Chapter 2: 1942, Rationing and a baby

They were married on January 17, 1942 at the home of Mrs. Gertha Suttles on Seminole Drive. It was a plain and simple affair that paid homage to the spirit of the times. Afterwards, there was no honeymoon to speak of. They rented a small house on Spring Street and made their home there together.

2 In an effort to devote as much of the nation’s resources as possible to the war effort, rationing was introduced that year. This affected almost every aspect of civilian life. Food stuffs like sugar, meat and coffee were rationed. Limits were placed on the purchase of rubber tires and gasoline. Pantyhose and shoes were hard to come by.

3 In short, everything that could be diverted from civilian use to support the American military was diverted. Ration coupon books appeared, and it was hard to purchase anything without the appropriate coupon.

4 Rationing, however, wasn’t the only new thing on the horizon in 1942. By Midsummer, it was apparent that Doodle was pregnant. As a consequence, she was immune to most of the hardships created by rationing, and the uncertainty that the war produced all around her.

5 Doodle was healthy and happy and her stomach was growing larger and larger by the day. Buford and her brothers hadn’t been inducted into the military yet. Hence, she could pretend for now that the outside world didn’t matter.

6 As the first anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor approached, Doodle was miserable. She was huge. Buford was off playing cards with his McAnally kin.

7 She was restless and tired of the house and being alone, so she decided to ride her bicycle down to Brown’s store. Unfortunately, her stomach was so big that she had to stop the bicycle at the end of the street and get off of it to turn the corner! By the time she made it back to the house, she was having mild contractions.

8 She quickly dismissed what she was feeling and went about her business. As the sun was setting, her water broke. She stepped out onto the front porch and asked one of her neighbors to call the doctor.

9 The contractions were becoming more intense now and closer together. She lay down on the bed and waited in the dark. She felt the baby move. The pain was almost continuous now with unbelievable spikes following one right after the other. This baby wasn’t going to wait on the doctor.

10 A few more minutes and a little boy was born. It was December 5, 1942. She was drenched in sweat, and the baby was covered in blood. She was weak and exhausted, but she somehow managed to clean the baby up a little and cut the umbilical cord. Then she wrapped him up and laid him in the bed beside her.

11 About an hour later the doctor arrived and inspected her and the baby. “You did a good job!” the old man declared as he patted her hand and got up to leave. “If you or the baby have any problems, you can have someone get hold of me day or night,” he declared as he pulled his coat on and waved goodbye.

12 A few minutes later, Buford returned from his card game. “Let me see him!” he grinned. Doodle pulled the covers back. “Have you fed him anything yet?” he asked. “No, I’m pretty tired,” she admitted.

13 “Well, that’s not a problem. I’ll fix him something right now,” Buford declared as he headed for the kitchen. Then he stopped in the doorway and whirled around. “What do babies eat?” he asked. “I don’t know, but it’ll have to be something soft,” she replied.

14 Buford thought for a moment. “How about some scrambled eggs? They’re soft.” “I guess that’d be fine,” she nodded.

15 So Wayne’s first meal was scrambled eggs chopped up real fine, with some mashed up leftover green beans as a side dish. The little guy smacked his lips a little bit and swallowed a small amount of food.

16 Then Doodle took one of the chocolate covered cherries out of the box sitting beside her bed, broke it open and allowed some of the creamy juice to run into the baby’s mouth. Wayne really seemed to enjoy that. After that, everybody got a little much needed rest.

17 The next morning, Mittie arrived and went straight to the kitchen and started to prepare some Karo syrup water for the baby. “I’m going to fix that baby a bottle,” she called into the bedroom.

18 “That’s ok, Mama. He’s already eaten,” Doodle called back. “What? What did you feed him?” Mittie demanded.

19 “Scrambled eggs and green beans,” Doodle truthfully reported. “Oh my God, you’ve killed him!” Mittie screamed as she rushed into examine the baby.

20 Wayne yawned, his eyelids twitched and he went right on sleeping. Doodle’s look of horror began to fade.

21 “He’s ok, isn’t he?” she asked. “No thanks to you and that husband of yours!” Mittie scolded. “What a year!” Mittie declared. “What a year!”