I wrote this script for a Valentine-themed show. Before my grandmother died, she (Nana) told me this story when I asked her why Pop (my grandpa) always called her Jean when her name was really Mary. She was born in 1925 and said she was 16 when she met him, so I imagine this would have been after February of 1941. They got married February 1942. He was 20, she was 17.
ANNI: I was almost thirty when I finally asked my grandmother a question that had been in the back of my mind for most of my life.
ANNI: Nana, why is it that Pop calls you Jean when everyone else calls you Mary? Even your mail is addressed to Mary. Is Jean your middle name?
NANA: No, Esther is my middle name. But your grandfather’s always called me Jean. It started when we met in 1941. I was a teenager and boy crazy but my mother was a strict woman who didn’t think it proper for young ladies to go out unchaperoned. But she’d let me go to my girlfriend’s house, and sometimes Betty and I would sneak out to go downtown. On Saturdays the GIs from Fort Hayes would come into town to see the movie, and Betty and I liked to go watch them. They were so handsome in their uniforms! One day we were standing on the corner near the Ohio Theater when a boy in an Army uniform came up to us.
BILL: Are you in line?
BETTY: Oh, no, we’re just waiting.
BILL: It’s a good movie, I’ve seen it twice already.
MARY: Really?
BILL: Yep. You like Jimmy Stewart?
MARY: (Giggles) I do.
BILL: He’s a good actor, I’ll give him that. Looks like they’re playing a Cary Grant movie next week.
BETTY: I heard that one is good.
BILL: Really? I don’t like him much, but I’ll see it anyway just to watch Jean Arthur. She’s real pretty.
NANA: By then, Betty was pulling on my arm. She knew we weren’t supposed to be talking to boys, especially men in uniform.
BETTY: I guess it’s time for us to go.
BILL: You live around here?
MARY: In German Village. But we really have to leave now.
BILL: Swell. Well maybe I’ll see you here next week then.
NANA: Betty and I giggled about it on the walk back to her house. That entire week afterwards, all I could think about was the handsome boy in the Army uniform, and I kept wondering if I’d ever see him again. So when Saturday came around, I finished my chores early and went to Betty’s house. But this time, Betty couldn’t get away and I knew if I got caught downtown by myself I’d be in big trouble.
ANNI: What did you do?
NANA: I let Betty and her mom think that I was going home, but I took the long way so I could walk past the Ohio Theater.
ANNI: Nana!
NANA: I was sixteen. I had friends that were practically married already. I felt like I was old enough to talk to a boy by myself. Anyway, I saw him waiting at the corner near the theater and my stomach filled up with butterflies. I almost turned around, but then he saw me.
BILL: Where’s your friend?
MARY: Oh, hi! She’s….she couldn’t come today. Were you looking for her?
BILL: No, I’m glad you made it. The movie’s about to start…would you like to see it with me?
MARY: That would be real sweet, but I shouldn’t. I have to be home in an hour. But….maybe next week?
BILL: Sure! I’ll be here. Or if you like, I could come by your house and we could walk here together…
MARY: No! I mean, I’d like that, but I’ll just meet you here, if that’s all right.
BILL: Of course. uh, my name’s Bill by the way. What’s yours?
MARY: Ummm….it’s Jean.
BILL: Like the movie star?
MARY: (Giggles) Yeah, like Jean Arthur.
BILL: Well this must be my lucky day, ‘cause you’re much prettier than she is. See you next week, Jean.
MARY: See you next week, Bill!
NANA: I met him outside the Ohio Theater every Saturday that summer and never let on where I lived or what my real name was. I let him walk me home eventually, but I didn’t tell Mama where we’d met. It wasn’t until he asked me to marry him that I finally confessed my real name was actually Mary. Then we laughed about it, but he never stopped calling me Jean. In fact, he liked the name so much, that we gave it to your mother as a middle name. And named our youngest daughter Jeannie, too.
ANNI: You were married for 53 years, and he never called you by your real first name during all that time!
NANA: No, he never did. I didn’t mind. Every time he said it, it reminded me of when we met.
BILL: This must be my lucky day, ‘cause you’re much prettier than she is. See you next week!
NANA: He’s gone now, but I know in my heart that we’ll see each other again. See you soon, Bill.
