<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

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THE COURTSHIP OF JOSEPHINE & KIMBALL\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

It was 1947 and America had saved the world. The generation that had known the hardship of the Depression throughout their childhood, then the honor of sacrifice during the war years, were eager to begin living what they expected\u00a0 to be\u00a0 the good life.<\/p>\n

Helen Josephine Bergere, who went by the name Josephine,\u00a0 was an Irish-Catholic girl who only wanted to get out of Brooklyn, marry a handsome war hero,\u00a0 and raise a family in a nice home. But for now, she liked her job.<\/p>\n

She was Barrett Herrick\u2019s personal secretary. He was a gregarious, silver-haired bear of a man and president of\u00a0 Herrick Stock and Securities Ltd., a successful brokerage firm on Wall Street. Every morning at eight o\u2019clock, she\u2019d come into his office, hand him his cup of black coffee and take dictation. She was the best secretary he ever had. She could type 95 words per minute, take dictation at a 120 words per minute. They devoted the first hour of each day to dictation, because after nine o\u2019clock, the Street started business\u2014Barrett would be on the phone,\u00a0 and the stock-tickers, sounding like a\u00a0 relentless symphony of metallic castanets,\u00a0 began spitting out their narrow ribbons of paper tape.<\/p>\n

One morning, in early December of that year, when Barrett had dictated the last of the morning letters, they discussed the annual Christmas party. The company had offices in Washington D.C., Philadelphia,\u00a0 Kansas City, Chicago and Dallas, and everybody took\u00a0 trains to Manhattan for the company bash.\u00a0 Barrett was particularly enthused about this year\u2019s Yuletide celebration. Business had been good,\u00a0 and his son, Kimball, a decorated Marine Corps captain and Wharton Business School graduate, had been discharged and was home for the Holidays for the first time in four years. He had joined the firm, heading\u00a0 the D.C. office.<\/p>\n

Three months before, Josephine had met Kimball, and was certainly impressed. He wore his\u00a0 dress-blue Marine Corps uniform,\u00a0 stood straight as a telephone pole and his body was tone and muscular from fighting the Imperialist Japanese armies in the jungles of the South Pacific. Barrett\u00a0 was beaming\u00a0 the day his son came into the office. He was excited that his only off-spring had come back alive and unharmed and proud that he served his country like Barrett had done in The Great War and their Herrick Forebears had done in the Civil War, the War of 1812 and the Revolution.<\/p>\n

Kimball was shier than his father, but he still could smoothly issue compliments. When they were introduced, he said that his father could not run the place without her. He also mentioned how stylish she looked in her matching pillbox hat and dress. Her mother and father, and sisters and brothers, who all lived in\u00a0 a two-story\u00a0 Brooklyn brownstone with her, never complimented her about anything, even though she spent hours making her self presentable for Wall Street each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Miss Bergere,\u201d Barrett said, leaning back in his chair that December morning, \u201cthose letters should be sufficient for today. Now, let\u2019s discuss the party. I love Christmas. My employees deserve the best Christmas party on The Street. This has been one of our best years. I never thought peace would be better for business than war, but thank God it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, thank God, Mr. Herrick,\u201d she said, then went over the schedule for the Christmas party, a gala affair to be held at the Warwick Hotel. The festivities would include an extravagant lunch, a barber shop quartet in Dickens-era garb to sing all of Barrett\u2019s favorite Christmas Carols, a piano player to fill in the gaps when the quartet wasn\u2019t singing, and a\u00a0 comedian who would dress as Santa Claus and tell tasteful jokes at the party. Most important were the Broadway tickets. Employees had the choice of either Brigadoon\u00a0 or Finian\u2019s Rainbow.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Bergere, I recommend you go to Finian\u2019s Rainbow, you owe it to your Irish heritage. It\u2019s a wonderful entertainment. If you like, you can have an extra ticket for your beau.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I\u2019m Beau-less, Mr. Herrick. I broke it off with Jack.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry to hear that,\u201d he smiled. \u201cBut to tell you the truth, I was afraid when you visited him at Fort Dix you would come back engaged and I would loose you.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the day of the party, the Christmas cheer was highly contagious. All the secretary pool girls received Poinsettia corsages and the sales department kept insisting everyone sing Good King Wenceslas, again and again. Kimball walked across the crowded room to Josephine and asked if he could get her a glass of punch. She said yes. Over their drink, his compliments made her blush, then he asked which play she decided to go to. Finian\u2019s Rainbow, she replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I\u2019m going to Finian\u2019s too, my father keeps raving about it,\u201d he said. \u201cWould you like to have dinner with me before the play.\u201d<\/p>\n

