Week Three

Lesson Five Syllabus

I’m supposed to ‘reveal’ myself when I get to this point. Share my personal opinion of the events of my life. Even letting  others see the side of me that has  never been revealed. Now that’s a double edged sword, if ever !

I’ll be damned if I do, and damned if I don’t!  There’ll be a lot of angry and/or disappointed people.  Why the hell can’t I keep some things private?  Does anyone really want to know disappointing facts? Does anyone really want to know what it’s like when others use you when you’re a rich little boy? The heir to a vast estate? An estate it turns out that one of your forebears betrayed the family name with?

And what about other  distressing facts, like what it’s like to serve in the military and follow orders, even  give them, knowing full well men are going to die? Hell, most of that’s classified so at least I’ll have an out.

Digging deeper if I must, I actually cried when my parents died. It was so unexpected and then I found I had to put my career on hold while the guardianship of my little sister was disputed.  I even  got all misty eyed when I took her to a Disney movie and the mama elephant cuddled Dumbo in her trunk.

Big men aren’t supposed to cry. But I admit it. I have. In fact,   I cried like a baby when Lee…when…damn. I can’t go on.

CHILDHOOD  (BIRTH TO AGE 11)

Earliest Memory

IT WASN’T SO MUCH MY GREAT AUNT’S GOLDFISH THAT I WAS INTERESTED IN, BUT THE UNDULATING RAINBOW OF COLORS FROM THE SUNLIGHT STREAMING INTO THE FISHBOWL FROM THE WINDOW. PICKING IT UP WAS A LITTLE DIFFICULT AS THE WATER SPLASHED OUT. ALONG WITH THE FISH. HEY, I WAS ONLY ABOUT 3 OR 4. I DROPPED THE BOWL IN SHEER PANIC AS I SAW THAT FISH GASPING FOR BREATH. THEN ALL THAT BROKEN GLASS AFTERWARDS! 

 I THINK I CRIED. ALL I REMEMBER NEXT IS THAT MY GREAT AUNT'S BUTLER (WHO MUST HAVE HEARD THE COMMOTION) CAME TO MY (AND ‘GOLDIE’S) RESCUE). HE CHECKED ME OVER FOR ANY CUTS, THEN SCOOPED UP THE FISH  AND RAN ALL THE WAY TO THE KITCHEN (WHICH WAS QUITE A WAY FROM MY POINT OF VIEW) BUT IT WAS A LONG WAY EVEN BY ADULT STANDARDS) AND PUT GOLDIE INTO A SOUP BOWL HE FILLED WITH WATER.  I THINK I WAS AFRAID HE WAS GOING TO EAT IT.

CALMING ME DOWN, HE SAID I COULD COME ALONG TO GET A ‘NEW HOME’ FOR THE FISH BEFORE THE MISTRESS CAME BACK FROM HER LUNCHEON (SHE DID A LOT OF SOCIALIZING WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ‘DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION’ SOCIETY). SHE HAD LEFT ME IN THE CARE OF HER HOUSEHOLD STAFF WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO THEM THAT ‘HARRY’S NOT MUCH TROUBLE. JUST KEEP HIM FED AND SUPPLIED WITH CRAYONS.’ (MY PARENTS WERE VISITING HER IN WASHINGTON D.C. AND OFF VISITING SOME POLITICIANS AT THE TIME, AND SINCE SHE COULDN'T ABIDE THEIR CHOICE OF NANNY, THEY'D LEFT HER BEHIND IN BOSTON.)

WELL, ANYWAY, THE PET SHOP WAS FASCINATING. THEY HAD AN ENTIRE WALL OF FISH TANKS FULL OF PLAIN AND EXOTIC SPECIES. THEY EVEN HAD AN OCTOPUS, NOT TO MENTION AN ASSORTMENT OF OTHER CREATURES SUCH AS SNAKES, MICE, BIRDS, A COUPLE OF KITTENS AND A FEW PUPPIES. WHILE I WAS A LITTE PARTIAL TO THE PUPPIES, I KEPT BEING DRAWN BACK TO THAT WALL OF FISH.

