To Elissa’s surprise, her father, Jack, after some initial grumbling, had very few complaints after he met Ty. She supposed it helped that he had known Ty’s father for years; Jack bought all his insurance from Mr. Lofgren. Or maybe her mother, Mary, had prevailed upon him with something like, “She’s going to end up with someone; at least he’s a hometown boy.” Though Elissa knew that her mother wasn’t too happy about Ty getting so serious about Elissa when he was heading off for the Army in a couple of months. Her grandfather John, on the other hand, seemed very pleased when Elissa told him about Ty, while Wilma gave very little reaction at all, just an “Oh, how nice,” with her eyes looking glazed. Elissa wasn’t quite sure how to take that.

In fact, from the varied reactions of everyone around her, Elissa wasn’t at all sure how everybody expected her to feel about Ty. Mostly, she was just as surprised as everyone at school about the way things had gone. From the first, Ty had treated her with delicacy and great care, and on their third date, over milk shakes at Emory’s, he had asked her to go steady.

It had seemed awfully sudden; she’d hesitated.

Wondered immediately if a good idea, with him leaving for the Army so soon and me still so uncertain after the Betrayal. Could our relat. withstand a long separation? Did I even want to try? Not sure why I chose the particular objection to voice that I did.

“Oh, Ty, I don’t know,” she demurred. “You’ve got so many other girls you’re dating, what about all of them?”

“Elissa, I don’t want to date anyone else. Not anymore. When I’m with you—I can’t even remember any other girl’s name,” he said. (The sophomore class was devastated, when word of that line got out.)

So I said yes, of course. Vindication, of a kind. (& sweet besides.) J. Wasserman is beside herself. “Are you in love?” Muriel asks. “Wait and see,” I tell her.

The proof is in the pudding, as Dad so often irrelevantly says.

Chapter 40

Express your wishes as requests, your advice as suggestions, rather than issuing orders or instructions.

—“Making Marriage Work,”
Ladies’ Home Journal, January 1950

THE MICKELSON HOUSE
502 W. First Street, Pine Rapids
Friday, July 28, 1950

After Byron went to work and Dolly finished washing the breakfast dishes, she vacuumed the bungalow. It was a task she’d planned for yesterday, but between the Women’s Club meeting and the time she’d spent over at the Mickelson house, she hadn’t managed to get it done.