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JUSTICE FOR LORRAINE
By Conrad Cohen Abbott Press
Copyright © 2014 Conrad Cohen
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4582-1417-1
CHAPTER 1
Background
Lorraine Hallow Born December 4, 1933 Richmond, VA
Died December 31, 2009 Little Forks Hospital
Conrad Cohen
Born December 5, 1927 Brooklyn, NY
Lorraine was a beautiful blonde, blue eyed kid, adolescent and grown woman. Since she was tall, she played basketball in public school. She went to Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond, VA. I'm not sure if she played basketball in high school, but she was into rock and roll, country music, dancing and traveling.
She was working for Ma Bell Telephone Company when I met her. Our meeting is covered in another chapter. I remember when I used to go to her hometown to visit her at Ma Bell. It looked like the old movies with telephone girls all lined up sitting in a row with telephones plugging in calls and the phones across the top of their heads. Remember this was in the 1960's (of course I didn't meet her until November 25, 1972) and Lorraine walked into work with long slacks, not the dresses they were all wearing and they all looked horrified. The supervisor, a male, came in to see what was wrong. When he saw her in slacks he became horrified too and immediately said to Lorraine "Take off those pants!" So Lorraine, always the rebel, dropped her pants and the supervisor again screamed and Lorraine replied, "Well, you told me to take them off!" She then pulled her pants up and went to put on a dress. She was labeled a rebel and afraid of no one. When Ma Bell was short of repairmen, she even climbed poles, in workpants, naturally.
I came to Richmond to pick her up and take her with me to Century Park, PA. She quit Ma Bell, I started teaching college and our life together began. She confided in me about the abuse she, her mother and brother suffered at the hands of her drunken father. I swore to her that she would never have a bad day in her life from that day on. I kept my promise and gave her a beautiful life, just as she gave me. When the doctor gave her Zyprexa, that wound up killing her, it broke the string of being in love and happy.
I, on the other hand, after public school, went to Abraham Lincoln High School in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Up to that time, I played in the streets the games such as, stick ball, punch ball, kick the can, ring- a-levio, Johnny on the Pony, skelly, marbles, flipping baseball cards, box ball, to name a few. I played baseball for Lincoln High and after graduating in June 1945, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the age of 17 ½. I was sworn in on July 28, 1945. The war in Europe was over, but not with Japan. Later, my ship was part of the atomic bomb testing at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. I also played baseball for my ship. When I was discharged on December 4, 1948, I worked at various jobs. After that I took the exam for police officer with the New York City Police Department. I made it and was sworn in on October 1, 1952. I met Lorraine on November 25, 1972 (covered in another chapter), retired in April 1973 and took a teaching position with Century Park University of Pennsylvania.
How We Met and Our Life Since November 25, 1972
The magic number to the start of a happy life with the most beautiful girl in recorded history.
It was November 25, 1972. I was a police officer with the New York City Police Department and just finishing an 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. tour and heading for the Piccadilly Hotel on West 45th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue, which I frequented when off duty. I walked into the bar off the street and saw this beauty sitting at the bar. I came in and our eyes met and as Humphrey Bogart said to Claude Raines at the close of the movie "Casablanca" when they walked into the fog at the airport, "Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!" We both had one heart and knew we had to be with each other the rest of our lives and then through eternity afterwards. I was there to meet some friends. She was there on a vacation from Richmond, VA where she lived and worked. That exact moment in time we became one heart and one soul. One and a half years later, on August 29, 1974, we were married and had the most wonderful life for almost 38 years, until her death on December 31, 2009. Our official date of marriage was August 29, 1974, but we always believed we were married under God's eye on that very first day we met on November 25, 1972
Lorraine's birthday was on December 4th and mine was on December 5th, so during those first dates in 1972 we went ice skating at Rockefeller Center and had a great time falling over each other. She was of the Methodist denomination and I was Jewish. In the Jewish faith we light memorial candles on the date of our loved one's death according to the Jewish calendar. I light candles according to the Gregorian calendar and the Jewish calendar. Religion never came between us. We loved each other dearly and we became each other's priority.
We went to a campground in Walden, North Carolina to visit her parents on August 29, 1974. We decided to marry and went to town to City Hall and we made arrangements. Lorraine and I then went to a judge living in town and he asked if we had two witnesses. We said "no" so he said to wait one minute and went to the telephone. Shortly later, a police car pulled up; the two police officers got out and we now had our witnesses to the marriage. Fate being what it is, two brother cops were our witnesses and sent us from the judge's house as man and wife. And so our beautiful life began. We went back to the campgrounds and told her parents we were now married!
