Autobigraphy of Mary E Wilson (23) Only in America – 1948 and Conclusion

Mary and Archie Wilson with their children about 1957.

Back – Mary Jean and Beverly Joan

Front – Mary and David Arthur

1948

So our initiation to rural living was hectic but everything turned out OK. Looking back on those years, Archie and I were very busy but we were very happy because we were able to give our children a healthier, happier life than we had.

Mary Jean’s asthma attacks were less severe and she was now able to go into Bridgeport alone to get her shots. She was an even-natured, shy girl even though most of the neighborhood children were boys. She sure could hold her own on the baseball field when she played with them.

David was really an outdoors boy and loved fishing, hiking and swimming in the river near the house. He helped his dad with the garden but his greatest pal was his collie dog, Lassie. How those two used to roam the woods!

Beverly was lucky because she had little girls her own age, went to a Catholic preschool, and her best friends were Elena Bonitati and the Guion family.

I was involved in the usual things when you have small children: den mother, brownies, Girl Scouts, and teaching Sunday school. I became active in the P.T.A. putting on dinners, yard sales and concerts.

I still worked nights at Briarwood’s but I finally got a job at the Trumbull hot lunch program. The children did not even realize I worked because my working hours were the same as their school hours and I had all summer off with them.

I finally got my driving license much to Archie’s displeasure. I guess he did not approve of women drivers.

We joined Grace Church in Long Hill. We were Episcopal, so decided that the children should continue as such. I became active in church activities and renewed our friendship with the James Flahertys, whom we had known in St. Luke’s when we were young.

Archie worked hard on the Laurel Street house. He had a huge vegetable garden and seemed content and happy. He was also active in the Masonic order and I in Eastern Star. It seemed we had all adjusted to our new home and country living.

Archie and I felt very fortunate and blessed to have been able to accomplish what we did. We came to America as immigrants: Archie from Scotland and Canada and I from England. We both had similar backgrounds and a lot in common which I think helped our marriage to be such a happy one. We both had worked hard together and our goal had been to make a living better for our children and ourselves.

We had never had much money but we realized an ambition that only in America could it be possible.

It has been an honor to share Mary E. Wilson’s Autobiography with you. I hope you enjoyed this life story of a strong woman, the man in her life and how they overcame daunting situations to achieve all that they had hoped for.