Meeting Friends Who Were In The Service Returning From 0verseas

 Many of our friends and neighbors had been drafted to help fight our enemies.  When they could come home for a10 or a 30 day leave we always welcomed  them at the Union Station and saw to it that they either had a good rest or good meals at our house.  My Mother was a superb cook and I never saw her use a recipe book.  

When the war ended and our boys (who had become men) came home there were great celebrations in our neighborhood and all over the world.  I was ten years old when the war ended.  Vice President Harry Truman became President of the United States when President Roosevelt suddenly suffered a stroke.  "Give'em Hell Harry ended that terrible war quickly.  Not long after Germany surrendered the United States dropped two Atomic Bombs on Japan.  They also surrendered quickly and they came aboard the USS Missouri to sign the peace treaty.  

GROWING UP ON KANSAS CITY'S EAST SIDE was wonderful.  Those were the years when it was safe walking home from the Ashland Movie Theater two and a half blocks from our home.  My Mom and Dad had met at the Ashland.  Kids played with each other from their own blocks.  I remember when one of the dads down the street made very, very high stilts for all of us.  We played tag, cowboys and indians, and other games while walking and running on those stilts.  I think my mom held her breath each time she saw us walk up and down the seven porch steps and then 14 concrete steps down to the sidewalk.  Did I mention that we sat on the top porch step and put the handles of the stilts INSIDE the pant legs of our jeans.  Kind of embarrasing for this great-grandmother to say, but I was the "leader" of the whole bunch.  There were never any girls my age on our block so I needed to do everything the boys did.  

Meanwhile time floated by and soon I was graduating from 7th grade at St. Michael's at age 12.  That was in May and the nuns held a formal graduation for us.  My mom made the most beautiful pale yellow floor-length dress for me to wear.  Of course Mary and Fran Nash had to be at our house for Mary to help Mom pile my hair up on top of my head.  Then Mary asked the question:  Where's her corsage?  I thought Mom would have a heart attack then and there.  All I heard was "O my God!  I completely forgot and it's Memorial weekend.  No florists are open.  My Dad and Fran, sipping their beer in the living room, looked at each other and then said, "No worry, we'll take care of it."  They left and returned about 30 minutes later with beautiful flowers and some pretty ribbon. Problem solved. Little did I know that the problem was solved by the two of them climbing over the wall of nearby St. Mary's Cemetery, grabbing lots of flowers OFF OF GRAVES and returning with innocent looks and lots of flowers.  There are so many stories from Cypress Avenue.  Watch for more memories as I began my freshman year at East High School at age 12.