Summer 2019

~1942~

"C'mon, let's do it."

"No."

"If you really loved me, you would."

"You know I love you. I just don't want to get pregnant. Not yet."

"I don't want to die a virgin."

---

~2007~

Lila Morton had been dreading this day, and at the same time, looking forward to it for more than five years. She needed to go, and she wanted to go. If she didn't do this now, there might not be another chance. Tomorrows were a vanishing commodity when one was eighty-five.

"Are you ready to go, auntie?" Bridget's voice interrupted the older woman's train of thought.

She nodded her head. "Yes, this is as ready as I'll ever get."

---

~1942~

"Don't be silly, you're not going to die."

"You don't know. Every day it seems that someone around here gets a telegram with the black border on the envelope."

"I know."

"I want to have experienced everything there is before I go."

"Isn't this enough? Doing it with my hand? None of my friends will even touch one."

---

~2007~

Bridget smiled at Lila. She was her favorite aunt. She really wasn't her aunt, her mother and Lila had been the best of friends. As a child, she adored and revered her She was her Aunty Lila regardless that here was no blood relation.. Lila's house was always so interesting. There were books there, all sorts of books. Lila encouraged the young Bridget to read. Through her aunt, the young girl discovered the joy of learning.

"Well, we're on the plane. When are you going to tell me why we we're headed off to Washington?"

Lila bent down and pulled her carry on bag from under the seat. She removed a leather album and handed it to Bridget. "We are going to deliver this."

Bridget opened the cover and looked at an old picture of a man, woman and a baby. They were standing on some steps in front of a building in the winter.

"That was my father, my mother and me, I was six months old." Lila's voice quivered with emotion. "The day after this was taken, my mother slipped on some ice on those very steps and fell. She died the next day."

Bridget leafed through the album and stopped at a picture of a striking young woman. "I've never seen this picture before, is it you?"

"Yes, I was eighteen and just graduated high school."

"You were so pretty. You must have had the boys lined up around the block." Bridget could see her own eyes in the picture. "Why didn't you ever marry?"

Lila turned and looked out the window. She didn't want Bridget to see the tears. "I would have married. I was in love with the most wonderful boy."

Bridget was taken aback for a moment. This was a revelation, something she had never heard before. Lila's answers had always been, "Too busy with school," "Starting a career," "No time," and the grand finale, "I'm too damned old to be trying to break a man in."

"What happened? You've never mentioned this before."

Lila continued watching the ground below, she was silent for what seemed a long time. "The war."

She turned and faced Bridget, the tears streaming down her face. "That damned war took my Tony away from me. I loved him then and I still love him to this day. With all my heart. That's why I never married."

Lila dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief and then flipped back a couple of pages in the album to a picture of a girl and a boy sitting on a dock. "That was the first summer I met Tony. I was eight and he was ten. An older man." Lila was smiling again.

"My father thought it would be good for the two of us to get away from the city during the summer. His company would let him work from the beach house for much of the summer. He had an office next to his bedroom where he did his work. A couple of times a week a courier from his office would come by and drop off work for him and pick up what he had accomplished. Tony's parents always rented the place next door."

Lila paused for a moment as traveled back over seventy years,"Tony's parents were older, they owned several small grocery stores. Tony had a sister who was eighteen years older than Tony, so I imagine he was quite the surprise."

---

~1932~

"Can't you read?" A young boy demanded.

Lila blinked at him with wide, gray-blue eyes. "Yes, I can read. I'll be in the third grade in the fall."

"Didn't you see the sign?" He took a step closer to the young girl, hoping his size would intimidate her.

She blinked again. "What sign?"

He put his hands on his hips and rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. "The one that said that no dames were allowed on this dock!"

"I'm not a dame, I'm a girl."

"Same thing, ain't it?

"Besides, it's not your dock. It's ours."

The boy narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Uh, uh. The dock belongs to that house." He gestured towards a quaint bungalow with peeling paint. "And since no one lives there, I've claimed it!"

"I live there." Lila answered in a matter of fact voice. "My daddy and me."

The boy watched as a man emerged from the back door of the house in question and called out. "Lila, we have to run into town."

