Keeping Up with the Joneses

Back home on the farm, Mother, Daddy and the kids: Shirley, Juanie and Ruth--huddled around the radio to hear about the war. Mama and Papa were visiting with them. They were even more anxious because their youngest son, Dick, was in the army. They felt that he was in harm's way. Ruth remembers Mama's low mournful cries as she rocked back and forth in a rocking chair. Sitting beside her was Papa rocking at the same pace as Mama. Only he was rocking in a straight chair. He added a rhythmic bump. They were holding hands. Tears were streaming down their faces--falling on Mama's bosom and landing on Papa's thighs. Shirley and Juanie probably understood what was going on, but two and a half year old Ruth was devastated that Pearl, a woman, had been attacked and killed.