I went back to Akron while waiting for Sarky to come home. Relatives and friends gave me a bridal shower and I visited all my old friends. One evening I stayed with a friend from my nursing school days. I helped her prepare breakfast and, as the bacon was frying, I became sick to my stomach, ran to the bathroom and urped my toes. "You're pregnant," she said. What a shock.
I made plans to meet Sarky in New York City on January 3rd. I called Pete's wife and we agreed to meet our husbands. Pete and Dorothy had married before he had gone overseas and this would be their first reunion. We met at the Hotel New Yorker and liked each other at once. The next morning we were up early and went down to the waterfront to meet our spouses as they left the huge Queen Mary. We could barely get close enough to see the ship, let alone the passengers. Dorothy kept pushing toward the gangplank and finally spotted Pete. He saw her but was not allowed to break ranks so she screamed "Hotel New Yorker." We went back to the hotel, waited, finally had calls from the fellows who said they would be in that evening. We both hurried to the closest beauty shop to get spruced up and then went shopping for pretty clothes. About 6 P.M. the fellows showed up - what a reunion! Pete and Dorothy went down to see if they could get another room. Dorothy and I had tried, without luck. But Pete was in uniform and persistent. They finally ended up in the bridal suite, an appropriate place for a reunion.
The next day Sarky and I had to find another lodging as our three day reservation was up. Rooms were so short that three days was all that was allowed. We finally got a room at the Commodore - the uniform did it. The fellows had to return to their camp on January 5th in order to take part in the World War II victory parade down Fifth Avenue. Sarky got me tickets to it in the grand stand with dignitaries and other officers' wives.
The parade was due to kick off at noon so I left the hotel about 10 A.M., a short stroll at a leisurely gait. That's what I thought. The closer I got to the parade route the more crowded it became. Finally it was bedlam; I was unable to walk on my own but was swept along with the crowd. I ended up in an entrance to the subway and stayed there for over an hour until the crowd thinned out. Finally I got out and walked back to the hotel: I wasn't going to brave that mob for anything.
I listened to a reporter comment on the parade over the radio from the comfort of my hotel bed. We joined that evening a bunch of Lyle's buddies and wives for dinner and dancing at the Hotel Roosevelt, danced to the music of Guy Lombardo and his band.
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| Celebration at the Hotel Roosevelt |
Chapter 24: A call for peace
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| Bobby and Lyle |
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