Scene 8

Scene Eight...Thanksgiving, 1945
Time: 2:00 PM, Thursday, November 22, 1945
Place: Robertson's home
Storyteller: Janet

That sounds like a motorcycle. I race Betty to the front door. William's in the driveway, holding a colorful bouquet.

Dad strides by us, reaching our guest first. "Are those flowers for me, young man?"

Nervous laugh. "No sir; your wife."

"She's in the kitchen with Lucy. You haven't met our golden yet. Come in."

The French doors are open to the back porch and pool. Maybe I'll take a swim later. Paul's outside, behind the bar. I scurry his direction and hop onto a stool. "Sloe gin and coke, please."

"Nope." He puts a cherry coke on my coaster.

We're no longer alone. The boss tells Paul to make Mom a Whisky Sour.

"No, Harry. Club soda. I'd rather eat my calories than drink them, especially today."

"Make that two club sodas." William places his order.

"Where's Doris?" Dad looks at Mom.

"At the hospital with Doc, per usual."

"They'll probably both work on Christmas, also," says Dad.

"Oh, is that because she's Jewish?" I ask.

Paul replies, "No, her grandma, mother, and brother were Jewish, but Doris is Lutheran, like her dad."

So that's why we never see her at church.

Betty calls us from the dining room, "We're ready! Say a prayer Daddy, then carve the turkey."

The food is scrumptious, but conversation is boring until it drifts into Hollywood actresses.

William really livens things up, "That's it! Betty looks like Donna Reed."

Dad disagrees, "No, she looks like my Ardmore, Pennsylvania Dogwood Queen, 1915.

Mom blushes.

My turn, "I look like Rita Hayworth."

Dad disagrees again. "Nonsense. She's a dancer. Has red hair, too. You're a blond."

"But when I become a  Rockette, I'll dye it red, just like Rita does."

Everyone laughs except me.

Dad switches to his favorite subject, college. "William... so you went to University of Virginia. Fine school. I had my heart set on going there, but the folks had other ideas. Father taught at Princeton, but it doesn't have a law school, so they insisted on Penn...to keep an eye on me. Good thing, too, or I wouldn't have met Lois." He grabs her hand.

She blushes again.

Dad's on a roll. "In January, Paul starts pre-law at U.M."

"Pre-nothing. I'll take required classes til the engineering department opens in '47. Anymore mashed potatoes in the kitchen?"

"You can't join my law firm with an engineering degree."

"You're not listening, Dad. I'm not Sam!" Paul jumps to his feet, then stares at his big sister. "I'm sorry, Betty. I'm so sorry." He leaves. We can hear him gas his truck and peel down the back alley.

Betty looks pale. She turns to William, beside her, and gasps for air. "Sam was planning to join Daddy's firm. Sam is...Sam was...my fiance. He died at the Battle of Midway. He was on the Yorktown when it sank."

I thought William was reaching for a hanky, but instead he removes his wallet. Takes out a picture. He says, "Here. You can keep this."

Betty takes the photo. "It looks like Eleanor Roosevelt, in front of a ship."

"Yes, my dad and I went to watch her Christen the Yorktown. April 4, 1936; Newport News, Virginia. It says so on the back.

Betty faces him. "If you're through eating, want to go for a walk?"