It gave me a good sense of who would and would not make a good husband, someone I could love and respect and live with for my entire life.
THE BOYS COME HOME
He was not as sweet and nice as some of the young men I dated but there was something about him. The girls gave him the nickname “Sexy Wexy.” Marvin had a first cousin, who I also dated, named Sam Holtz- man. Sam lived in Baltimore and he and Marvin were very close. Sam was a very serious business man, and he was successful (he had his own airplane), good looking and fun; but he was too controlling for me. I thought he had a Napoleonic complex. The two cousins once put some girls’ names in a hat to see who they would marry. Marvin put in four names. Sam just put one in, the girl he eventually married. When Sam looked at the names Marvin had put in and saw mine he told Marvin, “That’s the one you should marry.” About a year before I was married Sam told me that if I had waited another year, Marvin would have proposed. But Marvin never asked and I didn’t feel like waiting. To this day I am happy that I was able to date so many young men. It gave me a good sense of who would and would not make a good husband, someone I could love and respect and live with for my entire life. And I had a lot of fun finding out.
After the war, when all the boys began to come home, everyone want- ed to make new acquaintances. One of those boys turned out to be the longest and most serious relationship I had in those days. It started when I was twen- ty years old and lasted, on and off, for seven years. It was just after the war and the relationship began as someone else’s date. I was coming back from a dress- maker one evening and stopped in a neighborhood drug store for some ice cream. There was my friend, Pearl Picker, sitting with a young man named Marvin Wexler. Pearl asked me to join them. Later Marvin walked us both home. Pearl lived closer and after we dropped her off we continued to my house. It was a chilly day and Marvin put his jacket over my shoulders. The next evening Marvin called to ask me to join him for dinner. I had already eaten but he persisted and I agreed. He lived fairly close to my house so he picked me up and we went to Horn and Hardart’s automat, which was a popular place in our neighbor- hood but certainly not fancy. In fact, over the next seven years, we never went anyplace fancy. On the way to Horn and Hardart, Marvin asked me what I was looking for in a man and I said something silly, like “tall, dark and handsome.” Marvin was in the blouse manufacturing business.
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