"I saw the haggiest looking hag...."

October 17, 1953

Went to Regensburg this morning sightseeing.  R. is about the oldest town in Bavaria – 100 B.C.  It was Roman at first.

Went to St. Peter’s Cathedral – oldest in Bavaria (I believe this is also what’s referred to as the Regensburg Cathedral).  Some parts date back to 1100.  The stained glass windows over the main altar were done in 1400.  Very beautiful on the outside – 2 openwork spires.

Went to the Rathaus but it was closed as was the Museum and the Princes’ Palace (probably the Palace of Thurn and Taxis, which also has 2 museums).  Wandered around and the town was fascinating.  Bought 2 pictures – Hummel pictures – very cute.  [Mother was an absolute NUT about Hummels.  She brought back several and, when I went to Germany, she gave me money to buy even more!]

Ate lunch at Hotel National – very nice, good food, and grand people.

October 18, 1953

Went to church here and then to the game – Unicorns vs. Munich Broncos.  We won 49-0.  Those boys can really “motor”.  It was an exciting game although the score didn’t indicate it.  The Broncos weren’t very good sports and we almost had some fireworks a couple times.  [Must have been like those Dookies!  LOL]

         Went to the movie tonight per usual – “Pick Up on South Street” (A pickpocket unwittingly lifts a message destined for enemy agents and becomes a target for a Communist spy ring.  Stars Richard Widmark, Jean Peters and Thelma Ritter).

October 26, 1953

Friday afternoon we caught the train to Heidelberg and got there about 1 o’clock.  The billeting office didn’t have but 2 singles in different hotels so we stayed in a pension – Hans Jagerman Pension.  The bed didn’t have a mattress – just three pillows.  Also it didn’t have a shower or bath tub.  I don’t see how these Germans stand it. [I don't know how Mother stood it.  I would have probably pitched a major fit if I didn't have a mattress, shower or bath tub.  I sure do hope they at least were able to take a whore's bath the next day.  Can you imagine how stinky they would have been??] 

Saturday morning we got up and met Barbara, Muriel and Ann.  After breakfast we went shopping.  Bought my Christmas cards, a pin, and a candle snuffer.  Then we went on a sightseeing tour.  Went to the University (of Heidelberg, founded in 1386) and the castle (Heidelberg Castle).  Saw the Church of the Holy Ghost (actually it’s the Church of the Holy Spirit) too.  It was the 1^st Protestant church here.  It used to be divided by a wall – half Catholic and half Protestant.  There are also stores built into the church all around the outside.

That night we went to the Rot Oche (Red Ox).  ‘Course there were no students there because the Univ. is not in session.  It was full of Americans.  We were told that we could get a good meal there but they had quit serving by the time we got there.  So we ordered sandwiches.  I got 3 slices of Swiss cheese and 3 slices of bread and butter.  First time I have ever ordered a sandwich and had to make my own!

There was a whole gang of us at our table and we sang all the songs we knew.  Well, were called down several times for making too much noise.  Of all things to happen in the Red Ox because I had always heard how rowdy it is.  Macht nichts (roughly translates to “whatever”), we had fun.  [Sounds like the beginnings of Mother's quest to hit every bar and gasthaus in Europe!]

Sunday morning we went to the Victoria to eat and ran into Julia Fowler and Evelyn Palmer.  I had forgotten they were there.  Then we went up to the Civilian Club for dinner.  It was way up on the hill and had a beautiful view.  The food was grand.  I don’t see how people travel over here as tourists.  I couldn’t stand eating only German food day in and day out.  [LOL - that's part of the charm of traveling, eating local food!  Clearly she was looking for an American adventure in foreign lands....]

Then we got the train back Sunday afternoon.  When we changed in Wurzberg we got in a compartment with the haggiest looking hag.  [Oh my!  That was pretty mean, Mother!]  Another woman got on too.  Then they started talking to us.  You should have seen that because they were speaking German and we were speaking English, but they got out their German to English book.  Usually it’s the other way around.  We found out that the hag is a teacher in Regensburg and the other lives in the Russian zone of Vienna but works in the American zone.  Then they admired my clothes and my raincoat kit.  This took about 4 hours.  [4 hours to admire her clothes and raincoat kit?!?]

Then tonight we had some hot games of doubles in ping pong with Capt. Rainey, Bob LaFord and Jim Ashworth.  Played until 2300!  Sho’ was fun.

Most of the time we ride 3^rd class and that is when we meet all the Germans who can’t speak English!  [Um, duh, Mother, you're in Germany - what do you think they'd speak? ;-)]  Our conversations are really something!

October 27, 1953

Our principal finally came – Bernie Huntley. So far he seems very nice.

Gen. Garbin is here. It is top secret but he is going up to the border boar hunting.  I am determined to go to Egypt Christmas even if I have to go by myself.

October 29, 1953

Spent the night in town with Pat Clark. Played bridge at Juanita Irwin’s with Valloy Butler.

         Tonight was the Halloween party at school. Went off pretty well. [I found this interesting, because it's my understanding that they don't celebrate Halloween in Europe the way we do in the States. But I guess since it was an American base, you still celebrate the American holidays.  Maybe Mother dressed up as a teacher.]

Going to Nurnberg to see Dink tomorrow.

November 1, 1953

Today was the day that the boys could put on civies, and you should have seen them – especially in Nurnberg.

Went up to Nurnberg yesterday morning on the Zug. Barbara and Muriel met me and we went shopping. I got a cup and saucer that are Musser in an antique shop down near the old city. We also saw the figures come out on the front of one of the churches at 1200. They bowed to the king. [I saw something similar to this when I was in Madrid.  It was at a hotel and was essentially a clock.  Everyone stopped to watch.  It was amazing!]