BY THE TIME MY AUNT RETURNED, THE DAMP SPOT ON THE RUG HAD BEEN BLOTTED DRY, AND THE NEW FISH BOWL LOOKED PRETTY MUCH THE SAME AS THE ONE I’D BROKE. THE BUTLER PUT A FINGER TO HIS LIPS IN A SHHSSING FASHIION. THIS WHOLE INCIDENT WAS GOING TO BE OUR SECRET.

WHETHER HE TOLD THEM LATER WHAT HAD HAPPENED, I DON’T KNOW. IN ANY CASE SHE NEVER MENTIONED IT.

I DO REMEMBER HER MENTIONING ‘GOLDIE’ IN LATER YEARS, THAT A BEAU HAD WON IT FOR HER AT A CARNIVAL AND SHE HADN’T HAD THE HEART TO FLUSH IT DOWN THE ‘CRAPPER’ WHEN SAID BEAU OFF AND MARRIED SOMEONE ELSE WHO HAD A BETTER PEDIGREE.  BESIDES, SHE WASN’T A HEARTLESS PERSON, AND SHE HAD STAFF TO LOOK AFTER IT.  (CONSIDERING THAT AT THE TIME OF MY ‘ACCIDEN’T MY MAIDEN AUNT WAS RATHER MATRONLY, GOLDIE MUST HAVE BEEN A PRETTY OLD GOLDFISH. IN FACT, THE TYPICAL CARNIVAL GOLDFISH IS A ‘COMMET’, AND SOME HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO LIVE –WITH PROPER CARE-15-30 YEARS, THOUGH THAT RIPE OLD AGE IS NOT THAT COMMON.)

AS I LOOK BACK, I’M NOT SURE IF SHE KEPT GOLDIE MORE OUT OF REMEMBERING  WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN, THAN SIMPLY HAVING A KIND HEART.

NOW I WONDER IF I OWE MY LIFELONG FASCINATION WITH MARINE BIOLOGY TO THAT WALL OF FISH, A BROKEN FISHBOWL, AND A GOLDFISH.

AGE 3-7

GRANNY NELSON’S SCRABBLE SET. HAD NO IDEA WHAT THE LETTERS WERE, IT WAS JUST FUN TO MESS HER’S UP.

BUILDING A SNOW ‘CASTLE’. I REMEMBER I WAS SO INTENT ON BUILDING MY SNOW CASTLE  THAT MY FATHER TOLD ME I WOULD GET FROSTBITE IF I STAYED OUT ANY LONGER. HE TOOK A PICTURE OF IT THOUGH, AND LATER SENT IT IN TO THE NEWSPAPER. THEY PRINTED IT AND CALLED ME HARRY LLOYD WRIGHT.  I REALLY TOOK OFFENSE THAT THEY GOT MY MIDDLE AND LAST NAME WRONG.ALL THE ADULTS LAUGHED AT ME, AND MOTHER HAD TO EXPLAIN THAT FRANK LLYOD WRIGHT WAS A FAMOUS ARCHITECHT AND CALLING ME AFTER HIM WAS AN HONOR.

AGE 7-11

I WAS NOT A HAPPY CAMPER, AT LEAST NOT AT FIRST.

BECAUSE I HAD TAKEN AND PASSED SO MANY TESTS, AND BEEN CERTIFIED AS A CHILD GENIOUS, I’D  BEEN PLACED IN GRADES FAR ABOVE THOSE OF OTHER CHILDREN MY AGE. MY PARENTS FEARED THAT I WAS MISSING THE ‘NECESSARY INTERACTION’ WITH KIDS OF MY OWN AGE.

SO THEY SIGNED ME UP FOR SUMMER CAMP. I THINK I WAS 8.

