Things begin to change for Babu midway through this month. The dark cloud over her head mostly dissipates. Instead of statements about eating lunch alone, she writes about staying out late five nights in a row and things like this: Feel like a stranger in my own home since I’ve been out so much lately….
Tag: diary
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…
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. …
August, 1937
Her life has shifted. There was a rite of passage, clear as day. She is no longer a child. Not in habits, not in routine, or responsibilities. She is still pinning for Benny: On the way home thought I saw Benny. I wonder? Oh, will I ever get over him. When I’m alone I think…
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…
The Dark Side: In Honor of Norma Harry
I write a lot about contrasts in this blog. That is life. The good and evil. Sometimes just the kinda good and kinda bad. As a writer, I look for structure. I look for patterns and the way this life story is told. It’s eerie that those patterns happen, in non intentional nonfiction. She isn’t…
July, 1937
There is much to celebrate in the heat of July. Babu says that she will “melt like a piece of wax one of these days,” yet things move along swimmingly. (Kind of.) All About Benny: The month begins with the sentence: I guess I needn’t have worried about Benny. She didn’t know if he would…
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…
The Case of the Peanuts
Thursday, June 10th, 1937 We went to the circus (Cole Brother’s) tonight, Benny, I and Ernie and Charles, Lincoln, and Budson. Oh! It was wonderful. We had three pounds of peanuts, but we got there late to feed the elephants, so we fed ourselves. After the show we went to “Dutchland” for ice-cream, and thence…
Pretty in Pink (Babu Style)
Wednesday, June 16th, 1937 It seems almost incredible. I thought about it before but only as an impossibility. Going home after school Benny stopped me and asked if I wanted to go to the dance to Meriden Saturday. Said he would come for me and bring me back or I could stay over. Mother said…
June, 1937
I am reading and typing along and suddenly it makes sense why she is doing things like playing tennis and sunbathing. It’s June! I had lost all track of time. As I go through the month I keep wondering if she is approaching graduation. Classes continue into July so before the end of this month…
transcribingmemory 