Then I met Dink and John. We went to the game (we won the conference), and then came home and had dinner. Then we went to a party at the Montieth Club. Afterwards we came home, drank coffee, and talked until the wee hours.

This morning we came down in our pj’s and had breakfast – the first time since leaving home. Went to the Kalb Club for dinner. Then went home and sat around and chatted. Then caught the train back tonight with Alice. That was the roughest ride I have ever had!

Had a grand time. It sho’ was good to talk to somebody who talked like I do and could talk about the same things and people.

They had 3 of the cutest children. I loved playing with them. 

November 2, 1953

Went to the stage show at the theater tonight. A couple of things in it were fair. The people were all English and they certainly sound funny. But it was fun!

November 3, 1953

Took my children over to the air section this morning. Had a grand time climbing all over the helicopter and one of the planes.

Had PTA tonight. Afterwards Pat Clark, Juanita Irwin, and Alice Tiley came over and we played bridge.

This was a cold, rainy day. I wonder if this is the beginning of the bad weather.

November 8, 1953

Finally got a flu shot yesterday morning. It pays to know the nurse because they are only authorized to give it to the troops.

Yesterday afternoon Margo, Hilde and I went downtown. We just kind of window shopped and went into a couple of the churches here. They are very ornate and done all in gold. Then we went to see Springfield Rifle with Gary Cooper (Major Lex Kearny becomes the North’s first counterespionage agent as he tries to discover what’s behind the theft of Union cavalry horses in Colorado during the Civil War.) in German. ‘Course we didn’t even get the story. It looked kind of complicated.

Last night the Battalion had a dinner. Went with Bill Shaffer. Then there was an informal dance afterwards. We had a real grand time. After the dance a whole bunch of us went into town to some of the night spots. One of the places we went to was the Café-Hagen. We thought it was very nice until some German who was drunk came over and joined us – I thought they were going to have a fight especially after he threw wine on Bill and then threw another glass on the floor and started insulting Capt. LaFond. As they say, they are still Nazis at heart. A fine time was had by all. There has been a man here this week doing caricatures. He is an Italian. The pictures are wonderful. Got mine today.

November 10, 1953

Well, my camera finally came today. It sho’ does look complicated. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to work it.  [She obviously did, because she took an incredible number of pictures the rest of the time she was over there.]

Tomorrow is Armistice Day, so we get a holiday. We are going up to the border if it doesn’t snow.

It really does look like winter has set in for good – no sun.

November 12, 1953

Yesterday Margo – the nurse, Mary – the librarian, Hilde and I went up to the border. The fog was horrible all the way up and most of the way back. Once on top of the mountain we hit a beautiful stretch – the sky was blue and the sun was out. The border camp is at Regen. We picked up Sgt. Moore (Daddy? First mention of him in her diary.) here who took us on up to Eisenstein. [George said no, this was not Daddy, that he had a document that showed Daddy was an officer when he went over to Germany.  So poo.  It would have made a better story if that had not been the case.]  We went to the Bahnhof. There is a fence that runs right through the middle of it. Also there is a barrier across the tracks. The trains come in on the German side and there are people around, but there is not a lot of activity on the Czech side. All of the houses over there are empty too. Their part of the Bahnhof has a red star on top. It certainly did seem queer. You can see the fence all along the border. But we didn’t see any Red soldiers.

Then we went to the Arbersee (lake in Bayerischer Wald, Bavaria) on the way back. That is a beautiful lake near Eisenstein.

Then we went to Zwiesel (located in the Bavarian Forest) to the crystal factory. One was already closed and they had stopped blowing in the other.  The second one was packing glasses for the States.  They looked very familiar – like Woolworth things. Then we went to a brewery.  I never knew before that they cooked beer, but I do now, and it smelled horrible.  Then we went to the cellar where they cool it and age it in tremendous barrels.  And guess what!  We walked around in beer.  Have never done that before, but it was all over the floor.  [I went with my friend Dorris to the Red Hook Brewery when we were in Seattle several years ago.  We took the tour and thankfully did not have to walk around in beer.  But I do remember our tour guide telling us each of the stations we would stop at to see how they made beer and that "then we'll have a beer!"  Quite a fun trip.  I remember at one stop, she looked at me and said "you just wanna have a beer, don't you?" ;-) ]

Thank goodness Sgt. Moore speaks German like a native (this makes me laugh for some reason).

Then we went back to the border camp.  It really has rolls of barbed wire all around it.  We went into the mess hall for coffee and cookies.  That place was most fascinating too.

Then last night after the movie Ray Roth, Hilde, Art LaFond and I went to town.  Went to the Prince Al Farse and then to the Mariandel.  Had a grand time.

Sky (Art) wants to take us back up to the border Sunday.

This morning we had a EUCOM alert and everybody moved out except us. [You forget sometimes that this wasn't even 10 years post-WWII and that it was still kind of a scary time over in Europe and how close they were to the Iron Curtain.]

November 13, 1953

Went to the movie – Hans Christian Andersen (with Danny Kaye as Hans Christian Andersen) with Bill Shaffer.  Then we had to go downtown to answer roll call only nobody was there.  Went to the Mariandel a couple of times, the Prince Al Farse and the Weinstube.  He also took me to see the Donau and the Alte Donan for the first time in Straubing.

November 14, 1953

Yesterday Bill Shaffer, Byron Whiteside, and I went downtown shopping.  Then last night we all had to go in for roll call.  The place was really jumping.  Then this morning Jackie, Ray Roth, Hilde and I went up to the border again.  ‘Twas very foggy.  Went on up to the ski lift but it was rainy.  I drove part of the way home – first time since I left home.

         We all went to the movie tonight and then played some hot ping pong games.  [This also makes me laugh.  "Hot" ping pong?]

This is such a small place that when you go to town you see everyone you know.

November 15, 1953

Had to make roll call again tonight.  The town wasn’t too gay, but the ones we were with were!

