Dec.8,1941-The Day after

Tony and I had been dating for seven months, and had decided we would marry, but in a year or so. We met on that Monday night in front of the NY Paramount ( no longer there).
The shock of December 7th, the "day of infamy" when the Japs attacked Pearl Harbor. trembled through everyone, like a jagged flash of lightning after a burst of thunder. I saw his face in the
crowd...a rueful half smile. We looked at each other. All the questions rising in our eyes. Everyone would have to go, though he was working in an "essential" industry (shipbuilding).
We walked to our favorite place, The Russian Yar, a bar and restaurant on Madison Ave and 55th., gripping each others hands as though if we let go we'd fall into a pit. (The Yar was a really fun place. Real Russians patronized it, especially the Cossack choir. They'd gather around the bar, drink and sing to our delight.) They weren't there, but we sat in a corner, and Tony said,
"Should we wait?" I said, "No. Let's tell our parents and arrange to get married as soon as we can."
We did marry that following November. I had to graduate from Hunter College, first.
That attack on December 7th affected everyone's life and changed the entire world.

We married on Nov.22, 1942. We had a baby, Nancy, on Nov. 2, 1943.(The day Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President of the U.S. for the 4th time.) Tony went into the US Navy in Jan. 1944. Served on the USS Sperry in Guam, and was mustered out in Jan. 1945.
It will take many more words to tell the rest of the story.