“Rather a blue morning.” Monday, November 12, 1945
11 Sun. Washed & set my hair this morn. Had lunch, read the papers & played the piano a few minutes. Mom asked Stutts up for supper. I combed my hair & did my nails. Also rested awhile. Wrote letters this evening.
12 Mon. Mom brought us to town. Rather a blue morning as the girl’s Sat. check up isn’t any better. Ivy & I worked on a balance all day. Still out $2.50. Got my diary caught up tonight. Doris went to work. Made up my C.C.Y.M. Convention Report.
13 Tues. Cold. Mable & I gave our reports at C.C.Y.M. Took about an hour, and didn’t finish. Just sang for social. Had grapes for lunch, which were very good. Made plans for a dance.
14 Wed. Had a fairly busy morn. About 10.30 Nick Ketter came up and asked me to play for Maxine’s Wedding. I left about 12.30. Came home & ate & dashed into my good dress before 1.30. Played Lohengrin’s Wedding March, then a Medley of pieces, during Register Signing. Went to the Bowling Alley & Harry Howells gave me a lesson for 3/4 of an hour. Came home & lay down. Didn’t sleep. Went to the first show. “I’ll Be Seeing You”. Ginger Rogers & Joseph Cotten. Swell. Folks were in too.
15 Thurs. Miserable day. Windy & cold. Isabelle & I went to the first show again. “Thrill of a Romance.” Van Johnson & Esther Williams in technicolor. Humorous & good acting. Played the piano a bit. Doris came in late, so I couldn’t get to sleep.
16 Fri. Beautiful day. Work went fine. I did a lot of odd jobs tonight before and after bowling. We got 3 points. Mine were over 100, but very poor. Harry Howell bowled on the team.
17 Sat. Fairly cold, but bright. Work was pretty good, but monotonous this aft. Home before eight. Had supper. Shirley was late in going to bed, but I got some of her doll’s shawl done.
Click Here to view a scan of the handwritten original
These are the diaries of a seventeen-year-old teenager from a farm near Weyburn, Saskatchewan. Her name is Lorraine. She eventually was a church organist in Colgate. In 1944 she was the piano player for a dance band in Weyburn. In these days before school busses she, and her sisters, each had to move from the farm into town to attend school for Grades 11 & 12. This is the darkest time in World War II. Weyburn hosted an airbase for BCATP (British Commonwealth Air Training Plan). In other words, the town is filled with eligible young airmen from all over the world …
For more information on BCATP see a blog site dedicated to “Paying homage to those who stayed behind to train those who fought overseas.