Bettye An

Bettye could have been a concert pianist. By the time she was 15, she was playing Rachmaninoff. She had a full college scholarship. Instead, she got married the day after high school graduation as valedictorian in the tiny Texas town of Olden. This book is about why it was important at the time to give up her dream and become a full-time wife and mother, not so uncommon for 1953.

Once entered, the marriage caused her to wonder if she had chosen a man like her father. There were other women, carelessness with money, and disregard for others’ feelings and comfort. Her mother and father had married twice, and he never changed.

At twelve, she spent a year in the Philippines in 1946, living at Camp O’Donnell. This was where the American prisoners ended their long, cruel march from the conquests of Bataan and Corregidor, the Manilla defenses attacked the same day as Pearl Harbor. They were still there, and Bettye could not understand why as they told their horror stories about ＂the Forgotten Few.＂ Japanese prisoners were there too, and Bettye came face to face with the racism of her family.

Her childhood religion in the Church of Christ also came into question. She had trouble explaining why good people and friends who were Catholic or Baptist could not go to Heaven. She had trouble explaining why it was wrong to sing Christmas carols in church, but they were fine in homes and shops. While in the Philippines where there was no church, or school for that matter, Bettye saw a relaxing of the rules like the prohibition against dancing. More and more hypocrisies appeared before her growing, expanding mind and she seemed constantly in conflict, especially with her well-known evangelical uncle.

This is very much a coming-of-age story. She was born in 1934 when rural nineteenth-century America was alive in daily routines. The country was soon going to go through the heartbreak and disruption of war and separation. It was followed by the hope of a bright tomorrow with a new family and home. But, alas, the reality of surviving health issues, financial and job insecurity, and family conflict hit Bettye hard. So, what is a bright, creative, caring person to do?