The Old Scrapbook

by Dennis Higgins

  I searched for James and Harriet and was able to find them both. Apparently, they moved from Chicago to Arizona and had one child. James died young in 1947. Harriet lived to be 84 but also passed away and unfortunately, so did their daughter, Joanna. That was a dead end. Everyone connected with James and Harriet were all deceased. Harriet even remarried and had another daughter, and even she had passed away in 1993. I tried to see if there was a Betty or Elizabeth connected to Harriet in some way, but no connection could be found. If only I had a last name for her.

  I played around on the Ancestry site all morning, making my own family tree. I could go back to Raymond and beyond. What a great tool. In fact, I discovered my mom’s maternal tree limb was American all the back to the 1600s, mostly living in Virginia. I had to remember that West Virginia was part of Virginia until 1863 when they split from the Confederates.

  I called Megan to see if she wanted go out to lunch since I had a condo in Trump tower to show. She was thrilled. Megan worked downtown as manager in an insurance office. It was on Randolph, so we met at Nia’s, a tapas bar. She really liked their crab stuffed mushrooms.

  She was happy to see me and I must admit, my own demeanor lifted when I saw her enter the restaurant. She looked great in a skirt, too.

  “Hi, baby,” I greeted and stood to kiss her.

  “Well, look at you in a shirt and tie,” she said, seating herself in front of me. “Did you sell that condo?”

  “We’ll see,” I answered.

  During lunch I told her all about tracing my roots on Ancestry. Of how my great uncle, James, died at age 37 from tuberculosis. How his mother, my great grandmother, Anna, died from the same disease at 47 years old.

  Megan took in all the facts. “So the scrapbook says that Raymond and Bet met in 1940. James and Ray’s dad died in 1925 and their mom in 1939. When his parents died, this is probably why Raymond came to Chicago. It makes sense. Maybe James and Harriet hooked them up. Raymond wouldn’t have known anyone in the city.”

  “Yes, but I couldn’t find a connection to James and Harriet and Bet,” I replied.

  “There’s a connection in the scrapbook,” she pointed out. “Bet said they met at Aunt Harriet’s…right.”

  “Right,” I said. “I did try and find a connection. Harriet’s name before becoming Speck was Rilat. But I could not find an Elizabeth or Betty Rilat.”

  “Did Harriet have siblings?” she asked.

  “I didn’t think to look,” I said, taking a bite of my Beef Brochette. “Maybe I should give you my login and have you search. You know, two eyes are better than one, sort of thing. You could look up your own family roots, too.”

  “I’d love to,” she answered and smiled at me. I think she was pleased that I would entrust her with my account and password.

  Then she added. “I think we can solve this and find your dream girl.”

  “Funny you should call her that,” I said. “I have to tell you about the dream I had last night.”

  ****

  Later that evening Megan came over to my place with a couple bottles of wine. We had planned a night of wine, Ancestry.com and the scrapbook. I hoped to top off the evening with a little love making.

  Moonshadow was more than willing to help with our search. He swirled his body and tail around our legs as we sat at my computer table, finally jumping up and plopping right down on my keyboard.

  “No, Moonshadow, not tonight,” I scolded as I swooped him off and set him in my lap. Megan reached over and scratched the top of his head, making him purr loudly, rubbing his entire head into her hand. Lucky, spoiled cat!

  “Okay,” she said. “Harriet Rilat lived in Minden, West Virginia, which is where your whole family is from. So this is where she met your mom’s Uncle James. She was born in Germany and look here, she had lots of siblings: Gertrude, William, Martha, Frieda, Benjamin Jr., and Lillian.”

  “Could one of them be Bet’s mom or dad?” I asked.

  “Maybe, but the word aunt can be used for all sorts of people,” she said. “We’ll have to go through all of them and try and find a connection.”

  We started with Gertrude Rilat and moved onto William. By the time we exhausted everything about Martha, we were dead tired. I was impressed that Megan worked harder trying to find my family on the website than she did perusing her own. She really is a selfless person. I was starting to maybe feel something for her.

  We went to the couch to sit back and finish our last glass of wine. It had been a long, yet good day. I was glad I spent most of it with Megan. I couldn’t help but notice her long legs crossed in front of her. I put my glass down on the coffee table and moved closer to hold her free hand. She reciprocated and turned and kissed me. With the Chicago skyline twinkling through the picture window, we ended up making love right there on my couch. The perfect end to a perfect day.

  ****

  Illinois, October 25, 1942

  Railsplitter’s Lodge

  Bet had talked Ray into going camping with eight other couples from her graduating class. It was an annual outing tradition near Springfield, Illinois called Railsplitters. It was chaperoned by Mister and Mrs. Hiserodt.

