Mom's Story: San Antonio

San Antonio

Our married life began in San Antonio, Texas, where Bill was stationed at Kelly Field, as a radar instructor.  Housekeeping in our first little garage apartment was meager.  We lived high on the hills of San Antonio at Ridgewood Court a nice residential part of town.  …

I realized I needed something to fill my days so secured a job at Santa Rosa Hospital, a five hundred bed Catholic Hospital, owned and operated by the Nuns. 

It didn’t take long to see the antiquated conditions under which the kitchens were operated, so I went to the Mother Superior and told her of my frustrations and what I wanted to do to alleviate the problems and make working conditions better.  It would be too long to tell all the problems I had with some of the little Nuns who had run of the kitchen for over forty years.  One statement Bill made to me after a particularly hard day was, “Honey, you go back there and show them the kind of stuff you are made of!” 

Such encouragement from my husband and the encouragement of the Mother Superior and the Chief Engineers was what I needed to get the improvements made.  The remodeled kitchens proved to be so much easier, that no one ever questioned me again.  Later when I had my first baby, Jim, the Nuns made me a beautiful baby dress and gave me a $100 bill as a gift. 

During this time I taught both student nurses and student dietitians their Dietetics.  The student dietitians were from Brooks General Hospital, a big Army hospital in the City.  We were able to work out a new sterile formula room for Pediatrics as well as establish an Out Patient Clinic for Diabetics where they could get their meals served three times a day.  This was according to a prescribed diet.  This was a great help to people who had special diets.  I wrote the diets according to the Doctor’s prescriptions. 

While working at Santa Rosa I became pregnant with Jim.  The doctors and nurses kidded me saying, “We’ll just move a bed down in your office and you can direct the affairs of the kitchen from there.”  However, I decided to go to Brooks General Hospital to have Jim.  A total of $3.44 was his cost.  Seven and a half pounds his weight, and he was born at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 10, 1945.  The Army doctors at Brooks were experimenting with a spinal injection, called Caudal anesthesia, and I was one of the guinea pigs.  This proved to be very dangerous later on.  I remember how my back ached after the birth.  I spent three days in the hospital then I was sent home to my husband’s charge.  The temperatures during that summer were ranging around 110 degrees, and our little apartment was like an oven, little Jim suffered from heat rash as well as inexperienced parents.  Bill took care of us during a three-week leave, and proved to be a wonderful nurse. 

Motherhood was a glorious experience for me, and the tie between Jim and me has been deep and lasting.  I understand him completely because I nurtured him and adored him during the 28 years he lived in our home before his marriage.  When the doctor put that beautiful son on my tummy after his birth, I shall never forget the ecstatic joy I felt.  Every little finger and toe carefully examined.  He was part of me!  What a miracle! 

On May 8, 1945 the victory in Europe was declared (V.E. Day).  General Eisenhower was a national hero.  However, it wasn’t until December 1945 that V.J. (Victory in Japan) was declared.  Excitement was on everyone’s lips. 

Red was coming home after three years.  Bill was discharged.  Mayola, bless her heart, sold her old Pontiac to us and drove it to San Antonio for us to come home in, and then she took the train to New Orleans to meet Red.  It was just before Christmas when we packed our car and started the long trek to Snowflake.  The highways were jammed with service men and their families and there was no place to stop for overnight accommodations.  So Bill and I drove all the way to Snowflake, arriving early one morning.  It was bitter cold.  The windshield would ice up so badly we couldn’t see out of it.  Mother was overjoyed to see us.  That Christmas our family was all together again.  Red and Mayola came from New Orleans, Louise and Royal and little Marsha from Wyoming, and Bill and I and Jim from San Antonio.  What a happy family! 

I'll Be Home for Christmas