Sally dated lots of boys. Her mother was not exactly open open about the subject of sex, as many mothers were not in those days. Her mother's sole warning was, "Don't kiss a boy or you will have to go on with the act!". Sally did not know what the act actually was until she married her first husband. However, she knew that she did not want to go on with it. So Sally dated a boy until he started to seem like he wanted to kiss her, and then she dropped him like a hot potato!
Sally's odd dating habits earned her quite a reputation with her peers. The girls thought she was a slut, going through so many guys, and the guys thought she was a tease. Not to mention, there were a lot of broken hearts. Once Sally resolved her health issue, she turned into a real beauty, worthy of Hollywood. This just increased the jealousy among her female peers. The funny part is, as Sally described this period in her life to me, she still couldn't understand why her female peers disliked her so much. I loved that humility about her. At that age she was truly horrified that boys were so interested in her. Mostly what Sally wanted was an asexual existence, with boys only as friends, and even more than that she wanted the attention of her father.
Sally's relationship with her father was a major motivating factor in her life. She always felt both in competition with her brother, and also appreciated to a lesser degree because she was a girl. For much of her life she tended to resent her own femininity, and though she was a beautiful woman she never was comfortable in her own skin. She wanted to be playing football with the boys, and was disgusted when she grew breasts. Mostly she wanted her Dad to see her, and respect her as an equal to her brother. So she spent a great deal of time trying to garner her father's attention, and never felt she quite measured up.
For instance, when her brother started to play football, Sally could see how proud her father was of his football player son. This fact, made Sally go out and become a cheerleader, hoping that her father would be proud of her like he was her brother.
Sally's father was not the only person she was interested in pleasing. Sally spent many hours learning and practicing the piano for her mother. In fact she practiced for hours everyday! She was honored many times in her community and in college for her accomplishments
Sadly, during her time in college, Sally gave up the piano completely. The piano was something she pursued for her mother's sake. She never really loved it. She felt hemmed in by the strictures of her training. Sally was an adventurous lady. She just couldn't see herself chained to a piano for her life when it was her mother's love, not hers. So she eventually gave it up.
Another thing that happened during Sally's teen years was the entrance of the US into WWII in 1941. Perhaps this event, more than any other had the most.lasting effect on Sally's life, altering both her immediate life at the time, and determining so many future events as well, down to who she would eventually marry, and the circumstances in which she would raise her children. Her life was profoundly affected by war, and not just WWII.
It was because of war that Sally began driving the ambulance at 13. Sally's brother wanted to join up. However he had a ear condition that if it were known would have prevented him from joining the service. Sally's father was on the local draft board. His son asked him to ignore his medical problem and let him in the service. Sally's father did, and then spent the next several years in a deep depression, racked with guilt and fear of losing his only son. During this time, Sally's father started drinking, and eventually moved to the mortuary for a time. Watching her father fall apart, was very difficult for Sally, and very frightening.
More soon...
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