Happy Fourth of July!

(Women’s Army Corps members at Randolph Field, 1944, a public domain image via Vintage Printable.)

Last summer, I was learning more about blogging, and I wrote a short 4th of July story to go along with my first experience using Polyvore.  I loosely based the characters on my grandmother and her best friend, Nell and Kay, a brunette and a blonde.  Last week, while looking for pictures to accompany another post, I found the one above, and it reminded me of the story I wrote last year.

These were real women soldiers in Texas during World War II, stationed at Randolph Field, which is now known as Randolph Air Force Base and is very near my childhood home in San Antonio.  I grew up hearing the training planes flying over my house, and I babysat for the children of many pilots and their wives.  My dad took us to air shows at Randolph AFB, and when I was in junior high and high school, I attended many Fourth of July celebrations there, first with friends who had military parents, and later, with Ryan and his family.

In my story, Nell and Kay attend a party at the local army post, which would technically be Fort Sam Houston, but in my head, I was envisioning the sites and sounds of Randolph.

I’m not there this year, but I have many happy memories from those days, and this picture reminded me of that time.  I hope you have a safe and wonderful Fourth of July, and are celebrating with your loved ones today!