were impossible to find.

So it was off to Calif. with Norma and Frankie:

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