The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion Part 31

Then Dee Dee did something that shocked her mother. Dee Dee looked at the man and said, "a.s.shole," and turned around and walked away.

Sookie did not like bad language, but she heard herself add, "Macho a.s.shole," and followed her daughter, and they both burst out laughing.

They left the airport that day with a feeling of tremendous pride and with a deeper appreciation of what the WASPs had done. And now she had a clue as to what it must have felt like, risking your life day after day, and not even being appreciated. No wonder some of the gals were bitter.

Dear G.o.d, thought Sookie. Even after all these years, after so many of these women died flying for their country, these men still didn't want to acknowledge it ever happened. Some things never change. Thank heavens for the younger generation.

THE REUNION.

POINT CLEAR, ALABAMA.

THE MOMENT SOOKIE PICKED UP THE PHONE, SHE RECOGNIZED THE voice.

"Hiya, kid!"

"h.e.l.lo!"

"I'm calling to see if you want to come home with me."

"When? Where?"

"To Pulaski."

"Oh ..."

"I just got off the phone with Pinks, who's organizing it. This year, we're having the WASP reunion in Pulaski. Can you come? There's going to be a parade, and yours truly is grand marshal, and I want you to ride with me."

"Oh, my gosh ... well, yes! Of course! When?"

"August fourteenth."

"I'll be there."

Sookie was so excited. She had wanted to go to Pulaski, but she hadn't wanted to embarra.s.s anyone by just showing up. Now she had an official invitation from Fritzi.

ON AUGUST FOURTEENTH, SOOKIE flew into Green Bay. Everybody was staying at the big Hyatt, and Sookie's plane was late, so she was told to meet them at the hotel dining room, where they would be having lunch. As she walked in the door, she looked over and saw a group of women at a table in the corner and stood and watched them for a moment.

She realized that to a stranger, they would look like any group of old ladies having lunch. One would have no idea who they were or what they had done. The maitre d' came over and took Sookie over to the table, and Fritzi looked up and said, "Here she is! Pinks, w.i.l.l.y, this is Sarah Jane."

She would have known them anywhere. Pinks looked just like her photos, and w.i.l.l.y was, of course, older but still a beauty. Later, she met her Aunt Gertrude, now a nun called Sister Mary Jude, for the first time. She had a face like a chubby angel on a tree, and she grabbed Sookie and hugged her. "Oh, you look just like her. Oh, you darling girl. Oh, if only Momma could have seen you!"

Someone sent over a bottle of champagne, and Fritzi lifted her gla.s.s and said, "Well, now that we are all here, here's to all the great gals who have already gone upstairs, and here's to us. We may not be as young and spry as we once were, but by G.o.d, as the song says, 'We're still here.' "

"Hear, hear," they said as they all drank a toast.

"And here's to Sophie's girl, Sarah Jane. Welcome home."

The next day, Sookie and all the ladies in their uniforms were picked up early in the morning and driven to Pulaski. As they drove into town, they were greeted by crowds of excited people, lined up on both sides of the streets, waving little American flags, yelling and applauding as they pa.s.sed by. After the parade was over, they all went to the large auditorium at the Knights of Columbus Hall, where the official ceremony was to take place, and both walls were filled with large photographs of Avenger Field in Sweet.w.a.ter and the girls and the planes they flew. Right in the front, on the right, was a large photograph of Sookie's mother, Sophie, smiling, standing by her plane.

AFTER EVERYONE WAS SEATED, Fritzi got up and welcomed all the WASPs and their families to Pulaski and then sat down by Sookie in the front row.

There were a number of speeches from the mayor, the governor of Wisconsin, a few senators, and other dignitaries. After the governor spoke, everyone a.s.sumed it was over, but, suddenly, Pinks came out onstage with a twinkle in her eye. She looked like she was trying her best not to smile and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, there is someone backstage who has flown here today in order to deliver a special message."

