(Book 2!)
Mom was 18, and Dad was just 17. It’s said that he lied about his age to get married and to join the Navy before War II was over.
Dad’s proposal was less than romantic: “If we’re married, and I get killed in the War, you’ll get my Navy pension.” So they quietly got hitched in Oklahoma, and soon Dad was off to San Diego for training.
He was given a small amount of leave before sailing to Japan. So Mom decided to catch a bus to California. Up to then, her most exciting trip was the two-hour drive from Norman to Altus with her parents to see Grandma Ashley.
After travelling 48 hours to California, the small city girl got off the bus, exhausted and overwhelmed. She had no idea how to get to the Naval base.
Another woman noticed Mom’s distress and walked right over to her. She was a bigger, boobsier woman, with red nails and red lips; a woman who had been around the block a time or two…
Oklahomahumor #simplertimes #growingup #normanstories #Momlipstick #sonsandmothers #warbrides #redlipstick #longbustrip #wwIImarriages