Chapter 2: Baby Ned

  My father decided he wanted to marry the attractive redhead he waved to from the top of a telephone pole. When the Army informed him that he would be stationed in Washington, D.C., for the duration of the war, he decided now would be a good time to get married. The Army offered benefits such as a monthly stipend sent directly to a soldier’s wife, on-base family housing, access to military medical care for spouses, and use of commissaries and post exchanges (cheaper goods). They got married in a ceremony at the Church of the Redeemer in Craggy in 1942. Paul Dodd walked his daughter down the aisle and proudly gave her hand in marriage to my father. Paul was a carpenter with a great personality and many friends. Times were hard in a small town like Asheville, and Washington, D.C., offered more job opportunities, so he and Lola decided to move there to be closer to their daughter. They rented the downstairs unit of a brownstone on 16th Street at the end of the streetcar line.Paul found employment with the railroad but continued to work odd jobs as a carpenter.

 

On July 8, 1943, only four days after the entire country had celebrated its independence, I celebrated my independence by being born!

I could have been born on July 4th, but you would have to 

witness the extreme fireworks celebration in Washington, D.C., to understand