They all looked down at the program, but this speaker was not listed, so they wondered who it could be. As soon as the woman walked out onstage, there was a loud gasp and then spontaneous applause. They all recognized the U.S. astronaut immediately. She smiled, looked out at the crowd, and then said: "Good morning, I'm Sally Ride. I came here today to say something long overdue on behalf of all the women in the military who are flying today, and that is ... thank you. At a time when your country needed you, you stepped up to the task and proved that women could fly and do it magnificently. You faced and overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles with grace, bravery, and courage. Your sacrifices, determination, and refusal-to-fail att.i.tude opened doors that now allow women like myself to fly higher than we ever dared to dream. And so as those of us in the s.p.a.ce program today and in the future head off for the moon and the stars and beyond, know that you and all the WASPs were truly the wind beneath our wings. G.o.d bless you."

As she walked off and waved good-bye, the recording of Bette Midler singing "Wind Beneath My Wings" started playing over the loudspeaker.

What a day!

That night, the town threw a huge party for the WASPs out at Zeilinski's Ballroom. The place was packed, and when the band leader saw Fritzi walk in, he stopped the music, and everyone applauded as she made her way through the crowd. "Hiya, pals!" Sookie didn't know if they knew who she was or if they were just the friendliest people in the world, but she had never been hugged so much in her life. Pretty soon, the music started up again, and a large, jolly woman with a gold tooth grabbed Sookie, and off they went on the dance floor, dancing the polka. She guessed that's what it was.

Later, after Sookie had a chance to catch her breath, she noticed the long table laden from one end to the other with food. And she thought Southerners ate a lot! She grabbed a plate and started eating the most delicious something with mustard and sauerkraut. She didn't know what it was, but it was all good. She watched as Fritzi and all the others danced. They looked like they were having the time of their lives.

After being grabbed and whisked around the room by at least a hundred different people, including one eight-year-old boy, Sookie realized she couldn't blame her failure at ballet on her genetics. The Polish were very good dancers.

About an hour later, a man approached the bandstand and said something to the bandleader, and after the next song, the bandleader went up to the microphone and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special request for a song. Where is Sister Mary Jude?" The crowd roared and applauded. Sister Mary Jude was eating, but being a good sport, went up to the stage, took the accordion, and started a rousing rendition of "The Wink-a-d.i.n.k Polka." The next thing she knew, Sookie was out on the floor again, dancing to "The Oh, Geez, You Betcha Polka."

FRITZI'S SURPRISE

THE NEXT DAY, AFTER THE FORMER WASPS HAD GONE HOME AND ALL the banners were taken down, Fritzi called Sookie at the hotel, sounding as chipper as ever.

"Hiya, pal, did you survive the evening?"

"Oh, yes, but I'm still in bed. What a party!"

"Well, get your duds on and come on downstairs, because I have another little surprise for you."

When Sookie reached the lobby, Fritzi was outside in a car waiting for her. "Get in," she said.

Sookie said, "Where are we going?"

"Ah-ha. That's for me to know and you to find out."

The old Phillips 66 filling station had been closed for years, and all that was left was the sh.e.l.l of a building and the cement ramp where the gas pumps had once stood, but as they drove up to the front, Sookie suddenly heard the Andrews Sisters singing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." Then she saw the huge banner draped across the front: WELCOME TO THE ALL-GIRL FILLING STATION.

Then the three women and one lone man who had been waiting for them came over to the car, all talking at once. As Fritzi and Sookie got out, Fritzi was grinning from ear to ear and said, "Sarah Jane, I want you to meet your Aunt Tula. This is Wink's wife, Angie, and you know Sister Jude, and this one old geezer is Nard, Tula's husband. He just came over to set up the speakers. He's not staying. No men allowed."

Nard laughed. "Okay, Fritzi, I'm leaving, but it sure was nice to meet you."

Tula just stared at Sarah Jane and then burst into tears. "Oh, honey," she said. "You look so much like Sophie." Then she grabbed her and almost squeezed the life out of her. Fritzi said, "Don't kill her, for G.o.d's sake."

When they walked around to the back of the station, Sookie saw that the ladies had set up a big table full of more food. Fritzi explained, "Every three or four years, the gals and I try to get together for a little reunion."

Tula chimed in, "And this year is so special, because you're with us, Sarah Jane."

Fritzi looked at the table. "Yeah, usually we don't get Tula's homemade sausages or her cabbage rolls."

"Or her paczki ... oh, boy," said Gertrude, eyeing the plate piled high with homemade Polish doughnuts.

