I Am Thankful for Dinner with Happy and Others
Well, it was as good a night as any to get together with friends. Happy invited a few of us older folks over for dinner. I was a little surprised that the dinner was so early in the week, but Happy has as much curiosity as the next. So, last night it was dinner with a few couples and of course, the guests of honor… Mrs. Hildebrand and Miss Bessie.
Oh, my! The men folks have no interest in anything these days but the kids. We, the ladies, were so relieved when the men took leave to the family room to go over some solar panel plans for Miss Bessie’s house, not that any of us believe that she will go back home… not as long as Mrs. Hildebrand has anything to say about it.
With the men out of the way, Happy, Maggie, SinDe and I had Mrs. Hildebrand and Miss Bessie to ourselves. Needless to say, we were eager to pick up on the story from the other night… the story of the relationship. We had worked our way through a homemade lasagna and wild greens in a delightful salad by the time the men moved on.
Anyway, we were three sips into after dinner coffee before Mrs. Hildebrand spoke up. She took us all by surprise, but let’s just say that she knew exactly what we wanted to know… and she was about to share her story.
To cut through the chase… Miss Bessie and Burton, Mrs. Hildebrand’s brother, had an attraction from the get-go. Mrs. Hildebrand was kind enough to bring pictures neatly put together in an old timey photo book. There were pictures of Burton in his army uniform. There were pictures of Miss Bessie, young and fresh, in a flowered spaghetti strapped dress. One in particular was telling. Miss Bessie and Burton were arm in arm in a club that still exists in the heart of what used to be a black neighborhood.
There was another picture of Mrs. Hildebrand sitting at a table in the club. As she told the story, it was obvious that both Myrtle and Burton McGregor had ventured into territory that was forbidden back in those days. But, both appeared happy in the pictures, as did Miss Bessie.
Well, it seemed that the three of them, Myrtle, Bessie and Burton had a close relationship leading up to the war. Miss Bessie blushed a few times as Mrs. Hildebrand told the story of their good times. We all got the idea than perhaps Miss Bessie and Burton were a little closer than either would confirm. And, no one dared ask. Of course, we will all be kicking ourselves all day today.
Even when we noticed that in one of the pictures taken just before Burton left for war, Miss Bessie was wearing what appeared to be a diamond ring, none of us asked. The pictures told us as much as the ladies were willing to disclose.
So, it seems that the threesome made up a close friendship. And, based on the conversation over coffee, Mrs. Hildebrand inserted herself not so much because Burton wanted her to be in the background of every picture as because he didn’t want to risk her telling what she knew.
Anyway, one of the last pictures showed Miss Bessie and Burton sharing a farewell kiss. Mrs. Hildebrand took the picture. That was a long time ago. Burton went off to war and was killed a few months later. Mrs. Hildebrand returned to the segregated world of her family, seeing Miss Bessie only a few times after Burton left for war. And, it seems that before word had come that Burton had been killed, Miss Bessie had vanished from town.
That’s the story Mrs. Hildebrand and Miss Bessie shared last night. But, there was no explanation of a single photo of on a page all by itself of a woman who appeared to be Miss Bessie, holding the hand of a child. Miss Bessie closed the book before we could look. And, she closed the conversation at the same time.
Oh, my! The more you learn, the more you have to learn. But, one thing is for sure… Mrs. Hildebrand and Miss Bessie go back a long way… and their friendship is deeper than anyone could have guess.
The lasagna was good too.
