Someday House: The Life and Passions of Aggie O'Hara

ISBN-13: 9781490377193 / Angielski / Miękka / 2013 / 354 str.

Janice Brown

Opis

In this creative biography, told as a series of short stories, Aggie O'Hara passionately shares her journey that begins in the "Dirty Thirties." Her father travels far from home in search of work, while her distraught and pregnant mother blames firstborn Aggie for all her woes and the three children that followed. But both her Scottish granny-a mirror image of Aggie with the same blond hair and blue eyes-and her father love her and help her develop the will to survive and thrive. Aggie falls madly in love-at 16-with a dark, handsome stranger that she marries at 21, while working as a "Rosie the Riveter" in a World War II aircraft factory, making close to a man's wages. Both sets of parents find the match unsuitable, but grudgingly accept it, and the couple move into a makeshift home of their own. When the war ends and the thousands of returning veterans make the job market difficult, Aggie grabs any job available, while juggling two children and a husband tied to pool halls and gang violence. A dark car arrives at their doorstep one night with a gang intent on murderous revenge and bullets fly. As they search for a way out, her husband disappears and Aggie strikes out on her own with her two boys, now free of the confines of a failed marriage. With her street smarts and nose for a bargain, Aggie buys a house and eventually lets a new man move in. She is enthralled with him, but the flame burns ever lower with his alcoholic rages and violent physical abuse. In spite of this, she gives birth to another boy and a daughter and struggles to have a normal family life. Saving her nickels and dimes in a jar, she steals away with her girlfriends to scream and laugh in Elvis imitator shows. Then, with no one else willing to look after her mother during her lingering death, Aggie takes on the responsibility, and gives up her well-paid job to wait tables part-time to help pay the bills. Finally, their marriage in ruins, her rampaging husband is taken away in handcuffs. With newfound freedom, Aggie and her daughter leave the city to buy a house in a lakeside town, where a new restaurant with a young, energetic owner results in a successful collaboration and enduring friendship that lasts for over 25 years. Dancing, cycling, playing baseball, and roller-skating help keep her active and fit, as she becomes a role model for three generations. Her second home in Florida provides a respite from harsh winters as well as a new set of friends, admirers and adventures. Now Aggie is truly free; her someday has come, and it is time to find her perfect house.