大象传媒

I met Joe in a fish and chip shop in Derry, i must ahve been seventeen or eighteen at the time. He was dark and handsome and for me it was love at first sight. He asked to walk me home but i told him straight i wasn't allowed to go out with yankies and that was the end of that - or so I thought. he must have asked my mother could he take me out because the next thing i knew we were a couple. he used to take me to the pictures and buy me candy, fish suppers on the way home and he even bought me a beautiful tweed coat.
My father died just as war broke out so for a few years the family had been really struggling - my Mother was the only breadwinner and times were tough so when Joe bought me lovely things - i just felt like a Queen. He was kind and generous all the time.One night i opened the door and there was a big Marine standing there - he asked waI phyliss - I said 'Yes im phyliss' he started to lagh and said 'Joe had told him he'd found a beautiful irish girls and he wasn't lying' Anyway, he said Joe was on duty that night but would i come to the US party out at the clooney base as a guest. Well I was delighted - I went and spent a little time talking to joe through the perimeter fence and then I enjoyed the cake and lemonade provieded and the lovely swing band music.
It was such a treat to get good food - we were rationed and with very little money coming into our house we ahd very little. One night I went down to lisahally when Joe was on duty and he went up to the canteen and brought us down white bread and ham - it's hard to believe we were so excited to get white bread but we were making do with black bread here in the city.
we did most of our courting on the front step of our house. One time when it was snowing we had a snowball fight and Joe put his big Yankee coat round me - I felt so safe and so in love. He bought me a wee gramaphone and a his favourite record was one called 'I just called to talk for Joe' - we used to dance round the floor to that.
Then one night he came to our house late at night - he was banging at the door and making a lot of noise - my Mother went down to see what the commotion was about and he was very upset - I came down and he told me he was being shipped out the next day - he hugged and kissed me as he said good bye - I watched him go off down the road and that was the last I ever saw him.
The next morning i went down to Lisahally to see his ship off but just missed it. He was gone and I didn't know where. I waited for letters but they didn't come. Soon after i found out I was pregnant - i cried for the whole nine months and still held out hope Joe would walk through thedoor some day and rescue me. My aunt went to the red cross and told the what had happened and one day late on in the pregnancy a marine came to the door to see me - to take a statement i suppose so they could get in touch with Joe. Later I got a letter from Washington to say that Joe had denied it.
My daughter was born just as the war in euroe was ending I remember everyone out on the streets dancing and i was lying in bed with my Vicky - she was only a day old.Bridget Ferguson called up to me to show her the baby out the window. About eight months after vicky was born i got a postal order for 拢5 - it must have been from Joe but that was the only contact he ever made.
Being a single mother in ireland then was hard - not just because I had no money and often the baby went hungry but also people would call me names and even step off the footpath when i came along with the pram.If Joe had come back I would have married him, Id have followed him anywhere but it wasn't to be.

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