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Chapter 12: The Procrastinator
February 8th, 1955 was probably one of the longest days of my life. It had snowed all winter and somewhere along the way I had caught pneumonia. I was also nine + months pregnant was ending a 72 hour labor. Sally would have been born sooner, but every time I coughed I forced her back up. She just hung on refusing to come out for THREE days (she procrastinated even THEN!). Dr. Demaree gave me enough Demerol to knock out three horses so I could get some sleep, but it didn't work. He finally decided he was breaking my water so I would dilate and start the delivery process. As he came into the labor home to do this, my water broke on its own and flew across the room absolutely SOAKING him and a nurse. Before I knew what was happening they rushed me into the delivery room and while I was STILL on the gurney (with no foot stirrups) Sally decided to surrender and came FLYING out. She was about 18 inches long. 8 pounds, 13 ounces. She looked like a plump butterball turkey! She was pink and had really blond fluffy hair. The dumb nurse wrapped her in a BLUE blanket and show Cyril, who by this time thought she was a he. She had big blue eyes and was adorable! Uncle Billy had bought a movie camera and was trying to take pictures of her homecoming, BUT Susie kept jumping in front of the camera. Even then she was trying to be the center of attention. She was a VERY hungry baby and couldn't get enough to eat. After only 10 days she was put on cereal along with a stronger formula. By the time she was 2 years old I KNEW THAT IF SHE HAD BEEN MY FIRST BORN, SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN AN ONLY CHILD! She was into everything ALL the time! She walked at 12 months and once got out of the wooden playpen (13 months). We couldn't find her. Somehow she had gotten UNDER the square playpen and had fallen asleep. I couldn't turn my back on her as she was sooo busy getting into trouble. One day I had her in her crib for a nap and I went down cellar to put the laundry in the dryer. She climbed out of the crib and UP four shelves and ATE all my tranquilizers. I came upstairs and she was just climbing down from the kitchen cabinet drooling all this yellow spit onto her pink pajamas. I called the doctor and he said "get her to the emergency room NOW!”, but I didn't have the car. Just about then Tink Britton came home from College (she was rooming at our house) and drove us to Monmouth Medical. We sat in the waiting room while they had Sally inside pumping out her stomach and all we could here was her yelling 'God DAmit...Damit… Damit!!! We knew then she would be ok. I couldn't put her outside without putting her in a harness and hooking her onto the close line, giving her twenty feet of close-line rope so she could go 20 feet in any direction and 40 feet from the house to the garage. She could get to the sand box etc. I'd get her dressed and put her out while I tided up the kitchen and my neighbor (Aunt Minnie) would call and tell me "Sally’s outside running around NAKED", and telling her she was a “bird at the beach”. She thought she was Esther Williams and was FEARLESS. I don't know how many times we had to pull her out of a rough surf (and I had my beach chair IN THE WATER). But she was the joy of all the older women who thought she was such a cute kid. She was so fast I thought she would be a terrific athlete. One time as I was walking Hazel to the door (2 minutes), she flew into the downstairs bedroom where I kept my jewelry box (on top of the HIGH dresser). She quickly opened the bottom drawer, then the second from bottom (like steps) and was into all my jewelry and trying to put on EVERYTHING. I guess she ALWAYS loved pretty trinkets. THAT HASN'T changed. She spent every penny anyone gave her on chocolate bars, she couldn't get to the store quick enough. Linda was just the opposite! She’d give her money to Cyril to hold for her. At 3 years old Sally looked wacky like the billboard of the little blond girl with the ponytails ad for Coppertone...with a little dog pulling down her bathing suit. That commercial is still around. I swear they used Sally as the carbon copy. The candy bars finally got the better of her and I couldn't buy any cute clothes for her so I ended up making all of them. I sewed really good and made all my own clothes too. I finally gave it up for a while when I bought some really expensive British wool to make a dress for an upcoming card party. I had the pattern all pinned on the fabric, when I had to go to the bathroom. While I was in there Sally took the scissors and cut the dresses LONG sleeves off and it ended up being a ¾ length sleeve. I could have killed her! She played the flute in school (GOOD TOO). Her first boyfriend that I knew about was Richard Crump. That was all she talked about. He played basketball. We (Chris and I were) live in Southbrook. She asked if she could come over for dinner and bring a friend. I said yes. I was REALLY shocked when she showed up with Richard, as I did NOT know he was Black! Talk about, "GUESS