So in my last post we found Sally, alone after her separating from and divorcing her husband at the behest of his parents due to mental and physical damage from the war. How does one recover from this kind of blow? For Sally, though she was shell shocked, and hurting, she always had this utterly positive, and resilient personality. Though the building had fallen on her, she pushed back and attempted to find her way back.

   It was something that I personally loved about her so much. Even at the end of her life, she tried to find something positive in every day. Sometimes she would say to me, " I'm trying so hard to be positive, but is so hard when I am in such pain! ".

   Anyway, there Sally was after this great tragedy in her life. Her solution was to apply to be one of the first stewardesses for American airlines. She worked hard for the job, and in those days it was no mean feat to get that sort of work. Women had to dress just so, look just so, and comport themselves in a manner that pleased the airlines.

   In the meantime Sally was approached by another pilot in her former husband's squadron. We'll call him Ace. Ace seemed to want to comfort Sally, and Sally liked his company. He seemed to want to make up for Sally' s loss.

    However, Sally wasn't wanting to be in any sort of relationship. I do think it comforted her to have the companionship of someone who worked so closely with her husband, but as Ace wanted more and more of Sally' s time, he began to hint around about marriage. Sally did not want that, and frankly she wasn't sure she liked him. He had this arrogance about him that turned her off. She also wasn't sure that she appreciated him pursuing her with her husband so recently estranged from het in such a horrible way.

    So Sally kept pushing Ace away, and rejecting any pleas for marriage.Sally focussed on her job, pouring herself into being a fantastic stewardess. The airline had the stewardesses room together. Sally ended up rooming with some " horrible women ", as she called them.

    Though she did not like her roommates, Sally was very successful at her job, and enjoyed flying from place to place. Contrary to today's we'll engineered computerized automated planes, flying in those days carried more risk. Sally spoke of all that could and did go wrong in those early years.

    Sally also told a story of one time when she was on a short flight from I think Dallas to Saint Louis. The flight was quite short, and the pilot told her she had thirty minutes to serve the passengers their food. Sally didn't see how it could be done since she was the one and only stewardess. So Sally, began having the passengers help. She gathered up a couple helpers, mostly male, who, since Sally was gorgeous, were easily convinced to help the pretty stewardess. The passengers loved it! When all were served, and seated Sally took a plate to the captain, told him she was finished, and that she was going to get ready for landing. The captain was shocked, and exclaimed, " How could you be done? ". Sally told him, and he was so impressed, he started pursuing her too. They ended becoming life long friends.

   One night Sally went back to her apartment, and was enjoying the evening. Suddenly she realized that she had left her cap for work across town. In those days, American Airlines had a very strict dress code for their girls. Sally called the matron in charge, and the lady told her that she absolutely must have her cap for her flight in the morning.

   About the time that Sally got off the phone with her boss, Sally' s roommates arrived home drunk with two men Sally didn't know. Sally told her roommates about her problem. One of her roommates pointed at one of the guys (we'll call him Hank), and said, " Well Hank has a car. He'll take to get your cap! ". Hank said, " Sure I'll take you. ". Sally looked at him, and was nervous because she knew he had been drinking, but he was her only shot, so she agreed.

    Sally and Hank headed off to get the cap, which they collected, and then began the drive home. Suddenly, while driving home, Hank pulls into this dark park. Sally tell him she needs to get home right away, because she has to fly out in the morning. Hank ignores her, parks the car, and throws himself on top of her. When Sally resists, he hits her, and proceeds to rape her.

   Sally was a tiny woman. When I knew her in good health she couldn't have weighed more than ninety pounds soaking wet. Sally said this man was huge, and he had her backed up against the car door. After he finished, he cussed her out, and drove her home.

   Sally was bleeding, and looking like a woman looks when brutally raped when she walked through the door of her apartment. Her roommate saw her, and smirked, and said, " Yeah, I knew he was that type. That was why I sent you with him. I didn't want him here. ". Sally just hobbled off to her room.

   The next morning Sally, called Ace and told him she would marry him, a decision she later regretted. However, at the time, Sally felt that she wasn't safe on her own. She just didn't feel that she could handle it anymore. So she made her decision.