While with the police department, I went to John Jay College of Criminal Justice and got a Bachelor of Science in Police Science and a Master of Public Administration. I retired in January 1973 and accepted a position with Century Park University of Pennsylvania teaching criminal justice, then three years later transferred to Cedar State College.
Our life took an upward turn when I started teaching. At the college level, you get a lot of time off with long Christmas breaks, summers off, Spring breaks, etc. giving us lot of time to travel. We both loved to travel and together, we explored the world. Without sounding like a travel agent, we enjoyed places like Florence and Rome, Italy, Germany, Athens, the Greek Islands, Istanbul, Turkey, six weeks in Spain, Algeciras in Southern Spain and we crossed the Mediterranean Sea to the Casbah in Morocco. We sunned and honeymooned in Acapulco and, of course, every year on August 29th, we went to Niagara Falls, the "Honeymoon Capital" for everyone.
In 1986 we started cruising and took fifteen cruises everywhere in North, South, East and West Caribbean Sea through the Panama Canal, Alaska (our absolute favorite.) and the Mexican Riviera (Cancun, etc.). To list all the places we visited would be a little much, but you get the idea. We were always on the go, enjoying the places and each other and taking care of one another. Our life was wonderful and I can truly say we never argued about anything; a rarity in marriage, but nevertheless, true for us.
When we left each other for any reason, we kissed and told each other, "I love you." When we met again we kissed and said, "I love you." When we went to bed, we kissed and said, "I love you." When we got up in the morning we kissed and said, "I love you." We had the warmth and tenderness always for each other. It truly was a match made in heaven. She could shimmy like Tina Turner and we loved to go dancing.
I retired from teaching after 25 years in August 1997. We then had a set-back after making possible plans to leave Pennsylvania. My dear wife had a stroke after a successful operation on her colon.
She was in the ICU in Roper City Hospital and I arranged to have her admitted to Sacred Lamb in Morganville PA. She was there a month, did very well in her recovery and then went to Lakeside Rehabilitation in Cedar. She went to Lakeside with a walker and was determined to rid herself of it. And she did! Insurance covered about a month and a half but they had a Post Discharge Program. We paid $20 a month and were able to use the facility as long as the place was open and stay as long as we wanted. We went three times a week, worked on all the physical equipment and signed up for speech therapy. We set an all-time record of going there for five years. She was great on all the machines; treadmills, lifting weights, leg exercises, bicycle. Lorraine did so well. One day I suggested we take the day off and she naturally answered, "No, we'll take a day off when I can walk as well as I used to." She was a marvel to watch and I was so proud of her or I should say even prouder than ever before.
1. This will include areas we traveled to that were inadvertently left out when I discussed our travels. Some of the places we visited were:
A. The Lost City of Atlantis which is located off the Island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea which separates Greece and Turkey. Artifacts can be seen through the clear water off the island. The following four days we visited Athens, the Acropolis, the Greek Islands, the Parthenon and Istanbul, Turkey. While in Istanbul we visited the spectacular Hagias Sophia, once the largest church in Christendom.
B. Super Bowl XVIII in Tampa, Fl. It was January 18, 1984 the Los Angeles Raiders were playing the Washington Redskins. Lorraine and I were both Pittsburgh Steelers fans so naturally we rooted for the Redskins since the Raiders were rivals of our team. When the first half was over the Redskins were playing bad so we started rooting for the Raiders. The game ended Raiders over Redskins 18-9.
C. The Belmont Stakes in New York. This being the third part to the Triple Crown in horse Racing. The first part of the Triple Crown is the Kentucky Derby in Kentucky. Followed by Pamlico in Maryland and the final being the Belmont. We also enjoyed going to the races in Saratoga Springs in New York.
D. Lorraine and I both enjoyed the outdoors. A favorite summer trip we would do was whitewater rafting on the Colorado River in Durango, Colorado during the summer months.
Our Life Starts in Century Park, PA then onto Cedar, PA
After I retired in 1973 I took a position with Century Park University of Pennsylvania one of the twelve PA State colleges. I was an Assistant Professor and taught criminal justice courses in the Department of Criminology. Later I became Chairman and started a graduate program in Criminal Justice.
We lived in a brand new townhouse, one that was just built in a new complex with a balcony overlooking the beautiful countryside. It was like a country club with a large main building. This was owned by the VFW of which I was a member and the complex had a beautiful swimming pool, tennis courts and golf course. Our active life was about to start. We would swim, we played tennis, no golf, and joined a bowling club. Lorraine won two or three trophies. (Now the best part) The VFW had meals served in a delightful dining room twice a week at reasonable prices and dancing every Saturday night. We never missed the dancing. The music was not a nickelodeon but we danced to a live band! In the winter the VFW also had a tremendous fire place and soft leather chairs to warm up at the fireplace with a little brandy. Lorraine was into the arts and crafts and decorated everyone's sandals with jewelry and colored stones.
