Betty told me about a difficult episode between Steve and his father. Here is a word for word conversation when she described the time that Steve ran away from home.
Bob: So Dad got along with his stepmother pretty, pretty well?
Betty: I think he got along better with her than he did with his own dad because his dad was a drinking man and he was mean. You heard about the time he, your dad, ran away?
Bob: Hm-mm?
Betty: Oh, you didn’t know about that? Well, you know, Mike Bednar? You know who he is? Who he was?
Bob: Right.
Betty: He was good friends with the Bednar’s. And then there’s Mary.
Bob: The Bednar’s they were from Czechoslovakia too, right?
Betty: Yeah. They were Slovak. There was Mary, Mike’s sister, and they used to go to the dances and I remember Mary, her mother didn’t believe in cutting the girl’s hair, she had the most beautiful blonde hair down to her waist. You could pick her out anyplace because no other girl was like that.
And they went to the dances and she and I were friends when we were little. Those days people didn’t hire babysitters. They took the kids along with them. Yeah, we used to get out there and dance right there, together.
But, your father told me he ran away when his father got drunk and beat up on him, he ran over to Bednar’s and they took him in. I did not know how bad it was until after your father died.
At his wake I walked back to the back row and then Mary says, “Betty?” She says, “I’m Mary, Mary Bednar.” Yeah, I wouldn’t have known her. And she, yeah, I told her what I was doing and stuff (selling Avon). She says, “Betty, stop (at my house), I like Avon, so stop.” So, I did stop and she was telling me the shape your father was in when he ran over there, he was all bloody and cut up. He was in bad, bad shape. Now, your father never told me that, Mary did. So, I never knew before. So, you learn a lot later on, about people and what happens.” (end of Betty’s quote)
It must have been very traumatic for Steve if he had not told Betty the details of this story himself. She learned them almost 70 years later.
Bob: So Dad got along with his stepmother pretty, pretty well?
Betty: I think he got along better with her than he did with his own dad because his dad was a drinking man and he was mean. You heard about the time he, your dad, ran away?
Bob: Hm-mm?
Betty: Oh, you didn’t know about that? Well, you know, Mike Bednar? You know who he is? Who he was?
Bob: Right.
Betty: He was good friends with the Bednar’s. And then there’s Mary.
Bob: The Bednar’s they were from Czechoslovakia too, right?
Betty: Yeah. They were Slovak. There was Mary, Mike’s sister, and they used to go to the dances and I remember Mary, her mother didn’t believe in cutting the girl’s hair, she had the most beautiful blonde hair down to her waist. You could pick her out anyplace because no other girl was like that.
And they went to the dances and she and I were friends when we were little. Those days people didn’t hire babysitters. They took the kids along with them. Yeah, we used to get out there and dance right there, together.
But, your father told me he ran away when his father got drunk and beat up on him, he ran over to Bednar’s and they took him in. I did not know how bad it was until after your father died.
At his wake I walked back to the back row and then Mary says, “Betty?” She says, “I’m Mary, Mary Bednar.” Yeah, I wouldn’t have known her. And she, yeah, I told her what I was doing and stuff (selling Avon). She says, “Betty, stop (at my house), I like Avon, so stop.” So, I did stop and she was telling me the shape your father was in when he ran over there, he was all bloody and cut up. He was in bad, bad shape. Now, your father never told me that, Mary did. So, I never knew before. So, you learn a lot later on, about people and what happens.” (end of Betty’s quote)
It must have been very traumatic for Steve if he had not told Betty the details of this story himself. She learned them almost 70 years later.
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