Was there a particular character you may have grown to like or to dislike in Heart of Texas that you did not find while reading Seasons Under the Sun? Did you wonder why they were not mentioned or wonder what may have happened to him or to her? Claudia, Franklin’s niece, is one such character for me.
Do you remember her story? Claudia Hill, age fifteen, arrived with her grandmother at her Uncle Franklin’s home in Oak Hill to escape the horrendous dust storms in Oklahoma where she lived with her parents and older sister on a farm. Finding a glimmer of independence from her parents for the first time in her life, Claudia took advantage of this newly found freedom and indulged herself in a teenaged lifestyle she would never have undertaken living under her father’s roof as a farm girl. She was smitten by Alan Woods, a young man five years older. The two entered into a secret relationship that through one mistake completely altered their lives. Upon hearing Claudia is with child, Alan Woods leaves without a word. Claudia’s parents along with Franklin and Maggie arrange for her to move to Beaumont to live with Gavin, her half-brother, until the baby is born. Eight months later during a torrential rainstorm, Alan returns to Oak Hill searching for Claudia with hopes of making amends. Alan is told Claudia moved to Beaumont and that she named her baby Matthew Alan. Eventually Claudia and Alan marry and begin a happy life together.
To condense the size of my original manuscript, the entire chapter containing Claudia’s involvement in organizing childcare for women who wanted to work at Corpus Christi’s Naval Air Station during WWII was deleted. So, for the next nine blogs, I plan to share excerpts from that chapter for your perusal. I’m hopeful you’ll find interesting facts about women’s involvement in WWII.
Stay tuned for Part I.