After Sookie sat down, she said, "I just want you to know I'm honored to be here, and thank you so much for inviting me. Life is so strange. A few years ago, if someone had told me that I would be at this reunion today, I wouldn't have believed them in a million years.... And yet, here I am!"

"And we're so glad you are here. When Fritzi told us about you, we were all just dying to meet you, but she didn't tell us how much you look like your mother," Angie said. "Oh, Sarah Jane, I wish you could have known her. She was so pretty."

"And she was twice as sweet," said Tula.

As they sat and ate, they told Sookie all about what it was like when the station had been up and running. Tula said, "I know it's hard for you to believe now, Sarah Jane, but G.o.d, this place used to be so busy. The house was right on that lot over there, and all you would hear day and night was ding, ding, ding ... people in and out. Momma said no wonder we were all a little ding-y. That's all we heard."

Angie said, "I'll tell you something else you wouldn't believe. Gertrude and Tula used to fit into the cutest little roller-skating outfits, and what a show. They would come flying out of that station, and boy oh boy, they would whip around those cars so fast, those poor customers didn't know what hit them."

Gertrude laughed. "That's true. We were pretty fast."

All afternoon, Sookie heard the most vivid and wonderful stories about what those war years had been like, the dances and the kissing booth, and how all the boys used to hang around. Sookie said, "Oh, it sounds like it must have been wonderful fun."

"Oh, it was," said Tula. "I never knew how much until it was over. But you know, life goes on. Then the boys came back home, and after that, it was a whole different life."

Later, as she and Fritzi were driving away, Sookie turned around and took one last look at the old station, and just for a split second, she could have sworn that she heard a bell dinging, and she saw the station as it used to be, with all the girls moving around happy and busy, young and pretty again.

THE NEXT MORNING, BEFORE they left for the airport, Fritzi drove her by the church and the school that her mother and all the family had attended. It was so strange for Sookie to think that she might have been brought up here and gone to that same school. Then they went to the cemetery, and she saw her mother's grave. And she saw those of all the other Jurdabralinskis she never knew.

WHEN THEY SAID GOOD-BYES at the airport, Sookie said, "Fritzi, you will never know how much this trip meant to me."

"Well, I wanted you to see where you came from and know that you had a family. h.e.l.l, you still do. You've always got me, kid, and don't you ever forget it."

"No, I never will."

WHAT?.

POINT CLEAR, ALABAMA.

SOOKIE HAD JUST COME HOME FROM HER PULASKI TRIP AND WAS looking forward to a nice long rest when the phone rang. It was Carter.

"Hi, darling, how are you?"

"Fine, Mom. Is Daddy home?"

"No, honey."

"Well, good, because I really wanted to tell you first. Are you sitting down?"

Oh, Lord, she hated when people said that. "No, but should I? Is it bad news?"

"No, it's good news, I hope."

"What?"

"Well, you know how you always said that someday I would meet the One?"

"Yes?"

"Well, I have."

"Oh, honey, how wonderful!"

"Yes, it is, and the thing is, we're getting married, and I want you and Daddy to come."

"Well, of course. Oh, my G.o.d, I can't believe it. Do we know her? What's her name?"

There was a long pause. "That's just it. Mom, his name is David."

"What?"

"I know this must come as a terrible shock to you, but I wanted you to know."

"Your friend David? The one you brought home that time?"

"Yes. I didn't tell you about it before, because I didn't want to upset you." Sookie sat there preparing to faint at any moment. "And it's not just a spur-of-the-moment thing. We've been together for quite a while, and you liked him, didn't you?"

"Well, yes, he was a perfectly nice person, but ..."

At that moment, Earle walked in the door accompanied by a large black-and-white Harlequin Great Dane, who proceeded to leap up on her good Baker sofa, walk across her lap, and jump over the other side, with Earle looking at him with eyes of love. "Isn't he wonderful, honey? He's a rescue dog, and his name is Rufus," he called out over his shoulder as he followed Rufus, who went galloping through the dining room, knocking over one of her mother's good Queen Anne chairs, headed for the kitchen area.

"Mother, are you still there? I am so sorry to tell you over the phone. I should have come home and told you in person. Are you just terribly shocked?"

Sookie sat there, phone in hand, and thought for a moment. She took a deep breath and realized that, to her amazement, she was not shocked.