I MISSED MY MICROSCOPE, SURE ENOUGH,  BUT THEN I LEARNED THE JOYS OF PUTTING GLUE ON THE SOLES OF THE CAMP COUNSELOR’S SHOES, THE NUANCES OF TARRING (WITH HONEY) AND FEATHERING (FROM OUR PILLOWS) SELECT BULLIES WHO HAD DONE THE SAME TO ME.  FISHING FOR, GRILLING (AND EATING) MY OWN FRESHLY CAUGHT TROUT. CAMPING, SWIMMING, HOW TO RECOGNIZE POISON IVY, ETC.,  BUT WHAT WAS THE BEST ABOUT SUMMER CAMP WAS BEING LET LOSE FROM ALL THE RESTRICTIONS  AT HOME.  I DIDN’T HAVE TO BE THE ‘LITTLE GENTLEMAN’ FOR MY FATHER, ‘MIND YOUR MANNERS HARRY!’ OR ‘WHAT’S HE DONE NOW?’ FROM THE PLETHORA OF RELATIVES. 

SUMMER CAMP ALSO TAUGHT ME THAT ‘EXCESSIVE SMARTS’  DON’T MAKE UP FOR FRIENDS.  I’VE MANAGED TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH  SEVERAL FROM THOSE OH SO  WONDERFUL SUMMER DAYS.

NEIGHBORHOOD I GUESS YOU’D CALL THE NEIGHBORHOOD ‘MANSION ROW’. AN ASSORTMENT OF FINE OLD HOUSES FROM BOSTON’S HEYDAY. SOME WERE ACTUALLY FROM COLONIAL DAYS. OURS WAS A HODGEPODGE OF STYLES AND EVEN INCLUDED PLANKS AND PARTS OF OLD SAILING SHIPS. (SOME OF OUR ANCESTORS HAD BEEN SEAFEARERS, BUT YOU’D HAVE TO TALK TO EDITH ABOUT THE GENEOLOGY OF IT.)

CRAZY /ODD PERSONS OR RELATIVES ONE GREAT AUNT CLAMIED THAT SINCE THE EARLY AMERICAN INDIANS  GREETED SOME OF OUR ANCESTORS ON THE SHORE OF MASSACHUSETTS, IT WAS ABOUT TIME WE HONORED THEM. SO SHE  WORE HER HAIR DOWN IN BRAIDS (IT WAS DOWN TO HER FEET BY AGE 70) AND ONE OF THOSE LOVELY LEATHER DRESSES WITH THE EMBROIDERED BEADS. ALSO MOCASINS. ( BUT SHE OPTED FOR HEAVY SNOW BOOTS WHEN THE WEATHER GOT BAD.) SHE ENCOURAGED ME TO STUDY THE TRIBES, THEIR HISTORY AND HOW IF IT HADN’T BEEN FOR THEM SAVING MOST OF THOSE EARLY SETTLER’S LIVES BY SHARING THEIR FOOD,I WOULD PROBABLY NOT BE HERE.

PARENTS/SIBLINGS AND WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE MY FATHER AND I SHARE SOME OF THE SAME FACIAL FEATURES, NOT SO WITH MY MOTHER. I DO SHARE MY FAIR SKIN, AND REDDISH HAIR RUNS IN THE FAMILY. EDITH INHERITED HER BETTER LOOKS FROM GRANNY.

WHERE YOU WERE BORN (HOSPITAL? HOME? OTHER)? ACTUALLY, I WAS BORN IN THE THEATRE. MOTHER WASN’T DUE FOR ANOTHER MONTH. AND WHILE MOST HIGH BORN LADIES OF THE TIME PRETTY MUCH STAYED HOME, OR ‘IN CONFINEMENT’ NOT GOING OUT IN THEIR CONDITION, MOTHER REFUSED TO LET A LITTLE (?) THING LIKE ME KEEP HER FROM GOING TO SEE HER FAVORITE PLAY.

