She is my Grandma Nonie. Her name is Norma, but she’s always been ‘Grandma Nonie’ to me. If you look to the right you will see her beautiful face.
Where do I start in telling you about this amazing woman?
Well, I’m not going to tell you the year she was born. She is still alive, and will deny it anyway. However I will tell you she was born on October 21, the same day as my little Oz.
She fell in love hard at the age of 16 to a sweet, hard-working man named Vaughn. (His handsome face is just below Norma’s on the right). It was during World War II, and on their first date they were driving down the road having a good time, and as they happened to be driving past a bar, a drunk man stumbled into the street right in front of their car! Vaughn couldn’t stop in time and he hit him! Thankfully he wasn’t hurt bad, and I heard that Vaughn gave him a good lecture on running out into the street. … I’m sure it was a memorable first date! J
They got married shortly after.
Vaughn was either drafted, or joined the Army shortly after that (I’m pretty sure he was drafted).
It didn’t take many days of Vaughn being away that Norma just couldn’t stand sitting around waiting for the war to end… she wanted to help in anyway she could to help it end sooner, so she couldn’t be with her Vaughn again.
So, she lied about her age (she was only 17) and she joined the WAVES.
As she was on a train headed for New York for training she wrote Vaughn this letter:
My Darling,
Still I’m on this darn train. I’m so tired. I wish you were here so I could put my head on your shoulder and just sleep, and then ever so often wake up and have you here to kiss and love.
Sweetheart, I’ve got it bad for you. You’re still my dream man, and I know your always going to be. I’ve never seen anyone that could even half take your place. No matter how long we’re apart, I want you to know I’ll never forget you, or stop loving you.
We’re getting pretty close to Chicago now, so I may have to close for a little while. We’ll only be there about an hour because this train is so late in getting there.
Darling I’ve got an address now, so you can send my mail to me in New York.
Gee! I’m with some nice girls. I run around with three that are really super. We’re going to have our picture taken together when we hit Chicago. I’ll send you one so you can see how cute they are. Their all older than me, but they don’t know it. They all think I’m twenty. I’m going to let them keep thinking that too, cause if it should leak out I’d be a civilian again, and I don’t want to be that, do I? Gee! I love you. I think you’re the swellest G.I. in the Whole world for letting me join. It just goes to show that you love me and trust me too. Oh Darling, I hope that I can make you proud of me, even if I am a Wave! You do love me, don’t ya hun?
I’m going to close for this time, loving you more every hour of the day.
All my love & kisses,
Your loving wife,
Norma
P.s. Write soon, and please take care of yourself, cause I do love you such a lot.
Hurry home Trooper Darling.
I love this letter.
For so many reasons.
But, to make a long story a little shorter… Vaughn made it home, and Norma fessed up about her age, and she was kicked out of the WAVES, so she was able to get home fast to join him there. J
They had 3 boys. The middle boy was my father.
They were married for 12 years, and my Dad was 4 years old when Vaughn contracted Rheumatic fever. He was hospitalized, but because he was allergic to Penicillin, which was at the time the only thing that could help him, he didn’t make it.
Norma was devastated. My Dad says that he remembers her walking around the house singing “Stormy Weather”.
Every time I hear that song now I think of her, and I get teary eyed. (You have to watch (or at least listen too) the youtube video above... it's Judy Garland singing "Stormy Weather"... powerful, and amazing).
She got re-married a few years later and moved back to New York with him. She had another boy there, and Norma worked in a factory to help make ends meet. Unfortunately the marriage didn’t work out, and after they divorced she moved her 4 boys back to Arizona to raise them.
She was a single mother of 4 boys.
I don’t know how she did it.
But she did.
She was tough, and she was kind, she was funny, and she was/is beautiful. She can tell a funny story, and cuss with a smile. My mom always winced when she cussed… I always smiled.
I’ve been told over and over that I’m just like my Grandma. Right down to the cussing… which I’m trying to do better by.
She likes to sing, and dance, and get the job done. If you were having a hard time of it, and you went to her for help she would tell you to “buck up!”
Life isn’t in your control, but the way you deal with it is.
Years later, after her boys were grown she went to a dance hall with a friend and she met Bernie. She has been married to my Grandpa Bern now for… well… I have no idea… sense before I was born.
I love my Grandpa Bernie. He has always been a great Grandpa to me. I’m so glad that Grandma found him.
I’ve always wondered about my Grandpa Vaughn though. He was always a picture on the wall, very handsome in his Army uniform.
As I’ve grown older, and have 3 children of my own, I am now about the age Norma was when she lost her husband. The thought of losing my husband is terrifying. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for her to go to bed at night without him there. Raising 4 boys, alone. ... how does anyone do it?
As I read the letter she wrote to Vaughn for the first time only a few years ago I cried. Her letter was prophetic.
I’m so tired. I wish you were here so I could put my head on your shoulder and just sleep, and then ever so often wake up and have you here to kiss and love.
Sweetheart, I’ve got it bad for you. You’re still my dream man, and I know your always going to be. I’ve never seen anyone that could even half take your place. No matter how long we’re apart, I want you to know I’ll never forget you, or stop loving you.
She never did stop loving him. To this day I know that she never did stop loving him.
And although Grandma Nonie is chronically stuck at the age of 29, I will never stop admiring her, and loving her. She is my hero.
Wow! Even I learned so new things about grandma! That's an amazing letter! Where did you find it? Thanks for posting this! I love that grandma of ours!!
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