01.09.12
Glenn and Pauline
His body is the perfect color, dark brown with a golden hue that highlights the muscles and tendons that release and contract, easily noticeable on his lean body. He stands straight and tall, a smile planted squarely on his face as he scans the beach. He sees her blond hair shining beneath the sun, the same color of the sand. One look and he knows innately that she is the woman with whom he will spend the rest of his life. He is a big man on campus, a star basketball and football player, nice as they come. Raised in the country, Glenn is an honest man, faithful, good and trustworthy. He comes from a hardworking, laboring family of six brothers and one sister. Glenn’s mother has recently passed away. Glenn’s father thinks she died from overwork – cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing, gardening, baking, packing lunches, canning, and everything in between. Everyone chips in as best they can. Everyone works, many as glass blowers and artisans, a trade that produces beautiful, etched glassware in colors of the past. Glenn is the only son to graduate from high school and he has just received a football scholarship to the Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia.
Pauline’s head is tilted up. She looks into those beautiful hazel eyes and realizes Glenn is the one she will spend the rest of her life loving. Her heart skips a beat as he gently helps her onto the blanket neatly placed on the white sand. Pauline will never forget this first conversation. Pauline is 16 years old, already a high school graduate and attending West Virginia University in Morgantown where she lives. Pauline thinks of her mother and how much she misses her. Her father is strict, her stepmother loving and caring. But her mind moves quickly back to Glenn. Pauline wonders how she can see him when he is going to school so far away. And, will her father even allow dating? She thinks this is going to be a hard one. But, Granddad has bigger plans for Pauline.
Glenn can’t stop thinking of Pauline. He is lovesick and also misses his friends and family. He thinks that maybe the military isn’t for him. He finds a ride back to Morgantown, proposes and Pauline accepts. They plan their leave, no looking back. The train pulls into the station, their paperwork signed, their vows shared, their future sealed. Pauline’s father bans her from their home. Eventually, they find an apartment they can afford. Glenn has a job selling candy off of a candy truck. Pauline continues taking classes but she is tired and she has a secret growing in her belly. Surprise! Elizabeth Jane is born on April 27, 1925, a few months earlier than people expected, but who’s counting? Everyone.
Pauline and Glenn are happy as happy can be. Fast forward and Dorothy Mae is born on February 27, 1928.
And, so it was written, but let’s start again from the beginning…
