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My Journal MIDWEST GIRL Chapter 4 By Abbe Willner Copyright 2001 Abbe Willner
Guess what...something good did happen! My dad reviewed my story, and proceeded to tell me such a
funny story, I After I sort of set the stage for you, I will relay it to
you, as he did for me. One of the facts in my mother's life unknown previously
by me, was that Jeannette and Nathan (her parents) believed that women
should be chauffered. My mother was a legal secretary at a prestigious firm
here in town. (hard
for me to believe!) Their
secretaries never went home in anything but a cab. Shortly
after they were married, my father held the position of City News
Bureau, Last Watch. The
shifts were from midnight to 8 am, Sunday through Friday.
( *at that time, the papers were owned by the same
people, and stories were transmitted by pneumonic tubes,
when something came out of the front page that got some slack,
they just blamed the other one). They lived on an East-West Street, one block south of
Lawrence. When it became
apparent that they were going to be living in the suburbs, Evelyn's not driving was out of the question. You are now ready for the story, which I am entitling,
"Yes, Mrs. Willner,... and
what happened next?"...
by short, balding but scraggly-haired, overweight, Dad came home to their Northside Apt. after his shift
after 8 am, tired, grumpy,
and acidized by greasy food and black coffee. Evelyn met him at the door of their 3rd floor apt.
proudly presenting two
white, freshly ironed shirts. (The
results of her 8 hrs while my dad was at work.
Ironing was another thing that was not taught in her household.) My father had tried to teach mom to drive, but failed as
an instructor, Apparently, the yellow page instructor, after a few
harrowing moments when the instructor actually took over the wheel,
immediated declared her a "Graduate". In this very tired moment prior to my dad yearning for
only sleep, my mother Dad's reply was yes; one that was to prove very
unsatisfactory to both When the phone woke him an hour later, the first disaster
had already Doing his
bidding for him, she tucked a note with her address and phone On the way
downtown on the Outer Drive, our new graduate found herself at No
problem....She just swerved to the right to miss the waiting cars. This put her
directly in front of another car which was being driven by a This collision must have been quite spectacular, as it
involved police and Again, the phone rudely awoke dad, and she asked him what
she should do. Foolishly, his response was, "Driving is like riding
a horse; just climb Turning off the alley, back at the apartment, she hit the
support beam of That night, a very short, sweaty man with a big yellow
pad came to the Every now and then, he would stop writing.
"And then what happened, It took more
than an hour. Finally, he
rose, headed for the door, "Perhaps more driving lessons would be good."
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