My mother and only my mother
Insists that Pearl harbor
Did not occur
From the time we first learned
In Kindergarten to Highschool
She recommended I be put
In the nuts house
Because I believed in the story
That was on the cover of the newspaper
When she was a little girl.
All because she misunderstood
The Conversation that her grandpa
Had on the phone while reading
The news and feeding her
While the women flocked to the other side
Of the property til late in the evening
Her name was Norma.
She was just fourteen years old
She was the forth girl
Of a large Scndinavian family
Who were mainly boys
Her older sisters had gotten married
First Ella to someone from Montana
Then Helen had gotten very ill
And Hazel who had run off
Had to be brought back
Forced to wait ti she was eighteen.
The last and yougest of the girls
Was a bit spoiled and silly
Her older brothers had already
Run off and joined the war effort
Some made it to Hawaii
Were they training on the American ships
But were not yet at war
She wanted to teach but was too young
Nursing was the only thing she was allowed
She was also too young
But she had stolen Helens birth certifacte
No one would know except her brother
While she learned what it meant to be a nurse
Her brother was training to be a warrior
And then they would meet up for the meetings
There were differeent religons in their family
But they were strict LDS
Mormons were allowed to get married young
Her brother arranged for her to meet
A widow whose wife had died
Leaving a little boy
Her choices were few
Her parents wantead her to think
Before jumping into marriage
Her sisters had both fallen in love
And forced them to allow a marriage
Now she had a few years they said
She was too shy to find that an option
Instead she wanted a religious one
The man was incredibly good looking
And his small boy charming
She wondered why she was selected
It was told that she had a good family
And her brother vouched for her
After a few weeks she agreed
The courtship was shorter than her sisters
But he was already an experienced man
And a pilot who needed a caretaker
She could finish her nursing on the weekends
Living in the dorms was not easy
Nor was the confrontations
On the weekends when she went
To her religion with her brother
Where did you find that one?
Does he have a brother?
On and on the went.
They had performed the marriage
Last month but were waiting for her
To be released from the active duty
To finish the vows as she had to return
To the dorms every night
She had finally slipped out
Of her dorm in the middle of the night
If they caught her there was nothing they could do
She was a married wman now
And had a place to go if kicked out
It was only to the Christmas
They said when her family would be coming
To visit her and see her that she was waiting
After she had run away they had searched
By accident her letter got lost
And her brother did not mention her arrival
Private investigators had shown up
Asking about her and she had wanted
To speak to him before she went to work
He had been angry at her walking
In the night but then they got to talking
Everything was now okay
But it was going to be a long month.
In her dream like stance
She walked along without notiing
Anything at all not the sounds
Nor the airaid when it came
It was all so new to her
And then the explosions began
Down by the bay
Her feet began to tremble
Her heart jumped into her mouth
No, no!
It cant be an attack!
She must get to the wire service
And tell her parents not to come
Not if they were going to be under
Attack by enemy forces
She had begun to run
She could see the buildings were on fire
All around her was confusion
And chaos as the military shells
Rained down on them.
She saw her friend waving at her
With a heavy heart
And light feet
She ran straight forward
Into the blinding light
Of another rain of bullets
Struck down midstride
Never understanding the sign
Of stay back danger
She fell face forward on the ground.
Her body was never recovered
Her parents were initially told
It was not true
She was not dead.
But she was dead.
Her brother would be looking for her
Her husband would not be returning
From his flight that morning
His sudden departure had left the lad
Alone expecting the new woman
To return once she got the message
A message she never received.
It was well into the night
Before he was discovered.
She went into the morgue with the others
She had the wrong name on her badge
And had recently been married
Her identity got lost in the ensuing chaos.
Another woman had seen her fall
She had picked up the wallet
And then got hit on the head
Before she could flee the situation
She woke up in a hospital in Florida
Where they had evacuated the fallen
Who had survived with no idea
Of how she had gotten there
Except there were beaches
And palm trees and sound of sirens
They had air raid drills
Just in case someone came calling
After what happened in Hawaii
Florida was taking no chances
She smiled as she laid back
Her head pounding and no attack
Had occurred on her island.
When she awoke there was confusion
Many had come to see her
But said she was the wrong one
But then word came that her husband
Was still missing and the family wanted
The baby in Wisconsin
She asked if she could go as well
The agreed and made arrangements
For her departure
Only to find herself
Seven years later confronted
She had no husband
He had never been found
Now declared dead she had arrived
To find a life of waiting
Was over for a couple
Who had lost a young teenager
To find a full-grown woman with child
They helped her take care of the arrangements
And then took her home to California
Where they wanted her to live with them.
Instead, she remarried as soon as she could
Mormon life was not bad
And Utah was beautiful
She did not have to hook
Anymore nor steal for a living
Now she was a married woman
With family and had a few babies
Later she would regret nothing
Only the one young girl
Did not believe her at all.
The niece Carol had been a favorite
They had hid it from her that Aunt Norma
Was in the air raid
Taking turns to make sure she did not hear
The radio nor read about it.
She was convinced it had not occurred
Because her favorite aunt Norma
Told her it had not over chocolate cake
Convinced for life she kept
Her word that day
To continue denying the event
Even when her husband had
To participate in Pearl Harbor Day.
As his father/uncle had lived through it
Spending two wars in the Pacific
A Navy family from the first.
Then her daughter wrote that paper.
After what she did to her earlier,
She now had to arrange for her
To go to a mental ward or something.
Imagine believing in that propaganda!
Her aunt would not lie to her!
Nor would the old guys who experienced it.
Meanwhile, the daughter was signing papers for her Dementia.
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