Hilda and Frank

Hilda and Frank
By Eve Brownstone
Under a bright blue sky at a summer picnic they met
on a blanket full of warmth and good conversation.
Hilda was a ballerina of 23 on a break from performing
Frank was 33 resting after organizing a union.

They spoke with friends and each other about:
the arts,
politics,
social justice.

She felt she knew him
And he couldn’t forget her.
The day they met she whispered to her best friend “This is the man I will marry.”

They would not be parted for very long
He would find her and they would move in together for six months
unheard of back in the 1930s.

They said their “I dos” down at City Hall in New York City.
Simple but meaningful to them both.

Two babies followed: Peter and Bill.
Day to day life:
PTA meetings,
marching for social justice,
labor union organizing,
raising children,
Ann pitched in,
being separated during the week,
spending time some precious time alone on weekends,
ballet and Israel,
Paul Robeson,
long talks with friends into the night over vodka and knishes,
standing up for what was right,

She was 53 and he was 63.
It came quickly from stroke.
World was shattered.
Life went on but differently:
sons were grown,
worked for Hudson’s Bay,
lived with sister Ann,
traveled all over the world.
Grand-children.
Great-grand-children.
Something was missing.
Frank was missing,
the love of Hilda’s life.