  Bet was one hundred percent a city girl, but, naturally, Ray was not a stranger to country living. The boys and girls were housed in separate cabins and then shared a common lodge. They dressed in flannel shirts and dungarees. Bet thought she and the others all looked like farmers.

  Bet sat and rested a bit with Sherle, a new friend she had made on the trip. Ray and Sherle’s boyfriend, Art, chopped wood for the evening’s campfire. Bet had tried her hand at rail splitting, but thought she would leave it for the boys. She stuck with hauling the wood to the wood pile.

  “So how long have you and Art been going together?” Bet asked Sherle.

  “We only started this year, so it’s been about five months,” Sherle answered. “How about you and Ray?”

  “It was two years in May. I dated a couple of other boys in the meantime, but Ray and I continue to be an item.”

  “He’s older than you, right?” Sherle asked.

  “Yes by five years,” Bet replied. “He will turn twenty one on his next birthday.”

  Sherle scowled and counted on her fingers. “Wow, I keep forgetting you are only sixteen. You were such a smarty pants in school and double promoted.”

  Bet felt herself blush. “Three times. Ray never even finished school. You would think we weren’t compatible. But for some reason, only known to God, we fit.”

  “I do like his accent and soft, southern charm,” Sherle noted.

  Just then Ray walked by and pointed his camera at the two girls. Bet put her arm around Sherle for the picture. He snapped it, stuck out his tongue, gave them a quirky smile and walked away.

  “Yes, you gotta love that charm,” Bet said sarcastically and laughed.

  Sherle started to ask Bet another question when they heard Mrs. Hiserodt calling from the lodge. It was time for the group to gather for supper. Mister Hiserodt had started the fire and some of the other girls had helped Mrs. Hiserodt with her chili. Ray and Bet sat with Art and Sherle around the fire as the October sun started to set.

  “This is my favorite part of camping,” Ray told the other three. Sitting around the campfire with my best girl, good friends, and good food.”

  Ray, I’m going to the cooler, can I get you something to drink?” asked Sherle.

  “Sure, anything will be fine.” Ray said.

  “Anyone else?” she asked as she walked away.

  “No, thank you,” Bet called after her.

  She came back and handed Ray an opened bottle of orange Nehi.

  “Thanks, doll,” Ray said.

  Sherle sat back down and whispered to Bet. “Very charming.”

  As the night wore on, the couples paired off around the camp fire.

  “Look at that moon, hon,” said Bet. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen it so big and bright.”

  “It’s a Hunter’s Moon,” ad
ded Ray. “It must be a lucky sign for us to have one tonight.”

  Bet snuggled into him. “This is such a grand outing, don’t you think so? I mean all these boys and girls and no one is arguing. Everyone is laughing and having a nice time. I know I am.”

  “Me too,” said Ray still looking at the moon. He then looked at her. “Gosh, you sure are pretty, especially how the moon and fire light reflect off the green in your eyes.”

  Bet felt herself blush and was glad that Ray wouldn’t be able to see her cheeks in the dark. “You say the nicest things.”

  “Bet, how do you see your life twenty years from now?”

  “Twenty years?” she pondered the question. “Let’s see, I’ll be thirty six. I can see you and I settled down in a nice house of our own…maybe in the suburbs. Maybe a brand new suburb like Bedford Park. We’ll have lots of children and be happy as clams.”

  “Lots of children?” he questioned.

  “Sure, maybe six; three boys and three girls. I love children, Ray.”

  “I know you do and you will make a great mom one day,” he added.

  “And you will make a great daddy.”

  Ray got solemn and looked back up at the moon. Bet didn’t know what was bothering him.

  “Are you alright?” she asked.

  “I’m fine, sweetheart,” he answered. “The future is so uncertain. It makes me nervous. One thing I do know, I want you in it. Maybe I’m just worried about being a good provider. The war has me on edge, too.” He looked back into her eyes. “What would you want to do with your life if I wasn’t part of it? If I wasn’t there with you?”

  “You have very serious questions tonight, hon,” she replied. “I don’t know what the future will bring, either. Heck, I suppose nobody does. All I do know is I want to be with you and also…I want to make people happy. If I can put a smile on someone’s face, my life will be perfect. I love kids, too.”

  “What if you couldn’t have kids of your own?” he asked.

  “Then I would make all kids my kids. Maybe I would work in a hospital’s children’s ward, or work with mentally retarded children.”

  “Could you do that?” he asked. “They sort of scare the hel…heck out of me.”

  “Oh, they don’t scare me,” Bet said. “They are beautiful children, inside and out. But, like I said, who knows. My dream is to grow old with you and have our six children…or seven.”

  “Seven? I better get a really good job.” Ray got solemn again. “There’s something I haven’t told you and it’s making me nervous.”

  “What is it? You know we shouldn’t keep things from one another.”