 LABOR PAINS BEGAN DURING THE FIRST ACT OF ‘ROMEO AND JULET’. THE MANAGER HAD TO INTERUPT THE PERFORMANCE WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT ‘IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE’? (THERE WASN’T ONE)

AS IT BCAME CLEAR THAT I WAS AN  ‘EXPRESS’ BIRTH, THEATER STAFF BUNDLED MOTHER AND FATHER DOWN TO ONE OF THE DRESSING ROOMS. I WAS ACTUALLY DELIVERED BY A CLEANING LADY. FATHER HAD BEEN OF ABSOLUTELY NO USE, FAINTING AT THE SIGHT OF MY PREMIER.

MY ARRIVAL WAS ANNOUNCED TO THE THEATRE PATRONS AT THE END OF ACT TWO, AND I WAS GIVEN A LIFETIME PASS TO ANY PLAY STAGED AT THAT THEATRE FOR MY LIFETIME.

GAMES / CLUBS JR. CHESS CLUB, BOY SCOUTS, NEW ENGLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY (JR. MEMBERSHIP), SCIENCE CLUB (ALL THROUGH SCHOOL)

CHORES EARLY CHORES INCLUDED MAKING MY OWN BED (FATHER INSISTED NO SON OF HIS WAS GOING TO BE A LAYABOUT. THAT HE HAD STAFF TO MAKE HIS WAS DIFFERENT)

LATER CHORES INCLUDED KEEPING A JOURNAL AND TAKING OUT THE GARBAGE. (GRANDPARENTS WERE AGHAST AT THAT. IT JUST WASN’T DONE, A BOY BORN TO PRIVILDGE WORKING AS A SKIVIE) I THOUGHT IT WAS FINE. PROVED TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT WANT TO TAUNT ME ABOUT BEING A RICH KID, THAT I HAD TO DO SOME OF THE SAME THINGS THEY DID. MOTHER AND FATHER WERE RIGHT ON.

BEDTIME STORIES/GHOST STORIES I REMEMBER DISCUSSING VERNE WITH FATHER. THAT THE NAUTILUS WAS NO FANCIFUL DREAM, THAT ONE DAY IT WOULD HAPPEN. THEN HE’D TRY TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT TO SOMETHING LESS IMAGINATIVE LIKE THE LIFE AND WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE AND THE HISTORY OF THE NELSON BANSHEE.

CHILDHOOD ILLNESSES AND CURES I REMEMBER I HAD MEASLES. JUST HAD TO LET IT RUN ITS’ COURSE.

HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS WE ALWAYS CELEBRATED CHRISTMAS AND EASTER, BUT MOTHER ALSO INSISTED I LEARN OTHER RELIGIOUS  TRADITIONS IN ORDER TO TEACH ME TOLERANCE AND UNDERSTANDING. WE ALSO CELEBRATED ST.PATRICK’S DAY IN THAT WE DECORATED THE FRONT DOOR WITH A GIANT CARDBOARD SHAMROCK THAT I’D DECORATED WITH GREEN LEPRACHAUNS. THERE WAS A GREEN BOW ON THE LAMPOST OUTSIDE TOO. NOBODY WOULD QUESTION THAT WE HAD A BIT OF THE ‘OLD SOD’ IN US.

TYPICAL SCHOOL DAY/WEEKEND TYPICAL SCHOOL DAYS INCLUDED BEING TAUNTED AND BULLIED, REMEMBER I WAS IN JR. HIGH AT AGE 9, AND IN HIGH SCHOOL AT AGE 11. I TOOK IT ON THE CHIN AS FATHER HAD INSTRUCTED. SO IN TIME I GOT ALONG REASONABLY WELL WITH MY OLDER CLASSMATES.

