Vilma and Friends: Billie Jean front and center with the fab hat.
Author's note: "Betty Jo" has been a pseudonym since the beginning of this blog. Betty Jo's real name is "Billie Jean". I have had the pleasure to re-connect with her recently and share this blog with her. She has thrown her support behind this 100% and given permission to use her name and her pictures in this story that she is so intimately connected to. She is now 80 years old and lives in Laughlin, Nevada. We love you Billie Jean!
Friday July 4, 1952
Bill came down today and we went over to his house, but nobody was home. We started necking on the couch and god darn I had a weak moment there and I let him rub on me. He started to raise up my skirt and then I had to make him quit. That is the very first time I ever let any guy rub against me like that and it felt good, no lie. He got real emotional and wouldn’t let me up though, and he told me he loved me so very much and said “Darling let’s never argue again, I love you so much.” And he asked me to go steady and I told him “I wasn’t going to go steady with him now or never.” So we left his house and then he took me out tonight to Arcadia to see fireworks.
I was real mad because of what almost happened today and so he was real real sweet to me tonight. I liked him a lot when he talked that way, and so he asked me to go steady and I said “Yes”.
Saturday July 5, 1952
Oh honestly, this is getting from bad to worse. I let him feel me up, and oh man did he did a thorough job of it. I feel so terribly filthy dirty. I’ve got to break up with him, no mistake about it, I’ll be in Billie Jean’s shoes before you know it. Honestly, I hate him for even doing it. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him and all the men in the whole world!
Cecil and Jerry McClellan came down today.
Sunday July 6, 1952
Mom told me some guys in a red car came down tonight when I was gone, but I don’t know who they were. I was real mean to Bill today, and when he came over this morning I told him I was going back to bed and told him to go home. He was supposed to go to 10:00am Mass with me this morning, and I got up and went to 8:30 Mass by myself and he even came down in time and everything.
Tonight he asked if I loved him and I said “No”, and he said he didn’t either. I hate him for even telling me that he loved me in the first place. Last night I was wanting to kick myself in the behind for even letting him feel me up. I have found out tonight that I do not like him anymore at all, and I am going to write him and break up and tell him I don’t want to see him anymore. He told me he thought he loved me, but after today he found out he didn’t. So it didn’t hurt me anyhow. I just can’t stand him anymore and that’s the end of us as soon as I write the letter.
Monday July 7, 1952
Wrote the letter today and mailed it, said might see him around sometime.
Wednesday July 9, 1952
Scotty, Wayne and his brother came down today. Said they’d see me in September, they were going overseas.
Well, old faithful Bill came down today. He said he didn’t get the letter, but anyway we’re still going steady. I told him not to let it make any difference and just ignore it when he gets it. Took me out tonight and told me he loved me and said “Oh darling, don’t ever break up with me.” and he really rubbed against me but completely. But we’re going to be real good from now on though. I know good and well a couple of girls who would gladly go out with him, but he’s in love with old softy me.
Friday July 11, 1952
Mary Alice came down tonight wanting to go on a double date tomorrow night to The Pike.
Saturday July 12, 1952
Confession today.
Bill took me to The Stomp tonight and we had a flawless time. He’s flawless himself.
Sunday July 13, 1952
Holy Communion.
Bill took me to Belmont Shore in Long Beach today and I’ve got a terrific tan. He came down tonight and stayed with me. Oh my darling Bill, I love him so much.
Well, well, just when you thought Bill and Vilma were over for good, surprise! She takes him back, again! And finally says yes to “going steady” too.
Is Vilma finally turning into an old softy like she says? Sure, she has had some weak moments, and Bill is really wearing her down... ummm, ergh… in more ways than one. “Bill came down today and we went over to his house, but nobody was home”. That is BIG trouble for any young susceptible woman!
But hard wired into her being is this inner desire to hold her own until that day she walks down the aisle with her husband. But man, no one ever said trying to be a good Catholic girl was going to be EASY.
And for Vilma, who is no puritan herself, has just got to have some fun along the way…only to a point of course. As she explores her limits, they take her ever closer to the razor’s edge, but there is this oh so mysterious unseen “something” which seems to hold her back from falling over the precipice into Billie Jean’s shoes. That something: her guiding light and North Star, which is her faith, includes a healthy fear of God and sin.
And as we read along through her timeless journey, we see how she applies her faith oh so imperfectly in her life.
As Vilma’s summer of love continues… let’s hope she makes the right decisions and does not succumb to being a weak softy over a man named Bill.
Coming soon: Billie Jean is still tucked away in the maternity home, but is soon about to give birth! Will she keep the baby?
Is Vilma finally turning into an old softy like she says? Sure, she has had some weak moments, and Bill is really wearing her down... ummm, ergh… in more ways than one. “Bill came down today and we went over to his house, but nobody was home”. That is BIG trouble for any young susceptible woman!
But hard wired into her being is this inner desire to hold her own until that day she walks down the aisle with her husband. But man, no one ever said trying to be a good Catholic girl was going to be EASY.
And for Vilma, who is no puritan herself, has just got to have some fun along the way…only to a point of course. As she explores her limits, they take her ever closer to the razor’s edge, but there is this oh so mysterious unseen “something” which seems to hold her back from falling over the precipice into Billie Jean’s shoes. That something: her guiding light and North Star, which is her faith, includes a healthy fear of God and sin.
And as we read along through her timeless journey, we see how she applies her faith oh so imperfectly in her life.
As Vilma’s summer of love continues… let’s hope she makes the right decisions and does not succumb to being a weak softy over a man named Bill.
Coming soon: Billie Jean is still tucked away in the maternity home, but is soon about to give birth! Will she keep the baby?
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