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…
Tag: nonfiction
Hugo Black and the KKK
On the first day of October, 1937 Babu writes: Justice Black spoke over the radio tonight, denying his affiliation with the Klu Klux Klan, although he admitted having been a member once. Whenever I read something in a passage that reeks of such history I get a feeling similar to being close to a “thinny.” …
October, 1937
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….
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…
Septemeber, 1937
And just like that it’s autumn again. Babu writes: The leaves are just beginning to turn and the world is so alive and radiant. This is the swan song of fall. The month begins with her wish to be back at school. She goes to visit BPI and misses what must seem to her like…
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. …
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…
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…
transcribingmemory 