You write and he doesn’t write back. You say – if he doesn’t write back, you’ll write again. You see him in everything. Tuesday, October 5th, 1937 Stella Liana is home from her visit to Poland. Mom and Dad were up yesterday and brought back some gifts from Godmother. Expect mail every day and hope…
Category: Excerpts
Ch-ch-ch- Changes
As I’m progressing through transcribing the fourth year, I’ve observed some things that have changed in the last almost four years. “Drobey” has become “Drobe” and she never calls him “Caveman” anymore. In fact, she talks less and less about him. She seems clear now on how she feels about him. She is not…
In Honor of Milton Adams
I hope you have never had the experience of pulling up to a familiar place, your home, your work, or a friends house, and seeing the immediate signs that something wrong has happened. There is nothing worse then that sinking feeling. In October, 1937, Babu writes: Monday, October 18th, 1937 This morning Jaime gave me…
Who is Johnny Krol?
Johnny Krol is a reoccurring character we haven’t talked much about yet which is a surprise because I love reading about her. Don’t get her confused with Johnny Lech – especially in the upcoming posts as Johnny L. is going to take a larger role. No, I’m talking about Johnny Krol. She has been friends…
A Brief History of Dance
In last Saturday’s post, I wrote about how Babu was getting out of the house and having more fun. If you couldn’t have guessed, most of the outings are to dances. Monday, October 11th, 1937 Registered at cooking school and made breakfast. Zosh wore Helen Oparowski’s dress to the banquet. She looked lovely. Nat and…
If You Look Closely Enough
…you will find some simple things she writes pure magic. Thursday, September 2nd, 1937 Tonight I went to confession. It was good to be there in the friendly dark. I lit a candle for myself too. Stopped in at Zosh’s and met some people from Detroit and Buffalo. Drobe walked a part of the way…
Pining and Pined For
We are reading the fourth year of our diary journey through Babu’s life and the boys Babu falls for seem to come and go from her life. Her first crush we read about, Drobey, is still around, but she steadfastly no longer feels the same as she used to about him. W.B.Z. stays from from…
Excerpts, August, 1937 “Nothing Exciting Happens Now”
There isn’t much that excites me more about this process then finding evidence in these pages of stories she has told me many times. Babu had basically one job in her lifetime and she has talked to me about it many times. She worked for Hitchcock and Company as a secretary. They had offices in…
The Case of the Wooden Shoes
I will warn you before you read any further. This case may never be solved. It may live on in your memory, niggling away, as your soul searches for answers for years to come. Those answers may never come. In August, 1937, Babu writes: Monday, August 9th, 1937 Did my first day’s work. Seven hours. …
Miss Drude
I waited for Babu to graduate before writing this post but I’ve been gathering data on this and thinking about this post for a while. I was a teacher for 10 years so I pay attention to her teachers and what education was like in the 30s. (It seems pretty much the same, by the…
Blessed Life! But What Comes Next?
I often wonder if Babu realized how privileged and blessed she was. Her teenage life is one of constant dances, experiences, friends, clothes, and comfort. I know, she’s lonely and insecure. She doesn’t understand why she faces constant rejection, but still! I look at her life and feel pretty jealous. This is THE GREAT DEPRESSION…
Dull Days
Some days she has no events, no near tragedies, no brushes with moments of history. Some days she stays around the house and she will confess that those days are “dull days.” Yet sometimes, her dull days entertain me very much! Sunday, June 6th, 1937 Went to high mass. Zosh has Andy’s watch and says…
transcribingmemory 