November 16, 1953

Today was a beautiful sunny day all day.  This was the first pretty sunny day in about two or three weeks.

November 18, 1953

Guess what!  They had a scare up on the border yesterday right where our troops go – Rogen.  The Czech brought up 15 tanks right to the line so we sent ours out too.  This is very hush, hush.  I don’t know how many people know it even here. [I really think they should have been careful with how much information they allowed Mother to know.  She really was quite gossipy.]

When we went to school this morning there were a bunch of vehicles parked in front.  They moved out about 1100.  I don’t know whether the incident yesterday had anything to do with it or not.

November 23, 1953

This weekend was really a big one.  We played the 28^th Division here and lost 31-6.  It all started off with “crying hour” Friday afternoon.  [I'm dying to know what the "crying hour" is.  Is it the same as "happy hour"?]  Then we went to the dance here.  I went with Bill Shaffer.  Afterwards we had to go into town for “roll call”.  Then Saturday we had a buffet luncheon and went to the game.  We went with the C Co. officers.  All of the boys had to wear their yellow scarves.  That night there was a big dance too – went with Jim Ashworth.  Naturally we had to make “roll call”.  [I'm thinking that "roll call" might be code for "party our asses off".]

Sunday a bunch of us took Byron Whitesides back up to Vilseck – the Tank Training School.  Had dinner at the Officer’s Club there and then came on back through Cham – border camp for 3^rd Battalion.

You see there are 6 of us who live here – Hilde, Margo-the nurse, me and the 3 service club girls.  They don’t associate with us, so the 3 of us and the married and unmarried bachelors really have a grand time.  [That Mother - she was a wild and crazy gal! ;-) ]

Today we found out that we have reservations for Egypt for Christmas.

The Humdrum Life of an American Teacher in Germany

September 21, 1953

Took my children out to watch the 1^st Battalion move out this morning.  Very interesting.

September 22, 1953

Went over to Service Club tonight for a little while.  It is very nice and has what looks like a grand library.  Went in the craft shop and felt like I was back home – the electric saw was being used.

I have to admit that this puzzles me.  Did she typically use an electric saw for her crafts?  And just what crafts was she doing?  I remember her knitting and crocheting and doing needlepoint.  None of which involved electric saws, that I recall....

September 24, 1953

Well, we finally got our tank ride.  It was a brand new M47 – had never been run before.  We went out to the field and there he let us drive.  It certainly was thrilling.  Then I rode in the turret – sho’ is complicated looking.  I am sure that I would get the “clams” if I had to ride in one of those in combat.  Coming back, of all things, we ran out of gas and had to walk back.  It was most fascinating.

The "clams"??  That sounds sort of odd.  I don't want to think too hard about what it could mean.  I think it's hilarious that she actually got to drive a tank and then that they played around so much in it that they ran out of gas!

Tonight we went to the NCO club to a party that the personnel of the Regiment had.  It was a fine party – dinner and dancing.  Most enjoyable.  Went with the communications officer.

September 26-27, 1953

We went down to Munich yesterday morning with Jack Jernigan and Alice Quinn.  We went to the game – it was pretty good, and we won 25-13.  Then we went out to the October Fest.  That was most colorful.  It is just a great big fair – midway and all.  You couldn’t get anything to drink except beer, so….  We went in a garden and some Germans sat down with us and started talking to us.  It was a scream because we couldn’t understand them nor they us.  One of them spoke a little English because he was a PW at Bragg.  Then we went looking for an Abort.  Hilde and I had to go up to the “box office” and buy a ticket.  Then they sent us in the Herren with the men too.  Most of the other females had to stand in a line for the Damen.  I guess we were P.C.’s  They were most selective in whom they let go into the Herren.  The boys went to a free one – Pissoit.  They wouldn’t let them come in with us.

Ok, I'm not positive, but all this talk of "Abort" and "Damen" and "Herren" and "Pissoit" sounds like it's bathroom talk.  Good grief, Mother!  LOL  And you had to buy a ticket to go to the bathroom?  THAT would be the scream.  ;-)

Then we went out on the midway and rode some of the rides.  Alice won me a little beer mug shooting an air rifle.  Then we went back to the beer garden.  This time we had to stand up, so we decided to leave and go down town.  We took our mugs with us.  We went look for some place to go and ended up sitting on African drums at the Bongo Bar.  We stayed there until they had their floor show which consisted of one girl coming out and doing a dance about every 10 minutes.  Here we took a German couple in tow.  We went by several other places but couldn’t get in.  We finally ended up at the Atlantic Bar.  We ate here too.  Finally we left about 3:30.  We couldn’t get a place to stay so we decided to come on home.  On the way to the parking platz we saw a girl going to the john.  It seems that that is fairly common over here.  We saw men stopping along the highway going down.  We got here about 7:30 after stopping on the road for a while to sleep.  Then we all went to bed.  It was a wonderful trip.  Sho am glad we had some boys with us.  We certainly didn’t see many Americans at the Fest.  We really stood out in the crowd, and lost of people stopped us and tried talking to us.

More bathroom talk....  And out all night - what a floozy!!  I can't believe they just stopped along the side of the road to sleep.

Went to the movie and then a bunch of us went to the Mariandal for goulash.

September 28, 1953

We finally got paid today but we haven’t been able to cash our checks because we had to work on records.  There is an I G Inspection next week.

New way to drink – shoot oranges full of alcohol with a hypodermic.  They got one of the Sgt’s doing it.  He would be looping every day, and they couldn’t figure it out because he never had a bottle.

The woman is a party animal.  Beer at Octoberfest and now shooting oranges full of alcohol.  How come I never heard about that....

You just ought to see the men dieting over here.  They have either gotten a letter from Col. Duvall or are afraid of getting one.

September 30, 1953

Finally got our checks cashed.  Feels mighty good to have some money.

