Chapter 17 The War Comes to Emma
Missy listened to Emma talk even more. This was the first time in a long time that Emma had been able to talk without falling back into her own personal world. This was the first time that Missy was able to learn more about her family.
Emma remembered listening to President Roosevelt on the next day December 8, 1941 as he made a speech and signed the declaration of war with Japan. She was at one of the homes doing her normal cleaning work when while eating lunch everyone in the house stopped to listen to the radio and to listen to President Roosevelt as he made his now famous speech. After the speech, there was much discussion about Japan and Europe and Germany and Adolf Hitler. While listening for she dared not be in the conversation, she learned that soon America would also be fighting a war against Germany and Italy. She continued to have the funny feeling in her stomach as it got worse and worse. Again she did not know why but that she felt like something was going to go wrong.
After completing her cleaning and ironing for the house, she hurried home to start dinner for Phillip and her daughter. Phillip was always home by 6PM after making all of the deliveries in his truck. Even after several years of marriage, she still looked forward to being home when Phillip arrived with the kitchen smelling of freshly cooked food and seeing the smile on Phillip’s face when the smell hit his face.
Emma for some reason felt like she should cook a special meal for her family this evening although it was not Sunday. She continued to have the funny feeling in her stomach but she tried to put it behind her by cooking the special meal. She hoped that the meal would make her feel better.
At 6 o’clock she looked at the clock and Phillip had not yet come home. She had finished cooking and had put the food on the table and still no Phillip. It was now 7 pm and she still had not heard from Phillip. The feeling in her stomach turned from a funny feeling to one of dread as she wondered aloud.
At last Phillip came in the door after 9pm. He was not smiling as he usually does when he sees Emma. Her stomach felt like it was at the bottom of her knees when she saw him. He came over to her and asked that she sit down as he wanted to talk with her. He then put her hands in his hand and looked her in the eyes and said words that would make Emma’s stomach drop even lower. Phillip had decided to join the Army after listening to someone from the army talk to him and the other drivers that evening after work. For Phillip it was an easy decision as he remembered how proud he was seeing his father in the uniform. Yes he would miss Emma and their daughter; however, he had to carry on the family tradition of serving in the army with pride.
Emma then knew why she had such an awful feeling in her stomach all day. She wanted to just bust out crying but she did not. She just squeezed Phillip’s hand tighter and just laid as close to him as she could knowing that soon he would not be there sitting next to her. Thoughts began to run through her brain. She had so many questions but decided not to ask but just treasure the moment. After a few minutes, she rose and went into the kitchen to prepare the table for dinner. As she was re-heating the food, tears began to swell in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She tried to wipe them away before Phillip could see them but she was unable to stop crying. Phillip understood and said nothing but just came over and held her tightly.
Emma finally stopped crying long enough to prepare the table and dinner and they ate silently. Emma vowed to make sure that she cooked a special dinner every night for Phillip while he was still at home.
Emma was now very tired for she had been awake for almost an hour as she told the story to Missy. Missy was softly holding her Grannies hand as she spoke in such low and loving tones. It was quite evident that her best moments were when she spoke of her Phillip. It was almost like he was still there with her as she spoke.
Missy smiled as she held her grannies hand and began to try and picture Phillip and Grannie together. While she had never met him she had seen several pictures of him and he was handsome in the brown army uniform. She briefly wished that she had met him and seen he and her grandmother holding hands together. Her smile turned to a frown as she could not really even imagine that and she could only remember how her grandmother worked so hard each and every day since she could remember.