I REMEMBER I THOUGHT MOST OF MY CLASSES WERE ACTUALLY BORING, BUT MOTHER SAID THAT WOULD ALL CHANGE WHEN I WENT TO COLLEGE. SHE NEVER DID ASK ME IF I WANTED TO GO TO COLLEGE. IT WAS SIMPLY ASSUMED THAT THE HEIR TO THE NELSON ESTATE WOULD DO SO WITHOUT QUESTION.

THERE WAS ONLY ONE CLASS I TRIED TO DITCH. MY 8^TH GRADE GYM CLASS. LET’S JUST SAY I WAS SMALL IN STATURE, AS WELL AS AGE,  AND THE OTHER BOYS WEREN’T. I WAS JEALOUS AND COULD HARDLY WAIT FOR PUBERTY. THEN MAYBE THEY’D STOP TEASING ME ABOUT MY WIENIE. CAN I SAY THAT FOR THIS HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT?

DEATHS OLD MR. SIMMS. HE WAS THE CARETAKER AT THE MUSEUM. I REMEMBER SITTING WITH HIM FOR HOURS LISTENING TO HIM TALK ABOUT THE EXHIBITS, ESPECIALLY THOSE IN THE MARITIME  SECTION. THERE WAS A STORY ABOUT THERE BEING A PIRATE TUNNEL TO THE HARBOR FROM UNDERNEATH OUR OWN HOUSE! FATHER WAS NOT PLEASED THAT I ACTUALLY GOT THE GARDENER TO HELP ME DIG AROUND IN AN EFFORT TO FIND IT.

(NEVER DID, BUT WITH SONAR AVAILABLE NOW, I MAY JUST DO A LITTLE INVESTIGATING NOW.)

I WENT TO THE FUNERAL AGAINST MY MOTHER’S WISHES. SHE WAS AFRAID I WAS TOO YOUNG TO SEE DEATH. BUT FATHER SAID I SHOULD. SO WE WENT AND I SAW HIM LAID OUT. HE REALLY DIDN’T LOOK THE SAME, AND I TOLD MY FATHER SO. HE SAID ‘THAT’S BECAUSE HIS SOUL’S NO LONGER IN HIS BODY. IT’S HOME. WITH GOD.’

I’VE NEVER FORGOTTEN THOSE WORDS. THOUGH THE COMFORT THEY BRING TO FACE ANYONE’S DEATH, HASN’T BROUGHT ME COMFORT ABOUT THE LOSS I STILL FEEL FOR LEE.

FEARS I HAD YOUR EVERYDAY NORMAL FEARS. BAD GRADES IN SCHOOL (THAT I HAD A STRAIGHT A AVERAGE DIDN’T MATTER, I WAS AFRAID OF FAILING JUST THE SAME.)

GIRLS. YES, I WAS AFRAID OF GIRLS, THE OPERATIVE WORD HERE BEING ‘WAS’.

GROWING UP (12-25)

13^TH BIRTHDAY  THIS WAS A BIG DAY FOR ME, OR IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IF EVERYONE  HADN’T FORGOTTEN ABOUT IT. IT WAS VERY HARD FOR ME NOT TO SAY ANYTHING OR LOOK DISSAPOINTED AS THINGS WENT ON AS NORMAL.

I HAD THOUGHT THAT AT LEAST THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A CARD OR SOMETHING  FROM SOMEONE ON AT BREAKFAST TABLE BUT APPARENTLY IT WASN’T TO BE.

LATER WHEN I CAME HOME FROM THE LAST AFTERNOON CLASS I HAD AT THE NEARBY UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS (I WAS A SOPHMORE AT COLLEGE NOW) IT WAS THE SAME. NO MENTION OF A SPECIAL DAY OR ANY KIND OF INDICATION THAT I HAD PASSED A MILESTONE IN MY LIFE.

I DECIDED TO SPEND THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON IN MY ROOM, ALONE IN MY MISERY.