This afternoon we found out that this building was the hospital when the Germans were here.  We went down to the basement where we were told that the dead were kept, but they look more like cells.  Each room is big, has heavy doors and a peep hole.  I would not be surprised if they kept either prisoners or mental patients down there.  It’s tremendous too.

October 4, 1953

Went down to Augsburg yesterday morning for the game.  We won again.  Afterwards we ate at the Officer’s Club with Harry and Smitty – a couple of boys from the ship.  Then there was a dance there.  It was a very good one.  Their club is slightly tremendous.  The more places I go the more I realize that we really are out in the sticks!  After the dance we went to a place there called Maxim’s.  Had a very good time.

This afternoon Harry took us to Munchen – our first ride on the autobahns.  The autobahn goes from one end of Germany to the other.

We ate lunch at the Ratskeller – lots of atmosphere and good food.  There is a tremendous beer barrel in there.

The train coming back was very crowded with people going home from the October Fest.  No one around us spoke English.  It was most interesting to listen to them and watch their motions as they talked.  But one of the funniest things was one girl showing another how to drink orangeade out of a bottle.

Well, I have finally done it.  I used the men’s room by mistake.  Up until now the bath across the hall has been the ladies room, but they must have changed it while we were gone.  After I had been in there a couple of times and was taking a shower, I saw someone come in through the glass.  I thought it looked mighty big for Hilde.  Then when I came out I saw the “Gentlemen” sign up there!

I'm not convinced she didn't do it on purpose.  After all, she seems quite fascinated by bathrooms in Germany!  I think it's hilarious that she was taking a shower in the men's bathroom.

October 6, 1953

Just got back from PTA meeting.  Over here the men take over and run the PTA.

This afternoon John Fulton took us through the commissary.  It looks mighty good.

Got another pay check today.  It’s mighty nice being paid every two weeks.

Took my children to the fire department here this morning.  I know the people around here thought that the Russians were coming for sure – they sat on the sirens and bells for 20 minutes straight.

October 11, 1953

Yesterday morning we got a ride to Nurnberg with John Fulton.  Went to the PX and got some boots and shoes.  It was tremendous – just like a department store.  I really felt like country come to town.  We wandered around with our mouths open.

We had a staff car which was a Tannus.  Did we feel stupid when we tried to unlock the trunk – no lock – it is on the floor in the back seat!

When we left we didn’t exactly know the way out of town.  We rode around for about 30 minutes and thought we were really getting somewhere when we came right back to the shopping where we had started from.  Finally we got on our way.  We ran through a convoy all the way to Regensburg – they (169^th) were coming down for the Harvest Moon maneuver.  Saw lots of things that I hadn’t seen before.

We missed the game, but it really must have been something.  We won 18-13.  They had a dance here afterwards.  We went with a bunch of the married men – no bachelors!  Afterwards we went to the Mariandal for awhile.

A terrible thing happened last night.  One of the younger officers here hit a German woman and killed her.  That was bad enough for he had been partying although they say it was not his fault.  But he had just been court martialed before we came for crashing one of the planes here – drunk and with unauthorized personnel in it.  They took his wings away and are going to send him home.  I don’t think that his case had been finished.  I feel so sorry for him because they say he has really had it now.

Things are kind of popping in Trieste.  It looks like that it might be the 50 yard line here!

Went to Sgt. Tufts’ for Carolyn’s birthday.  Then had supper – vegetables too.  Then went to movie.

October 15, 1953

Spent the night in town with Pat Clark last night.  Valloy Butler did too.  Noble is out in the field for two weeks as is all of Reg. and Battalion.

This afternoon hit some golf balls and ordered some clubs.

What was she thinking?

I've often wondered what made Mother do this.  It wasn't that she was taking a year in Europe to travel and run rampant across the Continent.  She went over there to teach school on base.  From what I understand, there was a program for teachers to go to military bases in a number of parts of the world to teach.  (I will get more details about this and post them at another time.)  So was it the travel bug?  Or did she want to get away from home?  Was she tired of living under her parents' rules?  Was she afraid Amelia Ann was going to knock her down or run her over?  Or did she have "a calling"?  Hopefully these are questions I'll get answers to over time. 

I must have inherited my love of travel from my mother.  Even though later in her life, she didn’t like to go long distances or fly, which limited where she could go, she did have the travel bug and I did too.

Although, as I think about it more, I wonder if it wasn’t so much a travel bug she had as it was the desire to sightsee.  To experience whatever was out there.  When I read the diary, she certainly traveled to many places, but what she talks about more than anything is what she saw and what she experienced.  She talks about struggling to make herself understood and to get to the places she wanted to go.  She tells stories about the places where she stayed, both luxurious and bargain basement.  She recites the facts of the places she went to and tells little stories about things that enchanted her.  And there are the funny things, like the “little man” that fussed at her about the slippers in the mosque and her poopy camel.

She went on an army ship when she went to Germany.  And flew home on a cargo plane.  Not the plush accommodations or means of travel that I would choose.  But maybe back in those days and considering the fact that she was going to Germany to teach school on an Army base, those ways of getting there and back were the norm.  But I think it was because of that that she didn’t really have the desire to fly and so when she traveled it was typically by car.

I like to travel and I’ve been to Europe, to the Caribbean, to Canada, on a couple cruises, and all over the US for work travel and to visit friends.  But I’m envious that she spent a year in Germany.  With no other friends, although she made friends there, and traveled all over Europe and even to Africa and the Middle East.

My first really big trip was to Europe with my best friend.  Mother and Daddy were both excited about my going over there.  I didn’t get to see Straubing, although I realize now I was not that far away, but I did see some of the same places she did.  She mentions Berteschgaden and Garmisch, both of which I saw on that first trip.  And I did see Paris. 

