My mom, then Lillian Koroschetz, had a fabulous evening of dancing and chatting away with Fred Gartz on May 11, 1941, but was convinced that he wouldn't follow up: "I'll just betcha he won't call!" she wrote. Well, things were looking more promising about a week later.
May 20, 1941 Tuesday 11 pm
Quite a thrill awaited me when I came home tonite. Fred had sent me a card from Turkey Run, Marshall, Indiana, reading,
“Hy-ya Lil - Have substituted hiking and horsing for the rhumba for the time being. This place is grand, especially the food. Nun, auf wiedersehen. Fritz”
I can remember distinctly only two other occasions when I got such a thrill out of something. (and she relates two other boy-related incidents) I must be in love with the guy and haven’t even gone out with him. Somehow I now have a glimmer of hope he’ll phone. Here’s hoping! Sat.,
July 12, 1941
Just did my nails - Cutex Butterscotch - and having had a most complete week, am so tired I must go to bed without putting down what I intended [in the diary]. “Lil-no-romances-in-the-summer-Koroschetz” -- that’s me! I don’t even have time in the summer and that’s no alibi, believe me!
Thursday Aug 14
Finally - I heard from Fred Gartz. He wanted me to go to some German movie with him tonite. However, I had a date to go to Hapsburg for dinner and teach Ruth how to drive. So changed the date to tomorrow night. Am I glad! Now I have it to look forward to instead of having it all over by now (11:00 pm) I hope and pray this will lead to more and frequent dates!
The evening I have been waiting for a long, long time has now been realized. Fritz and I went to a little German theatre on Lincoln near Fullerton, then walked in Lincoln Park on this beautiful night, arm in arm - held hands in the show. Then to Sieben's [a Chicago outdoor brewery with great ham sandwiches] where we had some beer. Then back to the park and I think we both knew why we went back. We sat on a bench hearing the lions roar and the quacking of a duck. Oh it was heavenly! He knows all the little innuendoes of kissing and I ain’t so bad m’self, if I do say so.
[She switches to writing with indecipherable Pitman shorthand for a few lines, clearly wanting to keep this part censored! Then goes back to regular writing]
And he enjoyed it too, I’ll say. We kissed for about an hour and a half. I hope and pray he will phone me again. I can’t really believe it happened!! Tonight was like a page from a story book and he definitely is the man I want to marry. Dear God, please let it come true!!
Please click on "post a comment" (red, small print) at the bottom of this entry. I'd love to hear your thoughts! And please let me know if you have any difficulty commenting. lindagartz@gmail.com
18 comments:
I'm getting a little hot and sweaty myself just reading about this...forget the romance novel, this is the real thing!
Having known your mother as your mother, this has me looking at her in a whole new light!
It must have been steamy as a jungle that night in Lincoln Park-- such restraint! 1-1/2 hours of just kissing! Your Mom is no slouch as a wordsmith- e.g. "innunendos of kissing". Good that the shorthand could be deciphered!Katy
I'm with Lil. Anticipation is a great sauce for any dish.
Katy, This was certainly a different era! "Hook-ups" were not the norm; in fact, hardly thought of. Just think how much more exciting all that kissing was--delayed gratification, for sure. Kathy--so great to hear from you! Right. We all know our parents and friends' parents as grown-ups after life batted had them about! I knew Mom had a very emotional side, but these entries even took me by surprise. Adrienne, the anticipation is the essence of romance back then -- and Lil's desire to wait for the date -- savoring the thought. Marian -- yep! I think romance novel aficionados would enjoy
Are you sure this is Pitman shorthand? I'm thinking it's Gregg...
LOVE IT! I especially love that she thought she was pretty good at kissing.
It would be interesting to know what the shorthand says. Although some things are better off left unsaid. :-)
Hi Linda
Thanks for visiting my blog and following. I love your site! I'll be back often!
Linda
Linda, Great to see your comment.
Thanks for sharing a hot story. I thought it cute that she switched to Pitmans shorthand. I know Pitmans so I'd have no trouble reading it...
You used a great hook in your Twitter update for this post, and it did not disappoint! You must be having a blast with this work.
Hey, like mother, like daughter. I like kissing Lil's daughter. I think she may know some of them innuendos too.
Bill
Hello, Hello. Say Nancy, I'm quite sure it's Pitman -- Mom often referred to it by name. I learned Gregg--three decades later. And Debi, I've got some feler out to decipher the Pitman secrets! Shirley-glad the hook brought you here! And Anonymous 2 --shhhh.
Good to see you at my blog Linda. i too enjoy trawling through the archives and reconstructing the stories of those who come before. Yours/your parent's is a terrific story.
Linda, these are wonderful. Don't you wish you could decipher the shorthand?
Some blog gremlin was at work and deleted this nice comment from Lisa -- but claim the author (I assume that's me) did it. So I'm reposting from my email notification. Lisa found the nail polish color - which looks like the same color Mom swiped right into her diary:
Lisa has left a new comment on your post "Dear God, please let it come true!":
Love these articles. I was curious to see what colours her nails might have been: http://www.amazon.com/Lollipop-Butterscotch-Remover-Original-Advertisement/dp/B004GNXSVU
I think you struck a chord with this post. I'm the 18th comment! What I wouldn't give to have something like this.
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