Saturdays with Seniors: Annelore’s Babydoll Pajamas

Today’s guest blogger, Annelore Chapin.

I am pleased to introduce Annelore Chapin as our featured Saturday with Seniors blogger today. Born and raised in post-war Germany, Annelore met her American husband Roy there and left for the U.S. at age 20. Three children later, the family left Roy’s hometown in Wyoming to folllow his career — twice to Argentina, then the Caribbean, then Egypt. Twenty-plus years later, they found themselves in Houston, where Annelore finished her education and worked as a translator. They finally settled in Chicago, their city of choice, at retirement.

Annelore took a short trip to Argentina earlier this year and is still stranded in a Southern Argentine winter, waiting for international flights to resume to America. In the meantime, she participates in Wanda’s class from Argentina via Zoom.

Annelore’s Pajamas

by Annelore Chapin

My eight-year-old heart jumped an extra beat as I pulled away purple wrapping paper. This was my very special present. It came from America.

After WWII life in Germany was not easy. As stores reopened, shelves were empty. The main concern for production was food, but items like clothing, shoes, toys, or household goods were slow in becoming available again.

Germany was occupied by those nations who had won the war and my hometown was governed by American forces. Over time some of the soldiers stationed there ended up marrying German women and taking them back to the United States. One of these women was a good friend of my mother. Her name was Gaby and she made her new life in Pennsylvania.

As soon as “Aunt” Gaby was settled in, she put together a package to send to our family. When the box arrived, excitement and wonder jumped out of that package. For me, everything was a “first.” A box of salted peanuts — heavenly! Strange cookies like sandwiches with a filling (I think they were Oreos). My mother smiled from ear to ear as she held up a feathery light silk blouse with flowers all over. Grandmother held a silvery paper bag to her nose and closed her eyes as she inhaled the aroma of real coffee beans.

But mine was the very best present by far, something I had never seen before: shimmering blue like the sky on a hot summer’s day, soft, yet solid to the touch. Ruffles around the neck, the seam on the bottom, and the sleeveless edge. It was as short as a summer dress, completed by puffy underwear. Reading from the explanatory letter she’d taken from the box, my mother exclaimed, “Annelore, this is what they call a Babydoll nighty.”

That day I fell in love with that nighty, with my aunt Gaby…. and I fell in love with America.