Dancing in the Evening was My Only Sport
Judith Dower

European refugees went to certain hotels. These were very nice and we had lots of fun. As well as having a good time, most of us met our husbands there. In the evening there were dances, sports during the day and good meals always; everybody ate an awful lot. One year a gentleman whom I knew but was not close with called me and said he would like to come up for the weekend to a hotel at which I was staying. From then on that was it. The hotel was the Takenasi. It was a big place, not one of the best ones, but always full of young people. One year after that weekend, we got married. It was a June wedding.

The ballroom dancing in the evening was wonderful. I learned how to dance from my older brother. He took dancing lessons and I was his practice partner. The hotel had a big swimming pool, golf, tennis and lots of other activities; dancing in the evening was my only sport.

After I got married, I still went up to the mountains, with my little boy. We took a room in a house with my aunt – she did the cooking; she was an excellent cook. My cousin came too – the whole mischpocha. I stayed during the week and my husband came up for the weekends. A lot of people stayed in the same house. Mostly women during the week and then the husbands appeared on the weekends.

Judith Dower