She paused. He did not blink; the resolve he learned in the Corps enabled him to conceal his nervous anticipation to her response and to suppress the urge to clap his hands with joy when she replied, \u201cI would like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

They went to a Theater District restaurant for steaks, and over their daiquiris\u2014she always ordered a daiquiri before dinner\u2014he suddenly leaned across the table and kissed her on the lips. He was relieved when she smiled afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you didn\u2019t mind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I didn\u2019t mind\u2026 at all,\u201d She replied softly. She did not mention that she never let boys kiss her on her on the first date. She rarely let them kiss her on the second date, and she never went any further than a kiss. She liked the kiss very much, although she realized she would have to say an extra rosary before mass that Sunday.<\/p>\n

After the play, they wished each other a Merry Christmas. She told him that she was taking a vacation in Florida in January with her Friend Doris. This meant they would not see each other for a while, but Kimball knew about the train, and said that he could meet her during the 15 minutes the train was stopped in D.C. to receive and discharge passengers.<\/p>\n

Every work day, between the party and her departure for Florida, a small envelope for her would be in the package the company\u2019s courier service delivered from the D.C. branch. Inside the envelope was a touching note from Kimball, some complement about her red hair or her hazel eyes or simply,\u00a0 \u2018thinking of you.\u2019<\/p>\n

The worst blizzard of the decade hit on January 24, 1948,\u00a0 the day Doris and Josephine left for Florida.\u00a0 The stormed\u00a0 dumped a record amount of snow on the northeast before it blew out to sea, and\u00a0 four inches of slush covered Manhattan by the time the train finally left Grand Central Station. It was three hours late arriving in the Nation\u2019s Capital, but there was Kimball, shivering on the platform, wearing his long coat and fedora. In his rush to meet her, he had forgotten his scarf and gloves and his shoes and socks were still damp from trudging through the drifts on the way to the station.<\/p>\n

Doris went to buy a magazine, while Kimball and Josephine talked. Between his nerves and the chill, Kimball could not stop shaking. \u201cThere is something I have to ask you. Does your religion have any sort of rules against marrying Protestants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so. Protestants still believe in Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in Jesus, but I wasn\u2019t really raised in any particular form of Christianity.\u201d After a sneeze, he continued, \u201cSo, Catholics are allowed to marry outside the faith?\u201d<\/p>\n

She was perplexed at his line of questioning, \u201cI believe they are, as long as the ceremony is performed by a priest and some sort of document is signed promising\u00a0 the children will be raised Catholic.\u201d<\/p>\n

