Finishing my story...

Not too long after I went out with Cappy I was offered a job by a Bob Hathaway who had a service station, mini-mart, etc. on the main highway going to the Big Trees State Park. He had plenty of business but his wife became bedridden and he had two kids that had to be taken care of. The wages were better than what I was making and so I went there to work. He and his wife had a house off the highway about a block and a half. My job was to stay there at the house, I had my own room and became sort of a "Nanny" to the kids who were about 9 and 6! I would get up in the morning and Bob was already at work and so I would get the kids up, feed them and get them ready for school. Then the rest of the day I cleaned up the dishes, made the beds, and did whatever was to be done. Bob usually came in at noon or thereabouts and fixed lunch for the three of us, (his wife, himself and me) and then it was back to work for him. If I didn't visit with his wife in the afternoon, (if she wanted to nap, etc.) I read and listened to the radio, etc. Then when the kids got home from school, I saw to it that they changed their clothes and did their homework and then we would take a walk out in the woods behind their house or play a few games in the backyard or something. I got dinner, and Bob would come in and eat, then back to the store till about 8:00 or 9:00. I would have the dishes done and the kids had to take their baths, etc. and went to bed. Any way like I said yesterday, Pearl Harbor was attacked and here we were in the middle of a war!!! The Gov't set up "watching posts" all over to make sure no unwanted airplanes would come into the U.S.A. mainland. (My mother took her turn once or twice a week!). Bob asked me one evening if I would like to sit at the store and watch for airplanes with wome others. He would take me up there and he was sure someone would bring me home after my 2 or 3 hour "watch". I said well, O.K. So I said, "who will be watching with me?" He told me he didn't know the name but they had said they were friends of mine. When I got to the store there sat Cappy and a friend of his who was staying, (boarding) at his mother's house. Bob had in this store, gas station, etc. a nice couch, a couple of comfy chairs, a fireplace with lots of wood and he told us that anything we wanted to eat or drink to go ahead. That meant we could drink all the cokes we wanted and eat all the cookies, or cupcakes, etc. What a setup!! Jessie had a girl friend in Oroville, a town up by Sacramento, and so he would call her, and visit, and if there was a plane going over, we would not have heard it because we danced to the radio, sang to the music, etc. Bob would probably have fired all of us!!!We finally tired out and Cappy was sitting on the couch and I laid down with my head in his lap, and Jessie was sitting in one of the chairs, and all of us were about half-asleep, or so I thought! Cappy then told me that his birthday was about ten days away and would I like to marry him on his birthday! I sat straight up and said, "what?" and Jessie calmly said from his chair, "he wants to know if you'll marry him on his birthday!" And of course that started another round of conversation about how I had to talk to the priest and if Mother and Dad would say it was O.K. Cappy told me that he wanted to come over as soon as he could and ask my father for "my hand". But then he and Jessie took me to Bob's and then went home! " I'll have to finish this "episode" tomorrow or later on!