On
the left, in back, is my mother, Nora Deuber. I'm on the
left, sitting next to my grandma Ida Ostrovsky Kast. Grandma
is holding Gail Springer. My sister, Bebe Deuber Springer,
is on the right. Gail was born in April of 1944 and Ida
died in 1945, so the photo was probably taken in late 1944
or very early in 1945.
When I was very young, I thought Bebe had to be the most
gorgeous woman in the world. Because of our age difference,
because my mother was gone so much when I was very young,
and because Bebe was there a lot more than Nora was, she
was more of a surrogate mother than a sister. As I grew
up, we managed to have more of a sibling relationship, but
was always the person to whom I was the closest, along with
my grand-father.
I spent enough time with the Springers and got most of
my 'unconditional love' from them that their children, Gail
and Mark, really became more like my siblings, and less
like my niece and nephew.
Earth mother...
Bebe studied classical piano when she was young and, as
I remember, turned down an opportunity to working on becoming
a professional. I don't remember whether she passed up
the opportunity because she and Sam were already an item,
or because her piano teacher told her that she'd have
to give up a lot, work very hard, and dedicate her life
to the piano to achieve her goal. Either way, she decided
against it and married Sam instead.
Though Bebe continued to practice and play the piano, sporadically,
for many years, she began playing the guitar and learning
folk music. They moved to Overland Park, Kansas in the early
1950s when Sam accepted a job in advertising at Macy's.
There were frequent parties at the Springer house. Bebe
cooked and fed an interesting collection of people, and
there was just about always a hootenanny. Sam sat fairly
quietly in the background and beamed. Long before there
were Beatniks and hippies, there was Bebe, living the 'Bohemian'
life style.
I spent the summer
of 1954 with them and had a wonderful time. If she had
known all that was going on, my mother would have had them
send me home in an instant. Sam fixed me up with a young
man who worked at Macy's - Jim Williamson - who was 18 or
19 at the time. I had turned 13 in May. Jim and I dated
all summer. It was from him that I learned why my mother
told me that I must always carry enough change in my pocket
for an emergency phone call! He obviously hadn't heard the
term 'under age' and more than once, I ended up making a
hasty exit from his car. (He always picked me up and returned
me safe and sound to Bebe and Sam's home. Jim was obviously
smart enough to understand that he would be unemployed if
he failed to do that!)
Bebe was, among other things, a collector
of wounded souls. She adopted people, fed them, loved them,
entertained them... She saw herself as 'earth mother' who
fed and comforted anyone who came her way, and there were
some interesting ones! Bebe died in 2001. If you'd like, you can read the eulogy I
delivered at her memorial service.
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copyright 2003 © sunny deuber
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last update 14 June 2003
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