Ethel fanned herself as she caught Julia up. “The children there would melt your little heart, girlfriend. I wish you could come with me for a visit.”
Just then, Dorothy tapped a glass with a fork. “Hello, ladies, and welcome. I think we’ll go ahead and get started. We have a long agenda to get through today.”
Ethel’s eyes swept the room, taking in the same eight or nine faces of women who attended monthly. Then she saw a pair of women whom she had not met.
“We have new members.” Dorothy gestured and prompted them each to stand and introduce themselves. Once they were finished, shesaid, “Please take time to welcome these ladies to our club and get to know them personally. Community is everything.”
Dorothy called the meeting to order and then ran through the agenda. When she finally got to new business, Ethel raised her hand.
“Yes, Ethel, you have the floor.” Dorothy motioned for her to come take her place at the front of the room.
“Good afternoon, everyone. I am Ethel Gathers, for those who don’t know me. I have been volunteering at the St. Hildegard’s children’s orphanage, not far from here, and they are greatly in need of our support.”
Ethel looked around to make sure all eyes were on her before she continued. “Apparently, with the war and occupation, there have been a lot of children born between American soldiers and German women. Unfortunately, the soldiers get reassigned, and the women are left with the children. In many cases, these women are ostracized for having children out of wedlock, they cannot afford to keep their children, and so the children end up displaced, some to local orphanages.”
Ethel heard an audible breath. Many mothers were rocking babies on their laps or had toddlers playing at their feet.
“Sister Ursula, the gracious nun who runs the home, could use our help.”
“This sounds like a worthy cause. What can we do?” Dorothy asked.
“There are a lot of moving parts.” Ethel rolled her shoulders back. “We need to aid the German mothers here who are raising their children without support.”
“For the mothers, maybe we could make gift baskets filled with baby supplies, perishable food, and blankets. I can head that up,” offered Dorothy.
“That’s a great idea,” Ethel replied. “The children in the orphanage need our support as well. Most are mixed race, German mothers and American Negro fathers.” She noticed a few of the womensquirming in their seats. But she continued, “Being in Europe this past year has made me appreciate the privilege of being an American citizen. Wouldn’t you agree?” She made eye contact with as many as she could. “I’ve made up my mind that these children, having American blood, deserve those same privileges. I’m working on a plan to have them adopted by American families, both here on military business and those back home.”
The room was silent. Then Julia, the only other Negro woman in the room, spoke up. “Ethel, I had no clue. Those poor children. I think that’s a wonderful idea. Anything I can do to help you, please let me know.”
“Me too.”
“I can help there too.”
Dorothy stood. “Ethel, thank you for bringing us such a wonderful cause to throw our support behind. Ladies, why don’t we break up into committees. We will need one for the German mothers on the ground, one in support of the orphanage, and the other for helping the children with clothes, shoes, and personal items.”
Ethel walked Julia back to her apartment, carrying the baby’s bag over her arm while Julia pushed the pram.
“That was something else. You sure know how to rally the troops.” Julia cackled. “I just knew those white women would turn their noses up at helping our children.”
“It’s all in the way you present the information. Once Dorothy got on board, I knew the others would fall in line.”
“So, tell me about this baby of yours. How old is she? Where’s she from? What does she look like?”
Ethel couldn’t keep the smile from her face. “She’s three years old and took to me on my first visit. Head full of hair, bright eyes, an angel, really.”
“I was going to offer you some of our hand-me-downs, but since she’s older than my little bits, you’ll be handing things down to us.” Julia linked arms with Ethel, and they swung them back and forth like silly schoolgirls.
“My life is about to change. I’ve been wanting this for so long.”
“You are blessed and highly favored. How could you not be,” Julia ribbed her. “The saint that you are.”
“I’m far from a saint, but adopting Anke does feel well with my soul. From the first moment I held her in my arms, I knew that she was heaven-sent.”
They stopped at the intersection and waited for a line of military trucks to rumble by.
“But we still have a lot of work to do. Moving one child is simply not enough. There are so many others who need loving homes.”
“Now that you have the Officers’ Wives on board, that will lighten the load.”