I WAS PLANNING TO SKIP SUPPER WHEN THE BUTLER RATHER POINTEDLY INSISTED THAT I WAS A GROWING BOY AND NEEDED THE NOURISHMENT AND THAT MISSING SUPPER WOULD HURT THE COOK’S FEELINGS. WELL, I COULDN’T DO THAT SO, I HEADED DOWNSTAIRS AND AS SOON AS HE OPENED THE DOOR TO THE DINNING ROOM, I WAS BOMBARDED WITH ‘SURPRISE!’ ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY!’ BY THE ENTIRE STAFF AND FAMILY. EVEN SOME OF MY FRIENDS HAD BEEN INVITED.

LATER, I CHIDED MYSELF FOR THE SELF PITY I’D ALLOWED MYSELF TO WALLOW IN.

I PROMISED MYSELF RIGHT THEN AND THERE THAT I’D BEEN TOO QUICK TO JUDGE, TOO QUICK TO ASSUME THE WORST OF THOSE I LOVE. AND THAT EVEN IF ALL THE MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY DID, AT SOME FUTURE TIME FORGET SOMETHING SO MUNDANE AS MY BIRTHDAY, I WOULDN’T CARE. THEY LOVED ME. THAT WAS ALL THAT MATTERED.

FAVORITE SUBJECTS/NOT SO FAVORITE SUBJECTS FAVORITES: MARINE BIOLOGY, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, QUANTUM PHYSICS. NOT SO FAVORITE: CLASSICAL LITERATURE, ART APPRECIATION, BUSINESS LAW.

DRINKING/SMOKING/FORBIDDEN   IT LOOKED SOPHISTICATED, AND IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RELAXING, SO I DECIDED I WANTED TO LEARN HOW TO SMOKE. I MIGHT BE A LITTLE YOUNG, (I WAS STILL ONLY 13) BUT FATHER SAID ‘OKAY’, ACCOMPANIED ME TO THE LOCAL TOBACCO SHOP, AND ASKED FOR A FREE SAMPLE. (THEY DID THAT THOSE DAYS AND THERE WAS NO AGE RESTRICTION BACK THEN)

WELL, AFTER I LIT UP AND WAS ENCOURAGED TO ‘GO AHEAD, TAKE A DEEP BREATH’, I DID SO.

WELL, I COUGHED  AND HACKED SO HARD I THOUGHT I’D DIE.

‘IT’S AN AQUIRED TASTE’, FATHER TOLD ME, WINKING AT THE SHOPKEEPER AND HANDED HIM A DOLLAR FOR HIS TROUBLE. (ONE DOLLAR WAS A LOT OF MONEY BACK THEN). THEN FATHER TOLD ME, ‘ONE DAY YOU MIGHT WANT TO TRY AGAIN, AND YOU MIGHT EVEN LIKE IT. BUT, REMEMBER ONE THING. IF YOUR OWN BODY OBJECTS, PERHAPS IT’S TELLING YOU TO STEER CLEAR.’

‘STEER CLEAR’, I WAS SURPRIZED FATHER WAS PICKING UP ON SOME OF MY NAVAL RESEARCH.

STILL, I DID TRY AGAIN A FEW YEARS LATER, AND I DID LEARN TO ENJOY IT. AND IT WAS RELAXING. BY THE TIME I WAS 18 I USUALLY WENT THROUGH 2 PACKS A DAY.  NOT A GOOD HABIT, BUT I’LL BE DAMNED NOW IF I WANT TO GIVE IT UP!  GOD ONLY KNOWS WHY.

FIRST KISS/DATE I THINK I’D LIKE TO KEEP THIS PRIVATE, AFTER ALL, THERE’S ANOTHER PERSON INVOLVED.