I’ve had a chance to visit Corsica and Italy.  Mother didn’t go to Corsica but she did go to Florence and Venice.  I found myself crying when I realized she and I had done some of the same things in Italy and had some of the same experiences.  She also went to Madrid, which I did as well, and visited that art gallery, the Prado.  LOL

I always thought of Mother as not being very worldly and yet she traveled to places she had only read about.  Spent time with people who didn’t speak the same language she did.  Stayed in less than nice hotels as well as some that would be considered top of the line.  She experienced a lot of new things that she probably had never imagined she would.  She was in the Holy Land at Christmas and the Vatican at Easter.  Her year in Europe fulfilled a dream for her.  And now that I take in the experience she had, I’m finding that I’m envious.

My brother and his family live in France and, in many ways, they are doing what Mother did.  They are traveling all over Europe.  They’re making friends and learning what it’s like to live with people who don’t speak your language, eat your food, or do the kinds of things you’re used to.  But they can still have the connections to the US that Mother didn’t have.  There’s internet and the ability to have your home phone in Georgia ring in France, and the Slingbox that allows them to watch US TV.  Mother didn’t have those conveniences.  So it makes what she did seem more fearless and brave.

When I think back to the years I was growing up, what I remember more than most things was all the places we went to.  No matter where we went, Mother found all the historical sites and all the interesting places for us to go.

In North Carolina, we, of course, went to the beach for at least a week most summers.  Wrightsville Beach.  We saw the USS North Carolina but for the most part we played in the sand, rode our bikes to Newell’s and ate silver dollar pancakes at The Landis.  We also went to the mountains and visited places like Montreat and Cherokee, back in the days before casinos, and Tweetsie Railroad.  One of the funny stories of our childhood was our trip to Tweetsie.  In those days, a local celebrity named Fred Kirby hosted “The Little Rascals” show on Charlotte television.  He dressed up like a cowboy and my youngest brother George was fascinated by Fred Kirby.  So more than the rest of us, he was beside himself with excitement when we visited Tweetsie, where Fred Kirby also hung out.  George was a little boy then, maybe 3, so when he actually met Fred Kirby and Fred said “hi, George”, George, probably predictably, burst into tears and turned away.  I can remember my mother saying that Fred Kirby was a little surprised and shocked by George’s reaction.  We also visited places like Ghost Town at Maggie Valley and Grandfather Mountain, where they had the Highland Games.  I took Scottish dancing for a couple years when I was in junior high and loved to see the dancers at the Highland Games.

When we moved to New Jersey, I think Mother hit the mother lode of sightseeing opportunities.  We took several trips into NYC to see things like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty.  We rode the Staten Island Ferry and drove the streets of NYC looking at Christmas lights.  We went to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree.  But there were so many other places to see, many of them Revolutionary War sights.  We went to Morristown in New Jersey and to Valley Forge.  My grandmother went with us on that trip and marveled over and over that we were there on Washington’s actual birthday.  We went to Atlantic City and walked on the boardwalk and bought salt water taffy.  We drove to Philadelphia and saw the Liberty Bell and where the Declaration of Independence was signed.  We went to Gettysburg and Hershey, where we saw how they made chocolate.  We went to an Amish fair, where Mother developed her love of hex signs and where we lost Paul for a while.  He had stopped to look at something and didn’t notice us walk off.  Of course, we didn’t notice either for a bit!

We drove upstate in New York and went to West Point.  We drove to Mystic, Connecticut before Mystic Pizza was famous.  My mother’s sister, Amelia Ann, and her family lived in Boston, so we took in all the local sites we could see there.  The USS Constitution, Fanueil Hall, Paul Revere’s house, Sturbridge Village.  And when we went to see my father’s brother, Don, and his family near Baltimore, we took a day trip to Washington, DC and saw the Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and Arlington National Cemetery.  We drove by the White House, but didn't go in for some reason.

One year when we were driving home from Michigan we went by way of Montreal and went to “Man and His World”, which was what was left after the World’s Fair.  Unfortunately Mother had broken her ankle while we were in Michigan, so she missed all of that.  But the highlight of the trip was, again, George.  I was taking French in school and took great pleasure in teaching my brothers the one “bad thing” I’d learned to say – “firmé la bouche”, or “shut up”.  So we were eating breakfast at the hotel one morning and two of the waitresses were arguing.  George stood up on a chair and yelled out “firmé la bouche!  firmé la bouche!”  Fortunately they didn’t understand him, but it was funny all the same.

We went to Destin, FL for the weekend once, the only time we went to the beach anywhere besides Wrightsville.  I remember being disappointed that it was overcast, but Mother, ever the Pollyanna, said "but you can get burned out in the overcast", like that was a good thing.  If I ever develop skin cancer, I'll have her to thank for my poor sun habits.

I remember when we moved to Atlanta from New Jersey, my father told us that he would take us to Disney World.  How exciting!  And how disappointing, once we got here to find out that there was a Six Flags outside Atlanta, so they took us there instead.

I love to travel and she did as well, although I think for the most part our definitions of travel would be different.

Taking a break for Mother's Day

So today is Mother's Day.  This is the 7th year that I haven't celebrated Mother's Day with my mother.  It's hard to believe that it's been almost 8 1/2 years since she's been gone.  It's difficult not to be aware that Mother's Day is coming up, because EVERYBODY talks about it in the weeks leading up to it.  If you aren't a mother yourself, you have a mother who is alive, or you're married to a mother, or they're talking about it on TV or on the radio, and you just can't help yourself.  So it's hard to just pretend like it isn't on the radar screen, even when you want to because your mother isn't there to celebrate it with.

Maybe it's more difficult for me because I am not a mother.  Oh, I suppose I am a "mother" to my dog, but it's really not the same.  Mollie doesn't know it's Mother's Day, so I have to order the flowers for her to send to me.  Which mean nothing to her.  It makes me sad not to be able to stop by and wish my mother a Happy Mother's Day.