---

~2007~

She didn't like flying. It wasn't that she was afraid to fly; it was the inconvenience of time and privacy. Lila was a lady in all senses of the word, and security or not, she didn't like some man going through her suitcase and seeing her underwear.

A smile crossed her face as she recounted that first meeting. That whole summer had seemed magical. Tony hadn't taken long to warm up to Lila, mainly because there weren't many other children their ages nearby. The fact that Lila's father took them into town on Saturday and gave them each twenty-five cents for the movie and candy didn't hurt either.

---

~1942~

"I could stop if you don't like what I'm doing."

"No, don't stop. I like it. But, going all the way is different."

"There's lots of things that are different."

"Like what?"

"I could use my mouth on you."

"You would?"

"Maybe. Lot's of guys have gone all the way with a girl. How many do you think have had a girl use their mouth."

"Damn! You're going to make me..."

---

~2007~

". . . come." Lila blushed as she was roused from her thoughts. "Pardon?"

"Here they come," Bridget repeated. "With our drinks."

"I must have dozed off." Lila peered out the window at the darkness below and wondered how long she had been asleep.

It wasn't the best of wines, but it certainly wasn't the worst Lila had tasted either. She turned and looked at Bridget studying the pictures in the album. There was a picture of her and Tony on the beach, she would have been eleven.

---

~1936~

"Did you get it?" Tony hissed.

Lila rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. "Of course I did. I said I was going to and I did."

"Do you think he's going to miss it?" Tony asked.

"I don't think so, he's got quite a lot of it down in the basement." Lila pulled the bottle from the sack and then a corkscrew.

"What's that for?"

"To get the cork out of the bottle, silly." Lila paused for a brief moment and studied Tony. "I thought you said you'd done this before?"

"Well, uh, not with this kind of bottle. Just with a, uh, bottle with a cap," Tony stammered, trying to keep his composure. She was two years younger than him, but in a lot of ways she seemed older. Lila seemed to know a lot about worldly things.

"Does your dad drink a lot of this stuff?" Tony asked as he watched Lila use the corkscrew.

"No," Lila shook her head. "Just when he has people over for dinner."

She handed the bottle to Tony. "You're a lot stronger than me, just pull up and the cork will come out."

Tony beamed as he took the bottle. Lila always made him feel good, he had never admitted to anyone, but he thought of her as his best friend. It saddened him when the summers were over, and each family retreated back to the city to their other home for the beginning of a new school year.

After the cork had been pulled from the bottle Tony asked, "Do we just drink it from the bottle like a Coke?"

Lila shook her head and gave him a disapproving look. "No, we must use glasses. She reached back into the sack and pulled out two silver goblets.

"Wow!" Tony was impressed.

It had been a very dry, red wine from France. The taste was something Lila would forever remember. It wasn't a particularly pleasing taste for a girl who would soon be twelve. But, there was something there. She felt like she had passed a milestone in life.

Tony hadn't looked too pleased either, his face had screwed up tightly with the first drink. "That's nasty tasting."

Lila cocked her head and took a second sip. It tasted better now that the shock was gone. "My dad says you have to acquire a taste for it."

"I dunno." Tony gave her a doubtful look. "I think I'll stick with Coke."

---

~2007~

She had learned to love wine, and truly appreciated the craft of wine-making. Lila had spent many vacations in France, and Italy sampling new wines, and old vintages. She often thought about that young girl and that first taste.

"All the pictures in here seem to be of you and Tony. You haven't told me exactly where we're going, other than DC."

Lila studied the small wine bottle for a few moments, and then looked at Bridget. "We're meeting relatives of Tony's, and I thought they might like to have some of these."

Bridget nodded warmly and squeezed Lila's arm. "That's very sweet of you." She paused for a moment. "Is Tony buried in Arlington? We could go there if you wanted."

"No," Lila replied in a quiet voice. "He's buried in Tunisia." Tears appeared in her eyes. "I did go there once. So many crosses. . ." She turned and looked back out into the darkness.

---

1936

The summer they had drank the wine was a time of much experimentation. Tony had found a partial pack of Lucky Strikes. Armed with a box of matches, they sat on the hill above the lake and tried smoking.

Lila took one drag from the non-filtered cigarette, and began to cough. "It's awful!"

