Coming to Colorado: A Young Immigrantâ??s Journey to Become an American Flyer

CHAPTER 6. Emily Griffith Opportunity School

Emily Griffith Opportunity School CHAPTER 6 { 78 } EMILY GRIFFITH OPPORTUNITY SCHOOL Over dinner Hedy mentioned to Leo that a bar patron had arranged a job interview for me at a nearby bakery, a large factory-like building down the street from the bar where Marie worked. “The man heard you say that Wolfgang apprenticed as a baker in Germany. He works at the bakery and told me they are always looking for good people. They pay one dollar and seventy-five cents an hour to start. A good wage, he assured me.” Leo listened patiently to Hedy, as he always did. It was the first I heard of the job offer, and I wasn’t sure if the skills I acquired in a small, family-style bakery would be transferable to what I viewed as a huge bread factory. My initial cautionary feelings quickly gave way to a rapidly rising euphoria. I am a quick learner, I thought. I can do it. A bakery is a bakery. And wouldn’t it be nice to make that much money? I did some quick figuring and realized I could make nearly three hundred dollars a month. A huge amount of money as I understood things. I had seen cars in used car lots for sale for around that much, maybe a little more. I could buy one of those large American cars, and then Leo wouldn’t have to pay someone to get a ride to work. My initial reaction was to take the job to help my family. But the irony of the situation didn’t escape me. I had come all the way to America only to be a baker once more. Leo finished eating, laid down his fork deliberately, then turned to me and said, “What do you want to do, Wolfgang?” I wasn’t sure I understood his question and hesitated. Hedy translated. Few people had ever asked me what I wanted to do. People usually told me what to do. I was taken by surprise. “It’s OK, Leo,” I replied after a prolonged pause. I continued in German, “I can save my money, Mutti, and when I have enough I can buy us a car.” Hedy translated. My reply reflected my whimsical thoughts on making money, our obvious need for a car, and our family financial situation in general. Leo shook his head vigorously. “No,” he said, determination coloring his voice, “the boy doesn’t have to buy a car for us. He needs to go back to school and get a high school education. We’ll buy our own car when we have the money. I didn’t get my high school diploma, and I’ve regretted it all my life. I paid for that decision { 79 } EMILY GRIFFITH OPPORTUNITY SCHOOL with the many bad jobs I had to take before I went into the army. Even in the army my lack of a high school education held me back. Wolfgang has to return to school, Hedy. It’s the least we can do for him.” Hedy and Leo continued talking, Hedy trying to persuade Leo that what they needed was the money I could bring in to help them get on their feet. “Wolfgang can go to school later,” she argued. “Right now he has to pitch in and help, just as I had to when I was a young girl.” Hedy had gone through the eighth grade in a one-room schoolhouse in the small village of Neuensund where she was born, near the market town of Strasburg, about a hundred miles north of Berlin. She grew up in a feudal environment, her parents not much better off than serfs, living from hand to mouth. Hedy’s logic was sound based on her own background, but it wasn’t good logic in the year 1951 in America. Leo wouldn’t hear of it. I listened attentively to their conversation, heard them use the word school frequently. Although Leo nearly always gave in to Hedy’s wishes, on this occasion he remained adamant, “It’s Wolfgang’s future we are deciding, Hedy. Without a high school diploma he’ll have a hard time getting anywhere in this country. Believe me. I know what I am talking about.” While I did not know it at the time, one of the most important decisions to affect my future was being made around...