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• F O U R • "I Was Going to Have to Do It All on My Own" Toward Independent Womanhood after World War II After five years away, completing her education a s a health car e provider, Bobb i Denov a move d hom e t o he r parents ' house . One night , viewin g th e movi e The Sound of Music, sh e fel l i n love wit h th e mountain s o f Austria . A shor t tim e late r sh e happened t o mee t a n Austria n sk i instructo r wh o encourage d her t o g o t o Europe . Sh e decide d tha t sh e would , an d "th e minute I got home [from the ski trip] I wrote to every Embassy." She receive d informatio n abou t a n oversea s progra m throug h the American Counci l o f Nurses . " I go t myself a passport. An d I went. " Sh e ha d n o mone y saved , kne w n o on e there , an d spoke n o German . " I ha d a sens e I belonged ther e an d neede d to b e there. " Sh e staye d ther e workin g an d explorin g Europ e from 196 5 t o 1967 . Whe n sh e cam e hom e sh e live d wit h he r parents, but was unhappy an d looking for othe r options . 79 80 • " I Was Going to Have to Do It All on My Own " And I remember my dad coming out on the back steps with me, and says . .. I was looking for a n apartment, and my dad says, "I know you're really unhappy, but I'd like you to stay home and live with us. " H e says , "W e coul d wor k thing s out. " An d my unhappiness wa s because I had been to Europe and I had been around an d I kne w someho w I coul d no t sta y a t home . I' d vegetate. So I decided to go to [New Zealand]. She moved t o Ne w Zealand , agai n alone , without a job an d knowing n o one . While ther e sh e me t Jamie Henson . Togethe r they move d fro m Ne w Zealan d t o Ne w Englan d s o that Bobb i could acquir e additiona l professiona l training . They finall y set tled in Albuquerque in 1974 . The fiftee n wome n raise d i n th e post-Worl d Wa r I I era move d into adulthoo d unsur e o f wha t directio n thei r live s would take . Their cleares t share d commitmen t wa s t o education , and , through education , the y hope d t o find professiona l positions . They als o ha d begu n t o separat e fro m thei r familie s an d mov e away fro m thei r hometowns . Les s certai n wer e thei r expecta tions about marriag e an d independence. Throughout thei r earl y adult years , whic h spanne d th e mid-1950 s throug h th e mid 1970s , the opposite sex and plans for marriag e were not priorit ies i n thei r lives , bu t the y ha d no t dismisse d th e possibilit y o f matrimony totally . The y kne w the y wer e differen t an d wer e grappling with conflict s betwee n what they thought they shoul d be doin g an d thinking , an d thei r yearning s fo r somethin g else . This "somethin g else " wa s generall y vague . The y kne w the y were no t i n ste p wit h thei r cohort , ye t th e individual s i n thi s group seldo m coul d defin e th e base s o f thei r dissatisfactions . Most ha d som e orientatio n towar d independence , an d the y fel t competent enoug h t o begi n t o explor e th e worl d beyon d thei r families an d hometowns . Som e ha d a sens e o f thei r attractio...

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