Tony tried to keep from hacking as he took his second drag, attempting to look like Clark Gable or Humphrey Bogart. His eyes watered, and by the end of the first cigarette, his face had taken on a green tinge.

Laying on her back, looking up at the sky, Lila had ceased inhaling, and now just sucked on the cigarette and immediately released a slow stream of smoke into the air.

"It's not as fun as I had imagined." She was trying to blow a smoke ring.

"I don't feel so good," Tony complained after smoking his second cigarette.

That summer had marked a major change. They spent almost all of their days and evenings together. Gone were the childhood games they had played. They spent much of the time listening to the radio. Lila taught Tony all of the newest dance steps.

A year ago he would have moaned and complained about learning to dance. This year, he liked feeling Lila in his arms as she counted off the steps on her back porch. She made him feel different, he didn't quite understand what that feeling was yet.

She would always think of this summer as major turning point in her life. Lila didn't feel like a child anymore. When her and Tony walked around the town, more often than not they would be holding hands. Lila liked the feeling it gave her.

Two days before they were to head back to the city, Tony had kissed her. Not a brotherly peck on the cheek, but a full blown kiss on the lips. It had taken Lila completely. by surprise. He had turned a deep shade of red and began to stammer an apology. She had simply stood on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips. That kiss lasted her through the fall, winter, and into the next spring.

---

~1942~

"Do you think we'll ever...?"

"Shh, just hold me right now."

"I'm scared."

"Of what."

"I don't know. Three days from now, I'll be gone. And I keep thinking, I'll never come back."

"You will. You'll have to."

---

~2007~

Two memories were very vivid in her mind as she finished the wine. His first kiss, and his last. Both had been unexpected. The last had been on the train platform, in front of his parents. She had been expecting a warm hug and kiss on the cheek. Neither his parents, or her father knew the full depth of their relationship. He had pulled her close and kissed her with all the love and passion he possessed. And at end, with watery green eyes he whispered, "I love you, Lila, with all my heart, and all my soul. When I come back, I will ask you to marry me."

Lila hugged him, and buried her face into his uniform. "And I will say yes."

---

~1939~

The summer of '39 was one of high anticipation. Lila was fourteen, and soon would be fifteen. No longer a child, she was fast becoming a young woman. Her slender body had taken on graceful curves.

Tony was sixteen, and had gotten his drivers license. His voice had long deepened, and his shoulders were wide, and in the fall, he would be on the varsity football team at school. The two of them made a handsome couple.

Their relationship was no longer a summertime friendship. They dated regularly, although it wasn't a topic they had discussed, they were going steady, neither had an interest in anyone else.

The focus was on Europe. It was a powder keg waiting to explode. Daily, the headlines in the paper reported on the latest from news from Berlin, London, Paris. It seemed to the topic of conversation everywhere.

Lila often felt unnerved by the newsreels, she was sure war was coming. Tony, on the other hand thought Hitler was bluffing and would back down at the last moment.

"What will you do if war comes?" Lila looked up from her malt.

Tony shook his head. "It's not going to come, maybe there's a slight chance in Europe, but Roosevelt won't take the country to war."

"I hope you're right," Lila sighed as she tried to convince herself that he was right. "I would like to spend a summer in Europe after school."

Tony nodded as he finished his drink.

"Have you decided what you're going to do after you graduate?"

"Yeah," Tony rolled his eyes. "I guess I'm going to go to state like Mom and Pops want."

"Good!" Lila reached over and squeezed his hand. "That's where I want to go after I graduate."

---

~1939~

Their world, and whole world with it had turned upside down when Germany invaded Poland and Britain declared war.

"I never thought this would happen," Tony shook his head.

Lila responded, "Do you think we'll get involved?"

"I don't know. I do know several of the guys from college are talking about going up to Canada and enlisting."

"You're not thinking..." Lila sounded anxious.

Tony shook his head, "No I couldn't leave Mom and Pops." He squeezed her arm, "And I don't want to leave you."

---

~1940~

"Yes, Anthony, what can I do for you?" Mrs. Finch looked up from her desk. She was the guidance counselor at Tony's school, and in charge of the Senior Prom.

"I would like to invite a girl from outside of my class and the school to be my Prom date, and I was told that I needed to talk to you first."

