The Nineteen-Forties

Anyone who has lived through them as I have, Knows the Forties were the most memorial of all Of the decades of the Twentieth Century And surely the most vivid in recall. Personally, they were the greatest of my life. I was married in the year of Forty-One. Then in March of Nineteen-Forty Three, We were blessed with the birth of a new son. Two daughters followed him in their own time, One born in Forty-Five, and one in Forty-Six. But intruding on the joys of my own life, Was the world which was in a terrible fix. Millions of Jews and others were slaughtered, Although at the time we were mostly unaware. In December we entered World War II To fight Hitler and Hirohito, an evil pair. Our young men went to war, the rest of us Pared down our lives to help to win the war. The barest necessities were all we had, And we were proud to be giving more and more. The Forties saw the first atom bomb dropped On Japan by our own beloved country. I would have begged Harry not to drop it had I known But of course no one saw reason to ask me. Despite the war there were many new inventions, And we slowly climbed out of the depression. We constructed bomb shelters in our back yards. The horrors of war had left a bad impression. There were block buster movies in those years And television was just in its beginnings. Rebecca, How Green Was My Valley, Mrs. Miniver And All The King's Men, had coveted Oscar winnings. Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole were famous. Peggy Lee and Dinah Shore were heard. These singers were featured and unlike today, When they sang you could hear every word. This is a small taste of the Forties, I hope that I have made you understand That everything was bigger during this decade, War, rugged times, and big bang and big band. Written 3/2/15