Chapter 35

When I got home Mum was still on the phone. She was talking a mile a minute. Dad had made her a cup of tea. From her eyes and wads of handkerchiefs, she had been crying, but she was very happy now, almost to the point of hysteria.

She talked for another half hour and finally wound down. When she hung up she told Dad that was Bet’s. He told her he had figured that out. The other kids were in watching TV.

Mum poured boiling water over another teabag. That was my friend from the war Betsy. She was my ambulance driver. We all knew Mum had been a first aider in the British Women’s Land Army during the blitz in World War II.

She continued, “Betsy and I were great friends and had many a good time together. Then I was transferred to Greys in Essex where I met your father. After you were born Ricky, she was your godmother.

The last time I saw her or heard from her was on VE Day until she called today. Our wartime duties prevented us from contacting each other. After the war, I came here, and she was very busy.”

“She saw that article in the Daily Mail about our family, all the names matched so she had someone check on us. When it was confirmed who we were she called.”

Mum then went into the front room to the glass-faced locked cabinet where she kept her mementos such as our bronzed baby shoes. She came back with a small framed picture. It was a picture of two young women in shapeless coveralls. They had their arms around each other’s back and were smiling for the camera. It was two beautiful young ladies in a horrible time.

“Rick this is your godmother Elizabeth Windsor.”

She had a second picture that I had never seen before. This picture was taken at your baptism by the Church of England at Gravesend. This is the same church where Pocahontas is buried.

There was my Dad in uniform, Elizabeth Windsor in a very nice hat and dress. Mum was holding me in her arms. There was also a man dressed as an American General.

“Mum why is Eisenhower in this picture?”

“He was the only one they could get to balance Betsy.”

“Balance Betsy,” I asked?

“Your father was going to ask his Captain to do the honors but when they found out Princess Elizabeth was going to be your God Mother they thought someone of higher rank should perform the duty.”

As Mum would say I was gobsmacked, “You mean to tell me that Queen Elizabeth and President Eisenhower are my God Parents?”

“Yes, and ten cents will get you a cup of coffee.”

“Wow!” was all I could say.

“When Betsy read that article she had her embassy in Washington check us out to see if we were the same Jackson’s she knew. She originally knew me as Peggy Newman my maiden name.”

“Wow!” was all I could still say.

Mum went on to tell stories of some of the things she and her Betsy did during the war. There was one night they were on a train to Greys, a Canadian soldier a good looking young man with very curly hair was passed out drunk. There was no one else in their car, so using their nail scissors they clipped all of his curls. They didn’t brush the curls off so that when he stood up he would shed hair everywhere.

They exited at the next stop. Somewhere in Canada, there is a middle-aged ex-soldier telling his family about the night he got so drunk his hair fell off.

“Wow!” was all I could say.

That night I had a hard time going to sleep, I couldn’t even settle down and read. Trying to imagine my Mum as a young lady and running around with a Princess doing crazy things was insane. This was nothing I could share with my friends but it was so neat!

It was raining too heavy in the morning to run. My running days were coming to an end until spring. I would miss that. Breakfast was a slight rehash of last night. Mum and Dad impressed on all of us kids how this wasn’t to be shared outside of the family.

Denny nodded solemnly, Eddie and I both said, “Yes Mum.”

Mary didn’t really understand what had gone on, but she proudly told Mum, “I won’t tell anyone you and the Princess cut the soldiers hair off.”

Mum and Dad exchanged looks. I think we were all glad that no one would know what Mary was talking about. Talk she would.