   However, it wasn't long after that Sally realized she was carrying her rapist' s baby. Sally made another decision she regretted till she died. She allowed her mother to convince her to terminate her pregnancy.

     Before Sally found her first husband she only had one additional serious relationship. The young man happened to be Jewish. Sally loved him. However, no matter how much they adored one another, the issue of religion was the cause of a lot of trouble for the couple.

    Sally was not liked by his family, not for her character, but because of her faith. Sally dated this guy for quite some time. She introduced her parents to him. She spent time with his family, but neither Sally's family nor his family was in favor of the match.

    Sally, at first didn't understand the problem. To her the issue of religious faith seemed a problem easy to overcome. However, the longer she went along, the more she realized that this issue was going to be a real problem between the families, and then later with their children. Eventually she broke it off.

    Awhile later, Sally met her first husband. Her first husband (I'll call him Jack)was in the military. For the first time, Sally fell head over heels in love with Jack. As the time came to be closer for Jack to ship out to the Korean war, they both decided that they wanted to get married before he left. Jack was a pilot. Sally married Jack two weeks before he left for Korea. Sally said they were the happiest two weeks of her life!

    Sally was a virgin when she got married. She talked about her first sexual experiences as joyful and full of passion. She never wanted to be apart from Jack, and yet he had to leave to go fight a war. The two of them spent two weeks in marital bliss before he shipped overseas.

    Sally tried to settle into life without her husband. She was a model at the time. I've seen pictures of her during her modeling days, and she was just drop dead gorgeous. She had dark brunette hair, and eyes. She was more beautiful than Greta Garbo. She modeled many different famous designer's clothes.

    When I knew her, Sally was not impressed by today's models. Having been a model, Sally had excellent taste in clothing. I have seen many of the vintage outfits she obtained while modeling, absolutely beautiful clothes!

    Sally continued working, after her husband left. However, she soon realized that she was pregnant. In those days communicating with a husband overseas was nigh unto impossible. Sally's mom helped her a lot during her pregnancy. Sally was ecstatic about having her and Jack's first child.

    Unfortunately, tragedy soon took the joy out of Sally's life. It wasn't long before Sally was notified that Jack was missing in action. I don't know if it was the tragedy of hearing her husband was missing, or what, but Sally soon had another problem. When Sally first told me this story she told me her husband had died. The reality of what really happened was still quite overwhelming to talk about for her.

    Not long after Jack was reported missing, Sally lost her first and only child by Jack, late in the pregnancy. So now, not only was Sally alone, but her child was gone too. She went into a depression which highly worried her mother. She had no further word about Jack for a long long time. Sally had to endure her grief by herself without even knowing if her husband was alive or not.

    I wish that I could end this part of Sally's story positively, however Sally was faced with a true tragedy. Eventually, Sally heard that Jack was coming home. Sally went to Jack's parents who asked her to come visit with them about Jack's return. Sally went there anticipating with joy Jack's return from his military service.

    Jack's parents tearfully explain just what had happened to Jack. Apparently Jack's plane was shot down in Korea. Jack was taken captive. Tragically, Jack was tortured, and drugged for quite sometime. According to Jack's parents he was not much more than an emotional vegetable upon his return. They begged Sally not to see him. They asked her to just get and annulment, and go on with her life. According to them, Jack was no longer able to communicate, and was never likely to recover.

    I can't imagine how Sally must have felt that day! She'd lost his baby. She'd lived without him all that time, not knowing if he was dead or alive, and then to be faced with such a horrifying decision. Finally, she agreed to his parent's request. Honestly, I don't think I would have. I think I would have demanded to see my husband in whatever state he was in. However, I never walked in her shoes. Maybe she didn't feel up to the emotional trauma after the hell she had been through already. Maybe she was just totally frightened by their description. She respected his parents, and trusted them, and did exactly what they asked her to do.

    She was beyond devastated. She felt guilty. She was alone. Her child was gone. Oh, how she suffered! For years Sally told people her first husband died. She did not tell me the truth until we had been friends for many years. That kind of loss is hard to recover from. She was one of the strongest people I knew!