The Honeymooners

 

            The newlyweds board the 7:20 train from Pennsylvania Station enroute for Cleveland.  Married for a week the 20 year old bride leaves New York City for the first time.  The entire northeast is a frozen tundra in December of 1945. With the Bronx behind her and her handsome young sailor man alive and in one piece next to her, it could have been minus 90 and it wouldn’t have mattered.

            They check into the Carter Hotel and later dine at Borsellini’s Supper Club.  In the restaurant three salesmen with alot of time on their hands notice the young man in uniform.  They call him over and ask if he wants to make a few quick bucks.  They play a game called horseracing where each participant ignites a point on a napkin with their cigarettes.  The first trail to pass a finish line drawn on the napkin wins.  The sailor wins a few ‘races’ and impresses the salesmen.  The groom asks the fellas for a favor; he’s looking for tickets to the NFL championship game between the Cleveland Rams and the Washington Redskins.  The men buy drinks for the couple and instruct them where to get seats for the game.  The following morning the sailor finds a bootleg liquor set up located in the backroom of a men’s shoe store and purchases two tickets at $4.80 a piece on the 50 yard line in section 9, row 10, seats 9 and 10.  He also picks up a liter of Southern Comfort.  The forecast at gametime is going to be really cold. 

            He wears a heavy navy peacoat over his white uniform and she dons faux fur with open-toed shoes for the game.  At kickoff time the temperature is announced at -2 degrees Fahrenheit.  By the end of the game one columnist writes enough imbibing went on in the seats that the temperature had risen to 3 degrees above zero.  The newlyweds do their part to stay warm, finishing off Tennessee’s finest.  They return to the Carter, warm air hits the bride with such force she passes out and has to be carried into her room.  The groom takes her shoes off, covers her up, and heads down to the lobby for a smoke.

            The next morning comes, the sailor returns to the lobby to get some coffee for himself and his bride.  On the ride up the elevator, another passenger comes into the car.  Seeing the uniform the young man in civilian clothes introduces himself and thanks him for serving in the armed forces.  The groom is honored and tells him he just married a few days ago.  The dashing individual in the fedora hat and gray pinstriped suit offers to meet the new bride and offer his congratulations.  The groom sheepishly admits she drank too much trying to stay warm at yesterday’s game and wasn’t feeling very well.  The gentleman exits the elevator and wishes the couple the very best of success in their marriage.  When Charlie returns to his room Norma slowly rises from bed.  He asks how she feels and she mumbles her need for strong black coffee.  “I made a friend in the elevator and was going to bring him up to meet you, but I didn’t think you’d be up for it.”   When she asks who in the world he met, she slaps his arm and tells him not to lie. Almost 60 years later my mother still shakes her head from such news. Frank Sinatra wasn’t in that elevator.