Mother's Day and Mother's birthday always came close to each other.  Mother's birthday is May 19, so we would often celebrate Mother's Day/Mother's Birthday and all get together one of those days, usually Mother's Day, to celebrate with her.  She didn't care about getting presents or anything, so we usually gave her cards.  And, being that we're competitive, we would always try to get the best card.  "Best" meaning the funniest or wackiest card.  One of those Shoebox cards that were so irreverent.

I've said before that my mother and I didn't have the close mother/daughter relationship that many of my friends have.  I don't think I ever considered my mother my friend, let alone my best friend.  She was not the first person I thought to talk to about man troubles or tell when I was "in love".  I didn't very often talk about the things that really mattered to me with my mother.  It wasn't that I didn't think she would care, but more because I didn't think she would understand or I thought that she would judge.

My mother was very black or white, right or wrong.  She seldom saw the shades of gray.  You were either with her or a'gin her, so to speak.  We argued a lot.  About friviolous things, like my hair or the length of a skirt or whether or not I would get my ears pierced.  And about more serious things, like who we voted for or racial prejudices.  It was hard for me to imagine living a life like my mother did or that she wanted me to live.  I didn't want to live at home until I got married.  I didn't want to be a teacher or a nurse.  I didn't want to wear my hair off my face or not wear makeup.  I didn't want to be my mother.

But these days when I consider this alternative - that my mother is gone forever - there are a lot of times when I wish she was still here to aggravate me and literally drive me up a wall.  She used to call me every day around the time I would normally get home from work.  If I was late, I had a message from her.  "I thought you'd be home by now."  I regret the fact that there were days when I didn't call her back.  We didn't usually have anything to say.  In fact, she would even say "I don't know anything, I just wanted to say hey."  I told her once that she didn't need to call and she said "I know, but I want to."  At the time, I thought she did it because I wasn't married.  She didn't do it when I was married, just when I was single and living alone.  But I've come to realize that it was more than that.  She called me because she wanted me to know she loved me and that I wasn't alone.

I would go visit her on Sundays and there were many times when I would be anxious to leave and get on with life.  When I would get up to go, she would always say "I wish you wouldn't go."  And I realize now that she was lonely.  She was a widow and she didn't have someone to talk to all day long.  She was in a wheelchair and she couldn't just get up and do what she wanted.  And after I left, she was there in her apartment, all by herself with no one to talk to and nowhere else to go.  I might still not have stayed a lot longer, and I know she knew I had my own things to do and couldn't stay forever, but I think now I understand the poignancy in her tone when she said it.

I loved my mother, even when she made me crazy, even when she embarrassed me, even when we argued.  I told her every time I saw her that I loved her.  I spent time with her almost every week.  I know that she knew I loved her, but I wish that I had taken more time to show her that.  My mother was stubborn and I can be too, something we shared.  I wish we both had been able to give a little more.

When my mother was sick, I was always scared.  I don't always feel like I did enough, because seeing her helpless and in need was not the way I knew her.  When my mother got her last diagnosis - renal failure and vasculitis - I watched her disappear.  She withdrew from everyone and everybody.  She was unhappy at being on dialysis and the stress of it sucked the life out of her.  There were times when I went to visit her when she hardly said a word.  I remember going over to see her one day and she was sitting watching a football game on TV.  When I looked to see what she was watching, it was two teams she didn't even care about.  I asked her if she wanted me to change it and she said, very listlessly, "no, it's ok".  I cried all the way home that day.  The last time I saw her she was still in her bed waiting for the caregiver to come and get her up and into her wheelchair.  When the caregiver came, I sat in the living room and wept while I hear her plead, "please, Beverly, don't, Beverly, oh, Beverly, please don't".

I went out of town that week and when I got home I found out that my brothers had started talking about moving her to a nursing home.  And while I knew it was time, I knew she didn't want that.  And I knew she was ready to go, to be with my father and my grandparents.  So I prayed, that God would take her if it was time and I said to her silently that it was ok if she was ready, that we would understand.  And early that Sunday morning, she left us.  I remember thinking that when she made it to Heaven that Daddy was waiting and she looked just like she did when she met him in Germany - young and pretty and wide open.  The way I think she always saw herself in her mind.

That's the way I want to remember her too.  Young and pretty and ready for life, wherever that would take her.  Happy Mother's Day, Mother.  I miss you.  I love you.

Readin', Writin', and Football - German style

September 8, 1953

Well, school started today.  I have 24 children and they are cute as can be.  I do believe that the little colored boy is kind of in a daze.  The little boy who speaks only German seems understand some English but the little Puerto Rican doesn’t understand a thing.  It’s going to be most interesting.  He doesn’t even understand my Spanish.  ( I think "interesting" is an understatement.)

I thought we had a lot of records to do at home, but they are nothing compared to this.  You even have to sign hand receipts for everything you get and make many copies of everything.  We have to post a schedule on our door and stick to it.

The supplies are adequate I guess but not like home.  Oh for that Eastover storeroom.  The children come at 9 and stay until 3:30.  We come at 8:40 and stay until 4.  (Such slavedrivers!)

September 9, 1953

Well we stayed until 3:30 today and was it rough.  My little colored boy is really something.  He is just a good old farm negro and doesn’t seem to be very smart.

There is another child in my room who is most peculiar.  They say “he doesn’t have all his cups in his cupboard”.  I believe it, or else he is deaf.  He also still talks baby talk.

We had our first PTA meeting tonight.  Everyone was very friendly and nice.  We had refreshments which were grand – coffee, cakes and cream puffs.

We ordered lunch from the snack bar today and it was a mess.  Nothing was right.  Now I think they are going to get a cook for the school which will be grand – hot lunches for a quarter!