He seemed pleased. \u201cThat\u2019s good. I would like to have a lot of kids. I didn\u2019t like being an only child. A strict religion like Catholicism instills strong moral values and a sense of obedience.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the train headed south, Doris waited a long time before asking her friend, \u201cWell, how did it go with Kimball?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh Doris,\u201d she said, gazing through the window at the night filled with snow. \u201cHe said he would be at the station for the train ride back. I think he\u2019s getting serious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be silly, Jo. You\u2019ve only had one date.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day before they left Florida, a telegram was delivered to their hotel room. \u201cHave\u00a0 102 degree Fever.\u00a0 Deeply regret that I can\u2019t\u00a0 meet you on your return trip. Can I take to you dinner\u00a0 on St. Valentines Day? Sincerely Yours, Kim.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she read the telegram she felt sad that she would not see him, and also guilty. Waiting in the cold, drafty station for the delayed train had made him sick. But how many other men would have stood around freezing for three hours just to spend 15 minutes with her?<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Kimball was still feverish\u00a0 on February 14^{th<\/sup> and their date was postponed until the 27th<\/sup>.\u00a0 After work that day, Kimball arrived on the train from D.C., presented Josephine with a small bouquet of violets, and they took a cab to the Astor Hotel. The Ma\u00eetre De greeted the couple warmly, asked Kimball how his father was, and reminded him to pass along his regards. Then he told Josephine that she was the most beautiful woman in New York City tonight.<\/p>\n}

Josephine\u00a0 wasn\u2019t sure why, but\u00a0 she felt nervous and talked more than usual. Faster too. Over daiquiris, she described the week in Florida, how exhilarating it was to go swimming in the middle of the winter. Then she told him how she and Doris were planning to take a summer vacation in the mountains, and that in the fall she was planning to go overseas to visit her brother Kenneth, who was stationed in Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cSlow down,\u201d he interrupted. \u201cIf I don\u2019t ask you this now, I think I will burst. Jo, I want to buy a house in the suburbs and raise a family and I want to do it with you. Will you marry me?\u201d<\/p>\n

She was stunned and after a few, excruciating seconds, said, \u201cI guess so\u2026 when would you like get married.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about March?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNext month? Oh, Kimball, that\u2019s too soon to plan a wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cApril?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, April is Easter. I don\u2019t want to have a wedding when there is a holiday in the same month.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you like to be a June bride?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, my birthday is in June. I don\u2019t want to be celebrating our anniversary the same time as my birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about May.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I don\u2019t have anything planned for May.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, May 1^{st<\/sup>.\u201d<\/p>\n}

\u201cIsn\u2019t May 1^{st<\/sup> some sort of Communist holiday?\u201d<\/p>\n}

\u201cYou\u2019re right. That wouldn\u2019t be a good idea. We can\u2019t be celebrating our anniversary the same day as those Godless hordes.\u00a0 How about a week later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMay eighth? That sounds all right,\u201d she grinned. \u201cI don\u2019t have anything else to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

So it was agreed. Kimball unclipped his fraternity Pin from his lapel, and pinned it near the collar of his new fianc\u00e9e\u2019s dress. They looked into each other\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 Then she kissed him.<\/p>\n

As the couple finished their drinks, Kimball asked, \u201cWhat should we do now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s eat our dinner, then I think we should go to Brooklyn so my parents can meet you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later that night, after Anne and Louis Bergere were introduced to the young man, who in a tradition that has just about disappeared from the culture, asked Louis for the hand of his daughter in matrimony, they bid farewell to their soon to be son-in-law and watched him walk into the shadows of President Street. Louis put his arm around his youngest daughter, and said, \u201cJosephine, out of all the boys you ever brought home, he\u2019s the only one I liked.\u201d<\/p>\n

And on May 8^{th<\/sup>, 1988, after America had withstood the bankruptcy of Herrick Stock and Securities Ltd. as well as the shock of the first generation of\u00a0 American Herricks\u2014a family who could trace their roots to the Mayflower\u2014being raised to believe in papal succession and transubstantiation, Kimball and Josephine celebrated their 40th<\/sup> anniversary in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, a vacation their six children gave them as a present. In the Honeymoon suite of the resort, Josephine turned to her husband and said, \u201cYou know, Kimball, I never really said yes when you asked me to marry you.\u201d<\/p>\n}

He chuckled, \u201cI admit it, I rushed you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019m glad you rushed me. I would have said yes anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 1998, held by author<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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