a large foundry, had been as unlike her father as it is possible to conceive. Where he was tall, powerful and obtuse, she was delicate, receptive and moreover, displayed artistic talent talent that should have been. choked out by the environment, but rather intensified under the adver- sity. Her father had been intensely disappointed that he had no budding football player in his child; he was transported into a Lear-like rage when it became evident that he had, in fact, no son either. "I can't blame him in a way he was always bragging about his boy to the other men at the factory, but after I was twelve or thirteen, he was silent about me. I used to meet him sometimes, after school; I would either walk or ride my bike over to the gate and wait for him. One day, Mother told me that he preferred I didn't meet him there anymore. Later on I figured that -- well, if you had a son who looked more like a daughter, you'd just as soon he wasn't in full view of the people you'd told that he was going to be, first a fullback, then an end, and later a quarterback. Hell!" she spat the word out. "He would have been satisfied with a basketball player. Instead - Instead he got a child who stopped growing at twelve-Later when I had all the tests, they told me the effect was of stopping the development of the long bones. By the time I was fifteen, I was beginning to acquire some rather startling dimensions, especially around the hips. These " she cupped her hands suggestively

—

―

"came later. So anyway, I stayed short, very slim and got wide across the bottom. My voice didn't change much either a little richer, but no deeper and I never shaved. That was something else the old man went out and bought a great mug with my name on it like the one he had and waited for me to use it. Of course I never did. Finally I guess I was a junior in high school, my mother took me to see a doctor. It was a family doctor in fact the neighborhood doctor, and I don't know where he learned medicine, but he missed everything and just put it down to slowness. Don't worry, he said, all of a sudden he'll start grow- ing again and before you know it you won't recognize him! What a prophet. If he only knew.

"So things went on, but they were getting worse at home. I'd be- come interested in art — and music as well, but I was always so nervous, especially after the time in high school when I'd tried out for the chorus and was put in the soprano section. Not only that, but my teachers told me I had talent and I soon persuaded my mother to let me take private lessons. Dad and I weren't talking much then. One night, I asked Dad about studying at the University here and I must admit I was sur- prised that he agreed. In fact, he'd been putting money away for that for years that plus I won a scholarship from one of the Polish organi- zations on the basis of my grades. I thought everything was fine, until

12

—