THE LITTLE RED WAGON

 Sixty-five years have passed since the little episode I will set down here today. 

My eldest son, Paul, was a few months old and we lived in a one bedroom duplex in Albuquerque. It was a nice neighborhood and comfortable little place, nothing to get excited about though. One day it was time for lunch and when I went to the kitchen I found that there wasn't anything for me to eat. I had plenty of baby food but nothing else. How this had escaped my attention I don't know. After I calmed myself down and stopped crying, I went next door to the landlady's and asked if I could use the phone. Of course, we didn't have one. 

I called my husband at work (Fine Cars, Inc.) and told him about the situation. He quieted me down and said he'd sell a car so not to worry. That sounds silly now, doesn't it? Well, he called back in about an hour and a half and told me to go to the store and buy whatever I needed. He had sold a Jaguar which gave a hefty commission! I got my little baby boy, Paul, all wrapped up in the little red wagon and sat my sixteen month old daughter, Cristina, in with him. We set off for the grocery store which was about eight blocks away. In those days nothing was instant like now so I was able to write a check for the groceries knowing that the money would be in the bank before the check got there. On the way back I had to wedge my baby boy in with the groceries in the wagon but we made it back all right. Cristina walked along with me.

My husband, who had been my hero all along, was really one that day! It remains a mystery to me to this day how I allowed our food supply to get so low.