  “My sister, Tess, telephoned me. She is the only one left down there in Minden. Her husband, Roy, still works in the mines, but he got hurt down there. They need money, so she asked if I would come and take his place in the mines for one week.”

  “In the mines?”

  “Yes, for one week, but I have to leave on Monday.”

  “Monday? Just when were you going to tell me, Raymond?”

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t know how. I only got the call last week.”

  “Awwww heck!” This is not good. What if you get hurt down there?”

  Ray shrugged.

  “Why can’t we send them money,” Bet suggested. “I bet we can get mom to give us a loan.”

  “That’s not it.” Ray answered. “There’s a waiting list of men needing jobs. Tess is afraid Roy will lose his job if he misses his shift for a week. I have to do this, Bet. She’s family.”

  “I suppose I understand that. But listen to me, Ray. You will work your week and come back to me. Nothing is going to happen to you. Understand?”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Minden, West Virginia

  October 27, 1942

  “I had to call you,” Tess said to Ray while getting ready for his coal mine shift. “You’re the youngest and the most fit. Plus you’re not married. Vern and Chad are in the army, James is getting older, plus he has lung problems. I’m really sorry.”

  “One week and that’s all,” said Raymond. “When I get back, I plan on asking my gal, Bet, to marry me.”

  “That’s wonderful news,” Tess said. “Here, I made you a sack lunch. Is she nice?”

  “She’s the best thing since sliced bread. It’s James and Harriet’s niece.”

  “Frieda’s daughter?” Tess asked. “I had no idea.”

  “Sis, now that mom’s been gone for three years, when will you get out of this coal town? Come to Chicago like the rest of the family did. You know Dad died of a mine injury and mom of lung problems like James has. I’d be willing to bet my life it’s the coal dust. Look, it’s even on your kitchen table.”

  “Roy doesn’t want to relocate without having a job. Plus he owes a large debt to the company store.”

  “Yes, the company store,” recalled Ray. “That’s another problem. The mines underpay and the company store overcharges. Once you become indebted to them, they sort of own you. But we could help you out in that way. Plus, there are loads of jobs in Chicago. I was just telling Bet how they’re building a new Nabisco factory in her neighborhood.”

  “Nabisco?” Tess questioned. “What’s that?”

  Ray looked around the kitchen. “See that box of Uneeda Biscuits? That’s made by Nabisco.”

  “I’ll talk to him,” Tess replied.

  ****

  Chicago

  October 27, 1942

  Ever since graduation, Bet had started doing more of the cooking while her mom worked at the salon. She was planning out the meals for the week. For that evening, she had decided on fried chicken. She was hoping to make beef stew one night, but they had used up their meat rationing coupons. She thought she could make a meatloaf stretch into two meals and use the extra parts of the chicken for soup or even chicken stew. She wondered if she could learn to make a crust for a pot pie. She relied heavily on her Good Housekeeping cookbook along with written recipes from her mom and Aunt Harriet. She hoped one day to learn to cook without notes, as they did. She was working on a spaghetti sauce that would be just her own.

  Bet already missed Ray and hadn’t heard from him since he left. She knew that telephones were scarce where he was. Like his sister Tess, he would have to go down to the company store to use the phone. Plus he could only use mine issued company script as currency.

  Bet was like a sheepdog. She was most happy when all her flock were together and safe. She had her mom, Donald, and Kat, but felt uneasy that Ray was so far away and in possible danger. So she busied herself by shopping and planning meals.

  She switched on the radio to listen as she cooked. After the set warmed up, she tuned in the dial. Her mom liked to listen to classical music on programs such as George Gershwin, or those played on The Voice of Firestone and The Bell Telephone Hour, but Bet liked to listen to more modern programs such as Gasoline Alley and Lil’ Abner, even if she just had it on as background noise. The broadcast of National Barn Dance was just signing off. The country music and comedy sometimes made her laugh, but that day, the Southern accents made her think about Ray.

  ****

  Beckley, West Virginia

  October 27, 1942

  At the company store, Ray was told he would be working with a group the foreman pointed out. He went and stood by the men, who were waiting for their daily assignment. Ray noticed that he was the only white man in the group. He walked up near them and heard them talking about the mine explosion of the Christopher No. 3 coal mine in Osage, West Virginia, back in May. One of the men spied him dubiously, but continued talking.

  “Fifty three men died down in there,” the large man said.

  “I heard it was fifty six,” said another man.

  Ray was well aware of the segregation that existed in his home town. But he was also aware that white and black miners sometimes worked well together, once they were deep down in the belly of the mines. Before President Roosevelt signed the National Industrial Recove
ry Act (NIRA) into effect back in 1933, minority workers were usually assigned the more dangerous jobs. But change comes slowly in the south and Ray realized as a newcomer, he and the group of black men were going to have different tasks than the group of white men who proceeded them down. They split them into the A crew and the B crew.