WHO"S COMING TO DINNER", but he was a nice guy and I liked him and figured it wouldn't last long. He Went to West Point on a scholarship. I think he quit in his second year. She went to Glassboro State Collage and got good marks. She fell in love again with Dave Sticker. He was handsome with red curly hair, but turned our to be a real bastard. He dumped her just before the Prom. It broke her heart, and I told him off really good. I just couldn't imagine any guy being so cruel. That year she got raped in college coming home from a party. Some guy jumped out from behind an evergreen bush and attacked her. When she told her father he said it was HER fault (Another Bastard)! So she quit school and came back to Long Branch. She got a job and Vera (her best friend from school) rented an apartment on Sairs Avenue. One night coming home from uptown she was in a head-on auto accident on Bath Ave. It was Vera's car and it was totaled. She picked glass out of her face for months, and I was really pissed off, as Cyril and Audrey didn't call me until the next day. Al Pienkowski drove me down to see her and the car, WHAT A MESS. When she worked at Metallurgical she met Larry Edwards in WAWA. She dated him off and on for 12 years (in between his wives and other girl friends). Their timing was always OFF. She called me from Florida while visiting Cyril and Audrey and told me Larry had given her a ring and they were engaged. They had a beautiful wedding and reception ALTHOUGH it ended up more as a tribute to Audry. She hardly talked to any of us at our table and I was terribly hurt and others were offended. John Thorsen was furious. He got so annoyed that he left and said he'd wait in the car for me. Most of us left after that. I never told her how I felt though. What was the point? It had already been done, and Audrey only lived three moths after that. The thing that always intrigued me was that Aud died on the same Day as My Mother, January 6th. They lived in Larry’s house on Belmar Bvld and seemed to be happy. I know she was. Then they bought this beautiful house in North Brick on the river. Sally did a beautiful job decorating it and I thought she was set for life. Life was good for her. They traveled a lot, took cruises, entertained and generally I thought BOTH were happy. On their 10th wedding Anniversary they had a beautiful party that couldn't have been nicer. I had had a heart attack three weeks before the and an aneurysm. I didn't know it then. But I did know I wasn't feeling good at all. Bobby Demaree and I were among the first to leave because I felt so bad and she wanted to get home early. The party was in full swing when we departed. It was a perfect night for her. The following year that bastard came home from work on Thanksgiving eve and told her he wanted a divorce. NO SECOND CHANCES. He gave her all kinds of STUPID excuses, but what it got down to (which I guessed all along) was that he had another woman in his life. Sally was devastated and as you know CRIED for one solid year or more. She still hasn't gotten over him and the LIFE STYLE she had lived. Hopefully the future will bring her happiness but I probably won't be around to see it. She bought a cute Condo in Neptune and took a year to decorate it, got a job and I thought.... went on with her life. Got a new boyfriend and when that didn't work out, I thought she'd move on to someone else. I keep telling her "You don't need a man in your life to be happy", but I guess at her age I would have felt the same way. NOW she wants to move to Florida. I dread the thought... I DO want her to be Happy. BUT I also know that running away in NOT the answer. Only time can heal her wounds. ONLY TIME!!! And that will leave Billy and I up here completely alone. THAT SCARES me. I know Chris is just a telephone call away.... but he has his own life down in Williamstown and his time is spoken for. And I know he and Sally are close...but IF she moves, he'll have no family here except his own. Too bad SUSIE is such a LOST CAUSE. I am truly proud of Sally and wish we had a better relationship, like going shopping together and lunches, or just knowing I'd be really welcome if I just stopped in. But I guess that is just not going to happen. She does take me out for dinner. She often invites Uncle Billy too, but I can't talk to her with him there and it seems my whole F----- life is centered around him anymore. I love him but I don't want EVERY dinner out to be with him! Well that about does it for my chapter on Sally. She is beautiful, smart, caring, thoughtful and the biggest PROCASTINTOR in the world. For example, I’m STILL waiting for her to go with me and make my funeral arrangements and to get Billy's stock stuff OUT of Craig Kileys hands. She doesn't care that either he or the State will end up getting EVERYTHING if she does take FIVE LOUSY MINUTES TO CALL SICLIANNO. It’s her loss and Linda’s and Chris NOT mine, but she just doesn't seem to care.... so I give up. ... NEXT! |
| T h e L o v e l y L o i s S t o r y A Biography of Lois Eleanor White |
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