Life with George

[JWBear]

I mentioned awhile ago that my mother has started writing the story of her life with my father. She's spinning a fascinating look at life in small town New york state in the 30's, and the home-front during WWII.

Would anyone be interested in me posting them here?

[DreadPirateRoberts]

yes

[Kevy Baby]

No

[wendybeth]

Yes. I love reading about that era, and my family is from a small town in upstate New York so it would be even more interesting to me.

[Not Afraid]

Absolutely!

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Indeed, please!

[JWBear]

Ok... You asked for it!

Life with George

My daughter Bobbie gave us a voice recorder and wanted her dad and me to record our life. We never seemed to get around to it, and talking into a machine is hard to do. I know it is easier to put my thoughts on the computer so here goes:

I first heard of George from my girlfriends. They said he was cute and had curly hair I was not impressed as I had my eye on another boy named Don. Fortunately he did not have his eye on me; and as it turned out he ended up getting married four times that I know of.

I finally met this new boy at a box social. (A box social is an event put on by a group to raise money for their cause; I think this one was the Future Farmers of America). The girls pack a decorated shoe box with food and the boys bid on a box and eat dinner with the girl who brought it. No, George did not buy my box. But he did offer to take me home. So a dynasty was started.

The Courtship:
We had a lot of fun; most of it didn't cost a dime. Ice skating on ponds or creeks nearby. Impromptu parties at someone’s home or yard. Parents were always there. One night a group of us gathered on a dirt road and square danced under the moon.
One of our friends would call the dances and another, who couldn’t walk, played his guitar. In the winter we played basketball in the grange hall. We just divided up whoever was there and played until we were tired. Not very organized but fun.
Of course none of us was old enough to drive so we walked or stayed home.

When George was old enough to drive we went to a real dance hall every weekend. The first year he had to have an adult in the car to drive so his mother would go with us. She would sit in the car during the dance and wait for us. We always had a car load, his sister and as many friends as we could get in.

Neither one of us had a phone, so we used his sister Dorothy to deliver messages from school. (George had quit school shortly before I met him because his mother would not sign for him to play football, a decision he always regretted.)

Next; I’m stood up!!!!!

[JWBear]

Part two:

About a year after we were "going steady" I was invited to a formal dance and George agreed to take me. The big night arrived and I was ready and waiting. I waited and waited and waited but he never show-up for the big event. I was crushed as only a teenager can understand. Remember, no phone in either household and it was the weekend so I would not be able to find out what happened until Mon.
When I went to school on Mon. Dorothy told me that George and his friend Don had been arrested and spent that night in jail. I thought that would be the end of this boyfriend because, when my father heard about it, I would be forbidden to see him again.

Later I leaned that George's mother had bailed both of them out when Don's parents had refused to bail him. The fact that he was one of ten or eleven children was the reason as they just couldn't afford to. (I think.)

Small towns are a great place to grow up in. Yes everyone knows all your business but they keep an eye on you and are ready to help when needed. My father had heard about it early as he played poker with the police chief at the American Legion building. They must have gotten a laugh over the scare those kids had when they were locked up with a drunk and other unsavory characters.
Neither one of them ever got into trouble with the law again.

The reason they were arrested you ask?
They were picking up scrap iron to sell for pocket money and had the misfortune to find some near the IBM building when caught. Yes the same company George worked for later for forty years.

After that they both got jobs and worked for a living the rest of their lives.

[JWBear]

Part three:

Dating improved with George working. We were able to do more things like a movie once in awhile, a hot pie (pizza to you) or a pig sandwich (pork barbecued on the premises served on a roll with a delicious sauce). I can still taste them.
We were also able to venture farther, on day trips. Rochester to see the Lilacs, A beach at Lake Erie, and even into Canada once when my sister was at the Thousand Islands with a friends family, of course we always had a carload of friends along including his sister and one of mine.

I must tell you about the car George and his friend acquired. They turned up one day with a very old clunker painted red, white and blue. You never knew if you were going to get where you wanted to go, or if you were going to get back. I've spent a lot of time by the side of the road while they fixed a flat tire. It lasted just long enough, until they could afford a newer, old car.

Of course Sunday nights were for Epworth League (church youth group). George discovered if he wanted to see me then, he would have to go to their meetings.

During the winter months he would come to my house in the evenings and we would play Monopoly. I worried about him driving home, as he had to go up a steep dirt road that was not heavily traveled (Twist Run Road) I could see the top of that hill from my house so he would blink his lights when he reached the top so I would know he had made it safely.

On December 7th we were in the car either heading for a movie or just got out and heading home, when over the car radio we heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. At that point our world, as we knew it, was turned upside down.

[lashbear]

This is really good !!