September 10, 1953

Well, I got up this morning and put on a cotton dress because it was so hot yesterday.  Went down to breakfast and found out it was raining.  So changed to skirt and sweater.  It’s a good thing too, because it turned cold.  This is the first bad weather we have had, and it certainly was messy.  It sho was rough in school too.  Had to walk to school in the rain.  (It could have been walking in a foot of snow!)

We played hockey and ping pong with a couple of the bachelors tonight.  It’s something different because practically all of them are married.  (I knew she was over there looking for a man - LOL!)

September 11, 1953

Well it finally got cold today, and they turned the heat on.  It feels pretty good too.

We went to the EES beauty parlor today and had our hair cut for 40 cents.  I think she did a very nice job.  You know they have a woman barber too.

September 12, 1953

Had a ride up to Nurnberg with Jack Jernigan this morning.  In a little town not far from here we saw a stork’s nest, the only one in Bavaria.

George, somebody whom Barbara had been asked to date, took us to the game.  It was pretty good.  We won 34-0.

We saw what is now Soldier’s Field (was the Nazi Party rally grounds; the Nurnberg American HS used it for high school football and soccer from 1947 – 1955).  This is where all of the pictures of Hitler haranguing the storm troopers were made.  We also saw the Coliseum (actually was supposed to be the world’s largest stadium, modeled after Circus Maximus inRome and would have had 400,000 seats) – was to be the capitol of the world but was never finished.  We came in on the 8 lane highway that Hitler built to march the big 3 down before hanging them.  Then we went to a charming little wine cellar.  After that we ate at the Four Seasons – a very nice restaurant on the top of a building.  After dinner we went to a most fascinating and tiny beer place.  It is the Greenwich Village type – more stuff around.

I stayed in the dormitory with Mary Jane Little.

Saw Germany’s skyscraper – 14 stories high.  It’s not even finished and they are going to have to take off the top 2 floors.  They are building several modern buildings in Nuremberg.

September 13, 1953

On the way to church this morning we saw where the Nuremberg trials were held.  We went to St. Lawrence – a Lutheran church.  The service was in German, and we had to stand up.  I didn’t understand a thing except and’s and the’s.  This was a beautiful place and was terribly bombed.  Right outside is the Virtuo Fountain – water squirts out of the most peculiar places – the women’s bosoms.

Then we went down to St. Martha’s and found out that there was a service in English there.  The meister singers used to sing here.

Then we ate at a German restaurant not far from the church – very good.  After lunch we toured the old city – walled city.  It was built about 1200 or 1300.  It is simply amazing how old things are here.  (The old city was used as an ammunition depot and was really blown up.  This is the most I have seen yet.  It must have been terrible.)

We saw Hans Sachs’ house.  He wrote for the meister singers.  We also went to the castle.

          We saw many other things along the way.  It was most interesting but boy! were we tired.  I do believe that I am going to be forced to get some of those thick soled German shoes to wear on the cobblestones.  You know I feel as if I have walked over the whole of Germany already.  You really do walk here.  (You still do.  Every time I have visited Europe there is always a tremendous amount of walking.  I always feel like I get more exercise in Europe than at home!)

When we got back to Barbara’s, I called Dink and John Ware.  They came by for a few minutes.  It sho’ was good to see them.

Nuremberg is a most interesting place and we didn’t even make a dent in the places to see and things to do.  I’m going to have to go back soon.

September 14, 1953

Another horrible Monday.  Besides the road outside my window is the one to the ammunition dump and it was in constant use today.  The boys are getting ready to go out in the field for awhile.

We found out that our principal is finally on his way.  He sailed last Wednesday.  Also we are getting an extra teacher in the upper grades.

We are to have a cook of our own starting Oct. 1 and the menus look pretty good.  It sho’ will be nice.

Played bridge tonight for the first time with a couple of the boys and one of the auditors.

September 15, 1953

Well, most of the boys are out in the field for the rest of the week.  It’s kind of quiet around here.

Four of us played bridge tonight.  I lost.

Nothing new.

September 17, 1953

We finally found the golf course today.  Went out this afternoon for about an hour and practiced driving.  Since the German pro has just quit the boys on duty there said that they would teach us.

The course seems to be entirely flat – around the landing strip, but I’m sure it will do for us.

It is 25 cents to rent a set of clubs, 40 cents for green fee and 1 mark for a caddy.  Pretty cheap!

September 18, 1953

Friday, thank goodness.

We went downtown after school this afternoon to look for an evening dress for Hilde.  They were most peculiar looking.

Then tonight some of the boys took us to Mary and Al’s for goulash and dancing.  The goulash was very good, but I thought we would never come home.

Tomorrow is the big game!

Had a pep rally tonight which we didn’t get to.

September 19, 1953

Well, we won the game – 27-6.  Unicorns vs. 18^th Field Artillery.  They really put on a show, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  ‘Course we got in the reserved section, and not only that but we sat in the place reserved for the wheels – purely through ignorance.

           First there was a buffet lunch which was very good.

Tonight there was a dance at the club, and I went with Dan Daniels, one of the players on the other team.  We really had a wonderful time.  The dance was grand – just like one of the Spinster’s dances!  (Spinster's dances?  I wonder what those were.)

This post is really most fascinating.  Even the architecture is different and interesting.  It is German architecture and the whole Kaserne is very pretty.

September 20, 1953

Went to church here on the post today.  The chaplain is on leave, so we had a Lutheran minister from Munich – German.  I didn’t get too much out of the sermon because I couldn’t understand him.  (Damn that foreign language....)

John Fulton insisted that I have a lesson in pool this afternoon.  I’m not a very good student.

Tonight we went to the movie with a boy from Alabama.  (I'm sure she enjoyed talking Southern with someone and actually understanding what he said.)

