Lunch with Mom:

Reflections of Chivalry

She was a child of the Great Depression. A high-school knockout who won the “Legs” contest 2 years in a row.

(Yes, I’ve got sexy legs too)

Huntington Park High in Los Angeles Class of 1941

Many of her contemporaries were killed in action in the South Pacific and Europe before she was 20.

She had to elope with her high-school flame, because the US Navy didn’t allow married men in flight training.

They kept it a secret for over a year.

Years of missing her man. Years of tears and worry. Years of homefront defense.

Is it any wonder that, as an aging widow in the early 2000’s, she cherished few things more than having her son escort to lunch out in town?

As a Navy officer’s wife, she was treated with absolute respect for decades, with big gnarly Jarheads opening doors for her while saluting her husband.

So if your duty is to take her to lunch, you step up.

She grew up with despair and tragedy few can imagine.

She lived through her first son deploying to the war in Vietnam multiple times.

She lived through her hero husband dying at sixty-five and twenty years alone thereafter.

She lived through 24/7 news coverage while her youngest son flew combat missions in Desert Storm.

Her life was filled with war, sacrifice and worry.

So, was she wrong to expect ALL men to have impeccable military bearing?

Was she wrong to expect chivalry wherever she went?

She lived with such expectations most of her life.

So, when opening the car door for her, or the door to the café, bystanders might quip… “Oh, you’re such a gentleman” ….

I’ve found no better reply than… “My Mother beat manners into me.”

Gratefully hers,

Dana F. Harbaugh