ATTITUDES TOWARD OPPOSITE SEX  I GUESS YOU’D SAY I’M A VICTIM OF THE PAST. I STILL OPEN DOORS FOR WOMEN, I CALL THEM MISS, OR MA’AM IF I HAVEN’T BEEN GIVEN LEAVE TO CALL THEM ANYTHING ELSE. I RISE WHEN THEY APPROACH OR LEAVE. ETC. OLD HABITS DIE HARD. THESE ARE THE ‘GENTLEMANLY’ THINGS MY FATHER AND GRANDFATHERS DID.

THEY'RE THE THINGS MY FELLOW OFFICERS IN THE NAVY DID IN OUR YOUNGER DAYS, BUT NOW, SOMETIMES WE’RE DAMNED IF WE DO, DAMNED IF WE DON’T. IT’S ALL A MATTER OF YOUR POINT OF VIEW AND TO SOME DEGREE YOUR AGE.

HIGH SCHOOL PROM NONE, AFTER ALL I WAS JUST A KID IN HIGH SCHOOL

HAIRSTYLE/MUSIC/DANCES/FADS/ETC. ALMOST ALWAYS NEEDED A JACKET AND TIE.

SPORTS I ENJOY WATCHING FOOTBALL, NEVER MADE ANY TEAM. I WAS PRETTY GOOD AT HIGH DIVING THOUGH. AND I’M STILL GOOD AT PING PONG. WOULD BILLIARDS COUNT?

Lesson Six Syllabus

It says here, that I’ll learn methods  to spark my  memories. That’s not my problem! Quite the contrary. Some of them plague me. I don’t want to remember! Why don’t you all just leave me alone!

Jamie says going over photographs, eating ‘comfort’ foods, and going to the movies like the syllabus says will be a good idea and he can hardly wait to see what the actual lesson is.

Oh, I remember this. I was home on leave and had been Edith’s guardian for a couple of years. Naturally big brother had no intention of letting her have a birthday party without participating in it.

Bad move. It turned out that one of her little friends had the mumps. Only he nor his parents knew it at the time.

Needless to say I was worried that Edith would come down with it. (She never did ) and I was a bit nervous myself as I’d never had them.

I decided I’d better go get checked out so I asked our favorite family doctor (who was retired and supposed to be resting on his laurels, or calipers, or stethoscope or whatever) if he could refer me to any Dr.’s that could see me  ASAP.

Dr. Bates claimed I’d been exposed to mumps as a very young child but that as I’d never developed the disease, I was 99% percent immune.  

Still, it was that 1% chance that I might get them that had me worried. After all, I was a normal healthy all American boy and mumps were supposed to do thing to your, well, let’s just say, libido among other things.

He told me he’d call one of the walk in clinics (they were a novelty back then)  that was open on a Saturday.

What I remember the most about the visit to the clinic, was that aside from the antiseptic odor of the place, were the two nurses. Two very pretty nurses. Two very pretty and friendly nurses.   

Before I had the courage to ask if they were free for lunch (hey, I’d been at sea a long time and had only been home a few days), one of them stuck a thermometer in my mouth, the other wrapped a blood pressure cuff on my arm. After a few other tests, blood draws and other ‘specimen’s taken from the privacy of the bathroom, I was soon facing the clinic’s duty doctor for the day.

It would have been okay if the Dr. had been a guy. Guys can talk about their fear of swollen testicles, pain and impotency, that were a very real threat from mumps in adult men. Talking about this with a woman, was going to be damn embarrassing if not impossible.  

“Well now, Mr., or shall I say Lt. Nelson,” she said, “ we seem to be concerned about certain ‘limitations’ if you have mumps." (Bates must have told her everything)

" I can tell you," she continued, " from all the tests,  that you don’t have mumps now, even after exposure, and you’ll never get them because your blood works shows an immunity. Just like Doc. Bates said. So rest assured, you’ll be able to have fun with any girl in port you want. Please pay at the front desk. ” And with that, she was gone.

While I was glad I didn’t have to worry about the mumps, no way was I going to ask the nurses out now, now that I could hear them laughing behind closed doors, about the sailor home from the sea.

Harriman Nelson