My mother was a huge sports fan.  And clearly that dates back to at least her young adult years.  She went to armed forces football games while she was in Germany and, while it’s not clear whether she went because she loved sports or because it was a social event and reason for a party, it was a big part of her life there.

She was a North Carolina Tarheels fan first and foremost.  She didn’t actually go to UNC – she went to what was then called “Women’s College” or “WC” – but Carolina was her school.  WC later became UNC-Greensboro.  As I remember it, in the days when my mother went to college, women didn’t go to Chapel Hill, or at least they didn’t the first couple years.  WC was essentially the women’s division of the University of North Carolina, so that was where her loyalty lay.

When she married my father, she made him promise to go back to college and complete his degree.  My father had joined the Navy out of high school.  When his Navy service was up, he returned to his hometown of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan and went to the hometown college, Central Michigan University.  He only went for about a year and a half, so my mother was intent on him getting a degree.  He was able to get in to UNC, so the love of the Tarheels was a shared love for them.

UNC basketball was my mother’s first, and greatest, sports love, but she was also an avid football and baseball fan.  But she would watch almost anything.  She watched pro and college sports and, of course, supported her children in the sports we participated in.  She didn’t care for race car driving, golf or tennis and I don’t remember her being particularly enamored with hockey, but the good news was that with football, basketball and baseball, she had most of the year covered.

As a Carolina fan, she also leaned towards the ACC in her sports loyalties, with the exception of Carolina’s biggest rival, Duke.  She could never pull for Duke.  I remember asking her once, when Duke was in the college basketball national championship game, if she would pull for them.  Her response?  “I always want the ACC to win, but I can’t pull for Duke.”  I could relate to that when faced with a similar situation when Florida played for the national championship.

Since I was the first child off to college, she learned to love and support the University of Georgia.  Since Georgia was an SEC school, the two schools rarely played each other, which, I think, made it easier for her.  I do remember one year when Georgia and Carolina played each other in the men’s basketball tournament.  Carolina was, as always, a powerhouse, Georgia just an upstart team.  But, as the fates would have it, they met in a regional matchup.  I was watching the game in Columbus, Ohio, where I was living at the time.  It was an exciting, close game, but towards the end Georgia began to pull away.  With just a minute or so left, it was apparent that Georgia was going to pull a stunning upset.  I was on the floor, cheering on the Bulldogs, when inexplicably my phone rang.  This was in the days before caller ID or answering machines, so I answered.  And my mother said “well, looks like Georgia’s gonna beat Carolina” in a most exasperated tone.  I could hardly believe it.  The game wasn’t over.  I wasn’t going to have the chance to bask in the glory of victory because now I had to talk to my mother about it.  Unbelievable.  I remember saying “Mother, the game isn’t over” and her responding in a tone that told me she was a little annoyed, both at me and at the Tarheels, “well, it might as well be.”  I think though, if anyone was going to beat Carolina, she was at least a little glad it was us.

She did that again once.  Back in those days, there were no sports channels on TV, so televised games were very regionally focused, and there was no internet to keep up with your team.  I was still living in Ohio and it was the weekend of the Georgia-Florida game, Georgia’s biggest game and biggest rival.  I had the TV on to some boring Big 10 game just so I could keep track of the score.  I remember seeing an end of 3^rd quarter score and Georgia was leading by a pretty comfortable margin.  Not too long after that, my phone rang.  It was my mother.  “Georgia beat Florida”, she said triumphantly.  I recall saying “really, the game’s over?  I just saw a 3^rd quarter score.”  The score she gave me was the same one that I had seen.  Then I heard my father say, in the background, “Mother, it’s just the end of the 3^rd quarter.”  And my mother laughed.  “Oh, Daddy says it’s the end of the 3^rd quarter.  Well, I thought the game was over.”  And we had a good laugh.  Georgia did win, by the way.  Very handily.  As it was meant to be.

She was also a huge Braves fan.  She watched every game.  I think, at times, she thought the Braves ought to win every game.  She had her favorites, as well as those she put in the doghouse.  Rarely did a player that had aroused her disfavor turn that around.  One exception was Dale Murphy.  I think originally he was in the wrong position and so didn’t play well.  When he was moved to the outfield and became a star, she was a fan.  She had odd reasons for why she sometimes didn’t like players.  Maybe their name or nickname, or whether they had facial hair, or if they chewed tobacco.  She despised Bob Horner, although now I don’t remember why.  I remember her sitting in her chair with her little foam tomahawk doing the tomahawk chop when the Braves scored or otherwise did well.

When the Braves started winning, I remember thinking that her loyalty had paid off.  She was beyond pleased, but of course that’s also when she became hypercritical of everything they did.  Any flaw or mistake infuriated her.  So in 1994 when baseball went on strike, my mother was furious with anyone who was involved with that.  She spewed her venom most on Tom Glavine, who was the union rep for the Braves then.  To be fair, a lot of people in Atlanta did as well.  He was the public face of the union to Braves fans and many showed their displeasure with him, for years afterwards.  Mother also was not a fan of David Justice, although she had been at one time.  I don’t remember either why she disliked him so much, but she did.  I think the hardest thing ever for her was the fact that the year the Braves won the World Series, the two heroes of the night were Tom Glavine and David Justice.  I don’t think she ever forgave either one of them and it tainted the memory of that victory forever for her.

It was hard to watch sports with her sometimes because she was always so critical and often the subtleties of the game were lost on her.  She was a pretty straightforward person and when the game wasn’t as straightforward, she’d get mad.  We would argue over a call or a play more times than I can count.  But I credit her with letting me know it was ok for girls to like sports and support teams.  I learned a lot about sports, not as much from her as from my father and brothers, and I was able to stay in a conversation when sports came up as a topic.  I have always been as passionate about my teams as she was about hers and I’m grateful to her that she gave me her permission, by example, to love them and support them fully.