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AI: Well, I also wanted to ask you more about that year, 1945, because I recall you mentioning about Jim going to high school in Connecticut, and didn't he graduate in 1945, then, and then he, I understand he came and joined you in Chicago?

PB: Yes, he graduated from Westport High School and then he came and joined me. But we knew that he would have to go into the army.

AI: He was drafted?

PB: Yes. He was drafted, and I believe he and Pat just both left within a day of each other. And, of course, Pat was very happy because she had gotten married, and she was going with her husband to, back to where he was... some camp, I think it was Mississippi or somewhere down there. But I felt totally alone; I was devastated. Because it seemed like I had never been alone, and both the children leaving me, and here I was all by myself in Chicago, and I was just totally lost. My daughter seemed so happy leaving, and, of course, my son going into the army, and I thought, well, I knew that at some time or other both the children would leave me, but not all, just at one time, it was terrible for me.

AI: Right. Oh, gosh, it must have been a, kind of a lonely time, both of them leaving at the same time.

PB: Oh, yes, I was, I didn't know what to do. I just felt so alone.

AI: And then, also at that time, I think, were, were you also moving to another apartment and changing jobs also around that time?

PB: I moved so many times that I don't remember exactly what place I was in. I know I had to move because being alone, I didn't need an apartment that, when my son and I were staying together, or my daughter and I. So I had to get a smaller place for myself.

AI: Right. And maybe it was about that time, was it, that you started doing the work with the shells again?

PB: I was kind of trying to find a job, but it was difficult. Like, finding a good apartment and getting a good job was difficult, because I didn't know where to begin or just what to do. And I tried to find an opening for selling my shell work. I tried the big stores downtown, but they said they didn't handle small things like that, so they suggested that maybe I should try the Shedd Aquarium where they had shell jewelry. So I did; I went to the Shedd Aquarium and they said they would take things on consignment. So I did make earrings and corsages, but mostly earrings, and I did sell quite a few at the Shedd Aquarium. But I knew that I couldn't make a living that way, so I had to find some other employment. Hand-work was just too tedious and too slow. But I did invest in a lot of material, which was a total loss, actually.

AI: That's too bad. Well, so then as you realized that you did need to find another job, what did you do next after that?

PB: Well, I don't know exactly how and when I went into different jobs, but I did do what they call home work, and that was a assortment of Christmas seals and tags and packaging, and that was a terrible job because I had to put together say maybe twenty-five different things, like stamps and tags and Christmas things, and then put 'em in plastic bags. And it only paid maybe a penny-and-a-half for a package. I could work for hours and just literally make pennies, so I knew that wasn't going to work. But I tried, I tried whatever I could find, because I thought, well, I had to do something to make a living.

<End Segment 53> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.