Pieces of Me

Last weekend I was in the process of rearranging the guest room which required moving an old footlocker from the foot of the bed. I had consigned old papers and memorabilia in there years ago, but I’d forgotten exactly what it contained. Curious, I settled down on the floor next to it and began to comb through its contents. 

My Ginny doll was there along with four Nancy Drew books  that I had read in sixth grade. I unearthed all The Poly Spotlight issues from high school that included the newspaper column I wrote, and a picture of the first class I taught in San Diego. With some quick calculations I realized my little second grade students were now well into their 60s! 

But it was after sifting through some papers that I discovered something I was unaware I had kept all these years. A play. A play I had written when I was ten years old called The Wedding. I had written it in cursive on unlined paper so the writing was slanted; it was also written in two columns so the words, sometimes squeezed together, were at times hard to read. 

When I finally deciphered it, I saw it featured four characters: a mother and father, Betty and Bob, a young girl, Mary, and her boyfriend Tom. The plot was simple: girl meets boy, parents are concerned, boy proves his worth, young couple become engaged. It felt strange to be reading something that came from my ten-year-old mind, but I was also struck by how much it revealed about the time period. The dialogue could have come from a 1950s movie or a television sitcom like Father Knows Best. The mother used the terms, Yes, dear, and sweetheart . When Mary first sees Tom in the school hallway and is smitten she says to her friends, Isn’t he just a dream?

There is a contrived part that could only come from the mind of a young writer when Tom tells Mary he can’t be there for Christmas and he hides in a large gift-wrapped box and surprises her. But all ends well when Tom asks Mary to be his wife. “Oh it’s beautiful,” she remarks when she sees the ring, as he responds, “Not as beautiful as you.”

This play was written in 1952 and reflects the values of that era. It was a peaceful, optimistic time shortly after the end of a war. People were respectful to one another and everyone knew their place. Boys, and then men, were expected to work to support women and their families and women stayed home.  A young girl’s goal was to marry. She hoped to find her Prince Charming and settle down with a family. She could have aspirations to attend college, but it was presumed she would leave her career when children arrived.

Would a young girl today write such a play? Would it focus on a wedding? Or other dreams? We know how society and life has changed for women since then. They now have options and opportunities that were denied to them before. 

Right before I closed the trunk, I gathered up some Indio Fair 4H Club blue ribbons tucked in a corner and read what I had done to earn them. I had made and was rewarded for: muffins, an apron and a blouse. What did you expect? I’m a girl from the 50s.