In June, in the year 1940, I was sitting around the radio with my family. It was our tradition to listen to the radio after dinner was over. My mother and father sat on the couch while my sisters, Virginia, Phyllis and Marjorie, and my brothers, Frank, Warren and Ray and I, sat on the ground. My brother Frank and I were playing cards. I was 16 years old then and he was 15. I heard on the radio about what was happening in the war. World War 2 had started in September of 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. We were now listening to how the "Battle of the Atlantic was beginning." German U-boats were sinking American ships which were bringing war supplies to England. As I was listening to the radio I felt a panic feeling in my heart and stomach. "I thought to myself, what if we have to get into the war? Would we get bombed?" I was rather distracted thinking about the possibility of war, so I wasn't paying attention when my brother threw a card at me to continue the game of cards. My siblings were too young to really care about what was happening in the world. But as I looked over at my parents, I knew exactly what was running through their minds. My father stood up and turned the radio off. We all knew what that meant. "Time for bed!" he shouted.
YOU ARE READING
A Life to Remember
Historical FictionBased on a true story about a 16 year old girl growing up during World War II. The story follows Barbara, a 16 year old girl growing up in a small town in America during the war.
