My Mother Marie

Marie, happy-go-lucky, loved to dance and sing even after her 12 hour shifts at the Fendrich Cigar Factory where she worked during the Great Depression. She was from a large Catholic family whose alcoholic father died when Marie was six. Her Mama Pauline was at St. Anthony church every time the doors were unlocked and she was adamant that her children would never miss Mass on a Sunday or a Holiday. When Marie began dating Ed - he told her in no uncertain terms that he did not dance, did not intend to learn and would never set foot in the Dreamland Dance hall on Franklin Street. Marie was devastated that her entertainment would be sitting at the kitchen table drinking home brew beer and playing clabber. . . Long drives in the country in Ed's car was an inexpensive past time since a gallon of gas was priced at about 5 cents. What happened to those years so suffused with happiness that turned into a life without hope? When did she become so empty and angry?