.....I received an e-mail today from the daughter of a man who was in my outfit--Fleet Air Wing 7 in England. Her name is Trish and we have been corresponding for many years. Her Dad has passed away. Trish lives in Seattle, and I was stationed in Whidby Island after the war in Europe preparing to fly against the Japanese in the Pacific. Whidby is very near Seattle and I paid many visits there. Even found a girlfriend named Lenore Secord. Her father owned one of the biggest department stores in Seattle. She was very pretty and lots of fun. We became quite intimate. After the war ended and I came back east, we lost track of each other. But back to Trish. As far as I can tell from her letter, she has five children of various ages. While I was in the Navy, I was always addresses as "Rosie" and that's what Trish calls me. Trish is a child of a WWII veteran, and I have four of them, myself, but I don' t recall getting as long a letter from any of them as this one--well, perhaps I did, but memory fails me. I will attach her letter here because I think you'll find it interesting.
Hi Rosie,
It was so nice to hear from you! I’m so sorry that you and Rhoda have been under the weather, but I hope that it’s nothing a little Florida sunshine can’t cure. Bronchitis is not fun. Oh my, your broken hip, too. Are you walking again and feeling fit? That must’ve been tough, but you are a special guy, of the Greatest Generation, and no one has fortitude like you guys do.
It’s funny you should mention Whidbey Island... A group of women friends and I are heading up there tomorrow morning for the weekend, a mom’s getaway. You can bet we’ll enjoy a glass or more of wine, do some hiking at Ebey’s Landing, and catch up with each other. We’ve known each other since our kids were toddlers and now the youngest of the group are heading off to college next year. So far, no weddings in the future. No one’s holding her breath, either.
John took off with our youngest daughter, Emma, for the weekend, too. They drove out to the Olympic Peninsula and will drive a big loop. The National Park is all ocean shore and they will do some day hiking. They just called from Port Angeles and that is logging country out that way where the trees grow tall. Managed forestry now, thank goodness.
Our middle daughter, Molly, just returned from a six month trip to South America. She was in Chile during the quake, but was out of harm’s way. It was touch and go for a few days there. They went to Patagonia, did some climbing, several days of backpacking in the Andes, and saw much of Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. It is great to have her home and she is living with us trying to save some money to get her own apartment. She will work for the Washington State Dept. of Ecology this summer. She got her BS in Geology last June. Our son, Andrew, is teaching sixth grade math in a charter school in inner city Newark, living in Hoboken, and exploring the NYC area and beyond. Then there’s Sarah, our oldest, who lives in New Orleans. She’s assoc. editor of New Orleans magazine, and is such a busy bee running around for articles and interviews. She had an article in the Jazz Festival program- she interviewed an old timer, who was a drummer with Louis Armstrong. He is a solid ol’ guy and lives in the lower Ninth Ward. Harry Connick, Jr. has a housing program there called the Musicians’ Village. And that old city’s heart is still beating after Katrina, which is good.
John keeps busy with his work on ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and is my best buddy.
My mom is doing well in Rochester, Minnesota. I will be seeing her in June for a nephew’s wedding. She misses Dad, as do we all, but we are blessed with his memory. And t hat ‘s the way it should be. His photo taken when he was a preflight cadet is on my desk. You handsome Navy men are heroes, all.
Well, Rosie, if I ever get down to your neck of the woods in Florida, I will take you and Rhoda for dinner!!
Nice to hear from you, as always.
Take good care of yourself and Rhoda,
Trish
trishravits@comcast.net
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