"Who is the girl, and why?"

"Her name is Lila," Tony's heart was pounding. "She's a sophomore from Bridgeport, and she's been my best friend for over ten years," Tony paused and looked down at his feet, "And she's the only girl I have ever danced with."

Mrs. Finch smiled, and noted the blush in Tony's face. Obviously this young lady meant more to the young man than he was letting on. "I don't see that being a problem as there are more boys than girls in your class. Just give me her name when she accepts your invitation,"

~2007~

Lila put her napkin on her plate, "That was delicious, I'm glad I listened to you and ordered room service."

Bridget nodded in agreement, "I didn't feel like going out and fighting crowds again, not after waiting for almost two hours for our luggage."

As she wheeled the room service cart to the door she asked, "Who exactly are we meeting tomorrow?"

"As I told you Tony had an older sister, Veronica, I think. Her daughter had a son who may have been a year or two younger than Tony, my age actually. He had twin daughters, who would be close to your age now, and that's who we're meeting."

---

~1940~

Lila's father answered the door, "Hello, Tony. I'm surprised to see you here on a Wednesday. I'll go get Lila for you."

"Wait, sir," Tony reached out with his hand. "I would like to speak with you first."

"What is it?" Mr. Morton was surprised.

"Well sir, as you know I will graduate in a couple of months, and uh, I uh, want to invite Lila to be my date for the senior prom.

Lila's father put on a serious face, "Have you talked to Lila about this?"

"No, sir," Tony shook his head, "Poppa said that the right thing to do is to ask your permission first."

"I agree with your father, and I glad you followed his advice. You have my permission to ask Lila to be your date for the prom."

Outside on the porch, on a chilly February evening Tony asked Lila to be his prom date. She never gave him an answer, she held him tightly with tears of joy running down her face.

---

~2007~

"How did you find them?"

"They found me about 5 years ago. One of them lives in Tony's parent's old house, and came across some of Tony's belongings. They tracked my address down and wrote to me. We've been corresponding ever since, and last year, we began speaking on the phone. Apparently the last letter I sent known got to his unit too late, he was already dead. When his parents got his belongings, they refused to open my last letter to him, they thought it would be disrespectful. From what they told me, it got put away and forgotten until 5 years ago. Now, they would like to hear the final letter, and I will let them read Tony's six letters to me."

Bridget could only shake her head in disbelief.

---

~1940~

Tony waited at the bottom of the stairs with Jack Morton as Lila walked down.

Tony and Jack both gasped at the same moment. Jack looked at his daughter and all he could see was the beautiful woman that her mother had been.

Tony handed Lila the corsage that Tony's mother had helped him pick out, he looked at Lila as if he was seeing her for the first time. "I always thought you were pretty, Lila," His eyes stung for a moment as emotion began to overwhelm him, "But I never realized how beautiful you are."

Later in the evening at the Prom, Mrs. Finch remarked to one of her female colleagues, as she pointed out Tony and Lila, "I've never seen a young couple so obviously in love, and completely oblivious to it."

~2007~

Lila looked at the letters, each one tucked neatly in its proper envelope. Six letters, nineteen pages, that was all she had left of her love. She had read those letters so often that she was afraid she may wear the ink off the page. When she read she could hear Tony's voice and accent.

A life that had been so full of hope and promise, a boy really, just approaching his manhood had his life cut short because of the stupidity of old men. A life reduced to nineteen pages of paper that were sixty-five years old. She wondered at how many times she had read those letters in sixty-five years. Thousands of times. And each time his words made her laugh and cry.

---

~1940~

France had fallen. At the movies they had watched Churchill give his speech. Lila held Tony just a bit tighter as she watched British pilots, only a few years older than Tony, take to the sky to defend Britain. Many of the smiling laughing faces in the newsreels wouldn't have survived that day.

"How many of those boys," she wondered, "Had girlfriends like herself?"

---

~2007~

The last time she had been here was a dreary January afternoon. From the outside the house hadn't changed in sixty-four years.

"Do you know that this would have been yours and Tony's home once you were married?" Eva, the oldest twin asked.

"I had no idea," Lila looked around the living for a moment visualizing her and Tony making this their home.