Part 2....Continuation........And Where Do We Go From Here ..... From ....Two Souls on Their Journey

Before I continue I'd like to point out the difference in sexual standards between 1960 and today. Although feminists were beginning to burn their bras, sex was cloistered in the confines of marriage and the subject was never a public issue. If a young girl became pregnant, she was immediately married or went on a few months vacation and came home a little slimmer. That was "it." Period. Since I was a product of the times, I naturally assumed Marilyn was married when I saw she was pregnant.

We were sitting in our little artists group at the Nic, shrouded in a haze of cigarette smoke, drinking Mexican beer and discussing the evening's drawing class. Someone put a nickle in the jukebox and Dean Martin was crooning "Volare" as a soft background to the animated discussions.

I happened to be sitting next to Marilyn and noticed she was very quiet and withdrawn from all conversation. It appeared she and I were about the only two in the whole cafe who weren't smoking.

She turned to me and said, "Smoky, isn't it?"

That opened up a conversation with both of us declaring we weren't smokers. We thought that was odd since it was a time when everyone smoked. Marilyn added that she stayed away from the Nic since she became pregnant because the cigarette smoke made her ill. When I asked her when she was due, she laughed nervously and said, Any minute." As Marilyn was studying my face, it must have betrayed some question about the father.

"I'm not married." she said, again studying my reaction.

I didn't have time to answer when she pointed to three guys sitting in a corner and said, "Harvey, the one taking his guitar from the case, is the father."

I did manage to ask if they were together and she blinked away tears as she told me he didn't want to get married or have anything to do with the baby. I knew Harvey slightly from class as he was one of the helpful students giving me drawing tips. He with his guitar and singing buddies were always the center of attention. Harvey was a charming bon vivant and I understood how he could literally charm the pants off a girl.

I reached over and touched her small, helpless hand. She turned toward me with tears streaking black mascara down her cheeks. This fragile girl began pouring out her circumstances as fast as the tears kept rolling down her face.

"I was so stupid, she said. I thought he loved me but I got pregnant and my Mother wouldn't let me me come back to Duluth because she didn't want my Father to know. She put me in this horrible home for unwed mothers and now the nuns want me to give up the baby. They're cruel and keep telling me what a sinner I am when they stick the papers in my face to sign. I haven't signed because I want my baby. What'll I do? I'm so miserable."

Marilyn suddenly stopped crying and apologized for burdening me with all this information. I assured her it was OK and I would stop by the home in a few days and we could talk some more. She said she'd like that .

Driving home, I kept thinking about the plight of this girl. I couldn't begin to imagine the anguish of having my babies taken from me. I'd stop to see her after my next class at the U.

The next day, Judy called and excitedly said Marilyn had a baby girl. After my class on Wednesday, I rushed to the hospital and literally ran through the hall to the maternity ward. I didn't understand my urgency as I flew into Marilyn's room. Marilyn was again in tears, just as she was the last time I saw her, but this time there was a nun standing over her with a pen and paper. Immediately I got the picture. She still hadn't signed the baby away. I stood by the end of her bed and didn't budge. The nun gave me a grim look as she told Marilyn she'd be back.

As soon as the nun left the room, the bag of emotions burst. We hugged each other as she told me the details of the birth and how much she loved her baby and didn't want to give it away and how badly the nuns were tormenting her . When I asked what she was going to do, she just shook her head.

In that moment, I swear I don't know what came over me. I said, "Get the baby. You're coming home with me." I couldn't believe those words were coming from my mouth. I didn't know this person. We lived in a tiny house, already over-crowded with four kids. Where would everyone sleep?

We took the baby, signed her out of the hospital and drove to the home to get Marilyn's belongings. How was I going to explain to Daryl that I'd brought home a person I didn't know AND HER BABY, to live with us?????

To be continued.