A Winters Eve

Margaret stepped out of the theater and pulled her coat up as high as she could on her neck. A cold wind bit at her face.

This was her third time watching National Velvet. She knew she really should save her money, but she so loved Liz Taylor, and, in her opinion, Mickey Rooney was to die for.

She had rushed the hand full of blocks from the factory to the theater when her shift had ended.

She missed the simpler times, before the world turned upside down. Sure, money had been tight but at least her family was all together… and alive.

She could not help but remember the visits from Military Casualty Officers when they had come to the house.

The first visit was on a nice sunny June day a little over two and a half years ago. An Army Major brought unbelievably bad news. Two of her family members had been declared missing.

 Her father was listed as missing in the sky’s over Europe. He was a B-17 Squadron Commander. His aircraft had not returned to its airfield in England after a bombing run. There was no further information than that.

The other bad news was, her sister Rose, an Army Nurse, had been on the Philippine Islands when the Japanese invaded. She was listed as missing as well. Two months later, news reached them that Rose had been wounded and evacuated to Honolulu.

After a short recovery and an even shorter visit home, Rose had gone back on active duty and been sent to England.

The next visit from a Military Casualty Officer came only a few months after that first visit. It was just over two years ago when they found out, her brother Bob had been killed at Guadalcanal.

She remembered how proud he had been to be a part of the 1^st Marine Division. Now he was buried on an island, halfway around the world. He would be happy to know that he was buried next to his buddies, he would have not had it any other way.

The last visit her and her mother had was just over six months ago. Her brother David had jumped into Fortress Europe on D-Day. They found his body when the Allies had broken free of the beaches and started int0 the French countryside.

David, like many of his comrades, had been dropped far from his intended drop zone. He wound up surrounded, outnumbered and alone. He fought and died in a place he was not intended to be.

Margaret’s favorite memory of David was his smile. Even in the worst of times, David would smile. She was sure he was smiling when he went down.

The wind bit hard against Margaret’s face again, snapping her out of her thoughts. Working twelve hours a day, six days a week at the factory and taking care of her sick mother at home, left little time to morn.

She would catch a movie when she could but responsibilities, both familial and financial, did not leave much room entertainment.

She began trudging up the street toward their house. Their neighbor Rona sat with her mother while she was gone. Rona had lost her husband several years back and her elder son Richard had died at Bob’s side on Guadalcanal.

Rona’s sixteen-year-old son Tim had tried to falsify his Birth Certificate so he could join up after Bob and Richard had been killed but was unable to pull it off. After that incident, Tim quit school and went to work in the same defense plant as Margaret, to help his mother and his country the best way he could.

Tom worked the same shift as Margaret and picked up extra hours when he could, that left Rona and Margaret’s mother both home by themselves much of the time. The two women had made the best of a bad situation and together, were getting by well enough.

Margaret felt bad for not going straight home after work but whether she was home or not, often Rona would stay at the house even after Margaret got home.

It had been a rough period for every family in the neighborhood. Out of the twenty odd families in the neighborhood, there were nearly thirty killed in action and about another dozen listed as missing.

Margaret ducked into the Cooper’s Lunch Counter next to the bus stop. The lunch counter was open around the clock because there were so many factories in the area with varying shifts and it was close to a busy bus stop.

In the summer months, Margaret loved to get a milkshake while waiting for her bus home, but in the winter and on her way to work all year round, it was black coffee. 

Cooper’s was known for their coffee. Mister Cooper claimed to have the strongest coffee this side of St. Louis. Margaret was not sure she believed but it certainly got the job done.

She walked over to the counter and ordered a cup of coffee. The waitress poured a cup and handed it to her. She handed the waitress a dime and thanked her.

She heard a familiar voice behind her. “Good evening Margaret, I haven’t seen you in a while.”

She turned to see Mister Cooper standing behind her. She smiled cautiously. “Mister Cooper, how are you?”

He gave her a big smile. “Mush better now. I received a letter from Frank. He made it out of Bastogne with a flesh wound. But he made it out!”

She gave him her best smile. “That makes me happy.”

Some of the joy left his face. “David… Frank asked me to pass along his condolences. You know how close he and David were.”

Sadness crossed Margaret’s face. “Yes. I’m sure Frank misses Davis as much as we do. They had been friends from the time they were five. They went to school together, Camp Toccoa, England and...”

He touched her shoulder. “I know. It hit him harder than he let on.”

Margaret tried to hide her sadness but to no avail. “I know. He used to write me and after June, no more.”

Mister Cooper perked up a little. “You know, Margaret, Frank is sweet on you.”

She smiled a little. “I had hoped but…”

“He does Margaret. In his last letter, he told me, if he made it home, he was going to ask you to marry him.”

Margaret was enveloped by a great wave of joy immediately followed by a surge of fear. She wanted nothing more than to be Misses Frank Cooper. But if she got her hopes up, surly those hopes would be dashed. The same way her hopes to see her brothers had been dashed.

Mister Cooper looked over his shoulder and turned back to Margaret. “Your bus is here Margaret, you’d better not miss it, your mother will be worried.”

He gave her a kiss on the cheek and whispered. “He’ll be home before you know it.”

Tears streamed down her face as she rushed out to the bus. She boarded with her head down and spoke to no one.

The ride home felt much longer than normal. Depression crept into her thoughts. The harder she tried to push it away, the harder it pushed its way into her mind.

The years of sadness and loss fell upon her like a fog. A fog that she could not see through. Her world was a shamble and she had recourse but to keep working and hope for the best outcome possible.

She arrived at the bus stop near her house. She slowly walked the two blocks down and one over. Before she knew it, she was in front of her house.

Margaret shuffled her feet as she approached the front door. Her hand trembled as she reached for the doorknob. Tears flowed down her face as she opened the door. She did not know how much longer her nerves could hold up.

The weight of the door made the hinges groan as it opened. She stepped inside and saw the single light burning beneath the kitchen door.

Her mother sometimes sat in the kitchen when Rona had left before Margaret got home. Those times, her mother would sit at the kitchen table crying. Margaret would have to spend hours trying to console her mother, when all she wanted was to be consoled herself.

She slowly pushed the kitchen door open and stepped in. She stepped in to do what could for her mothers’ sadness.

As if in a dream, a man sat holding her mothers’ hands. She rubbed her eyes, but the man was still sitting.

Shiny silver eagles sat upon the shoulders of his uniform. In an instant, she knew it was not another Military Casualty Officer. She knew it was her father.

She fell to her knees and cried. He stood, tuned, and reached out his hand. She took his hand and he helped her to her feet. He took her in his arms and hugged her. For the first time in a long time, Margaret felt at peace.