Dorothy Carothers was my Mother's younger sister, my Godmother, and while I was growing up she was always my Aunt Dotty. I remember visiting her in several different houses or apartments when I was a kid. She often lived with my Grandmother. She lived in several places in California, Stamford Connecticut, White Plains, Mamaroneck, and New Rochelle New York, and New York City. Aunt Dotty moved around a lot. Over her last several years I called her regularly. After a few minutes of the current events of her life, came the stories. She was a kid during the Depression of the 1930s and a teenager during WWII. There were several cross country car and bus trips on her own returning to California or New York when the need or urge struck her. She also worked as a young girl at the famous Stork Club in NYC and very briefly as a dancer in a club in New Jersey. In the Fall of 2006 I got the idea to record our weekly phone calls, and three of four times I did. Thank goodness I did not wait any longer. Aunt Dot passed away at 80 years old just before Christmas, 2006. She lived for over 25 years in the house she inherited from her father's brother. It was the first house she had ever owned, and was very important to her. I was hoping to capture more stories, but it was not to be. Her positive outlook in the face of hard times shines through in these few stories we do have. |
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