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Mom and I have known for a couple of weeks that she was going to be doing a little speaking engagement Nov. 10 at Mark Twain Elementary School’s Veterans Day event. The topic of discussion was to be her experiences as a “Rosie the Riveter,” and, to illustrate her subject, she planned to bring a copy of a World War II-era poster for which she and her co-workers had posed as an advertisement for her then employer Westinghouse.
Figuring she would be speaking for just a few minutes, she did take a few notes from which to read but, otherwise, really did very little preparation for, as she put it, her “little speech.”
Well, were we both surprised when we arrived at the school and found dozens of chairs assembled with hundreds of parents, students, teachers, and active and retired military personnel in attendance, as well as quite a few members of the press. When we asked where she should sit, she was shown to the stage and informed that she was to be the keynote speaker! Holy mackerel— neither one of us realized that what we thought was a little Veterans Day program was actually a very BIG annual Veterans Day program that would include songs, bagpipes, poetry, awards, refreshments and, of course, Marjorie Grommé as the keynote speaker.
I sat in the audience and watched Cub Scout Pack #23 present the colors, heard students sing songs representing the six branches of the military and listened to two girls read an essay and a poem. We were also favored with a few words from Mr. Braden Phillips, the Long Beach Police Department Bureau Chief. I could hardly contain myself knowing that Mom would be speaking at any moment.
She was finally introduced and escorted to a chair at the front of the stage and was seated next to the school’s principal, Ms. Ellen Ryan. Most graciously, Ms. Ryan asked Mom about her time as a Rosie and encouraged her to tell about “the best part and the worst part” of the job. Declaring some of the worse parts as having to give up aluminum cookware in order to donate it to the war efforts and farm women having to work in the fields because of a shortage of men, Mom concentrated more on the telling of what she considers to be the good parts: working afternoon shifts that allowed her to go out dancing after work, and the acceptance of women wearing pants in public. The crowd seemed taken with her remarks and really laughed out loud when she commented with a giggle: “I wish I would have known then what I know now.” Since she’s 92 years of age, with a wealth of knowledge, I’d bet that’s true.
All in all, it was a fabulous program, and I am so proud to have been there to see my mom on stage addressing such an enthusiastic audience.