We missed the food of New York and drove often. At times I'd call my mother and she'd make us some good home cooking. We also went to New York to see a Broadway show or go to the opera.
James Stewart, the actor-cowboy, was born in Century Park, PA and his father had a hardware store on Main Street. People used to come to see their home. There was a centennial dinner at the college and Jimmy Stewart and his wife came. Everyone lined up to say hello to them at the dais. Lorraine was lucky; Mrs. Stewart took off her corsage and gave it to Lorraine.
For Christmas of 1974, I gave Lorraine a player piano and we got dozens of rolls to play. Our favorites were "Dueling Banjos" and "How Great Thou Art." Lorraine was tall and had beautiful thin legs and when she played Dueling Banjo her legs moved like lightening. When friends were invited to our house, they marveled at her energy and couldn't believe her powerful legs playing the songs. I couldn't believe how she moved those legs without getting tired.
Then things changed at the college and I talked it over with Lorraine. We decided to make a change and go east. A teaching job opened up at Cedar State College and I applied for it and got the position. It was treated as a transfer within the twelve college system so now we were closer to New York being on the border of New Jersey.
In Century Park, Pa, we used to go to honky tonks and dance. We wanted to find a place in or near Cedar where we could dance. We found one about thirty miles north in Johnson's Corners, PA. I had a Pennsylvania State Trooper in one of my classes who worked in the Johnson's Corners area and he had told me about Laurel Villa in Johnson's Corners, PA, a popular vacation resort, famous for its modern comforts and excellent cuisine. So we went up there once and absolutely loved it.
Saturday night became Laurel Villa night and the only time we didn't go was because of snow. We met the State trooper and his wife and soon became fast friends. They would come to our house and visit but not on Saturday nights. That was dance night. It became a joke with other dancers we met there because everyone knew Lorraine never wanted to stop dancing. Others would stop and rest. Lorraine and I had the dance floor to ourselves and I'd ask her if we could stop and rest and she would say, "No, when the band takes a break we will!"
We did this for about four or maybe five years, until Laurel Villa closed. We had a good run though.
We concentrated on our vacations from teaching and continued to travel and see anything we missed. It was easy living with a woman like Lorraine. So beautiful and kind and loved me like I loved her. I thank the Lord for that.
Hey Houlihan
It was in the early 1980s when we made an Amtrak trip from New York to New Orleans. The trip was an experimental one to see the value of changing the dining arrangements from the sit-down service to cafeteria style. All the top brass of Amtrak and the dining establishments were aboard and they had the dining car all fixed up for cafeteria style eating. Lorraine and I loved New Orleans so it was exciting for Amtrak to do the driving for us.
We used to drive everywhere. We didn't take a sleeping car; we sat in the lounge with plenty of room to throw our legs up and had a ball. Naturally, the train didn't miss a stop at every town or city on the way down.
The night before we got to New Orleans, we stopped for the night at a honky-tonk town outside New Orleans. Just about everyone aboard left the train and went to a club called Houlihan's. It looked like a movie theater with tables and chairs where you could sit and eat. The stage had room for a band and plenty of space for dancing. Lorraine and I, together with friends we made on the train, ate, danced and had a great time. Then the dance floor emptied and it suddenly became amateur night. People were performing solos, singing or dancing. The band stayed on the stage to accompany the soloists. Then, who goes up but my baby Lorraine. She was not afraid or shy when it came to dancing. She did her world famous shimmying and the band played "The River," Tina Turner's noted and famous song. Lorraine tore down the house with everybody yelling "Go Tina" and "Go Houlihan." She had endless energy and I joined the screamers yelling "Go Baby, Go Baby!" I got up on the side of the stage yelling proudly, "She's mine! She's mine and I'm hers!" Everybody was screaming back "She's ours!" Then Lorraine said to the band, "I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back" and she left the stage. The funniest part was some others went on the stage to sing or dance and the crowd booed them off and were screaming, "we want Houlihan.'" Lorraine came back shortly and started again and this time she told the band she wanted to dance to rock and roll music and then country-western, her favorite music. Naturally my favorite was the Big Band. And After a while, it all ended because it was very late and we had to go back to the train.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from JUSTICE FOR LORRAINE by Conrad Cohen. Copyright © 2014 Conrad Cohen. Excerpted by permission of Abbott Press.
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