Grandma finally talks about her birthday in a round about way. She talks about the gifts she received from some of the girls and from her parents.
"My roommate Pirtle and the girl across the hall went together and got me a box that is covered with bright pink creton and flowered. It is for handkerchiefs, stocking and things like that. ... Mildred, the girl that works in my office, gave me a nice bar of real good smelling soap and two handkerchiefs. Beverly hasn't given me a present yet as I didn't tell her it was my birthday and she didn't know until the 8th but she did take me out to dinner the night of my birthday."
Her parents and my Great Aunt Peg sent her money to buy a watch. She cannot thank them enough.
"I got the check the other day and thank you so much. I am going to put it with the money that Peggy gives me and then add a little of my own and get a wristwatch. ... I can get a $50 watch out at Ship's service* for $35. I can save my money for a little while and get a watch within a month. Don't worry about sending more and thank you for that much."
*For people like me who do not know what a Ship's service is, according to Merriam Webster it is a ship or Nay post exchange.
Now looking into, that means Grandma is going to spend around $428 in 2008 money for a wristwatch. My first and still foremost reaction is why in the heck does a watch cost $428?! Fine, a high quality watch can cost a great deal, production processes were just evolving during WWII, and they did not have access to digital watches. BUT STILL why does a watch cost this much?! Could someone who is well educated in WWII watches explain this to me?
A Black out occurred on the evening of Grandma's birthday.
"On the night of my birthday we had a blackout. It was ver successful and everything blacked out for 50 minutes."
This lines reminds me of a story told by a bygone acquaintance of mine. She was in New York City when the power grid went down across the Northeast in 2003. The most remarkable event occurred in New York City. A New York Citizen could finally see the stars.
I bet the stars were gorgeous over Miami on February 8, 1944. Happy 22nd Birthday Grandma.
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