Since You Went Away

This is the moment I've dreaded... Coming back to our home...

Alone.

Oh, Tim. Tim. You've been gone only an hour,

and already the house is empty without you.

Darling, forgive me.

I held myself together through all our good-byes

and I've tried to understand,

but I still don't know why you should risk your life...

You, the best-natured and dearest person in the world.

I'll try to remember what you said last night...

That years from now,

this will seem the greatest adventure we ever had,

even though we had it separately.

But I have no courage, Tim.

You know I have no courage, and I have no vision.

And already I'm so very lonely.

We've had at least today.

I'll try to keep all the good things as they were.

I'll keep the past alive,

like a warm room for you to come back to.

I promise.

I promise.

Mother!

Mother!

- Mother, where are you? - Upstairs, dear.

Hello, mother.

Hi, darlings. Are you awfully wet?

Jane, such a nice, fresh cheek.

Better get your wet things off, brig.

Did pop get off all right? Was his train on time?

It was mean of pop not to let us go to the station with you.

Darling, you know how much he loves you.

He didn't even want me there.

You know how he hates a fuss. And Louisiana's not so far.

And he'll be home on leave before he go...

He looked so swell in his captain's uniform, didn't he?

I'll bet the others were all jealous. I'd hate a squinchy little father.

Pop looks like a parade all by himself.

- Did he have my present with him? - Right in his pocket, brig.

I hope he keeps all his money in it and everything.

I hope he buys those generals a drink,

and maybe he'll be a major by the time he gets home on leave.

He can be a major anytime he wants to.

Anyhow, he'd probably rather do something else with it anyway,

like sending mother a present or...

- Or what, honey? - I don't know.

Buy some magazines or books maybe.

I wasn't really thinking.

I have an idea.

How would you like to play gin rummy before dinner?

- Okay? - Okay.

Let's not. It won't be the same without pop.

Not even gin rummy... nothing!

Hello, soda.

Brig, are you never going to get out of this bathroom?

Go fly a kite. I wish you'd wait till I get through!

If you don't get through soon, you'll brush the enamel off your teeth.

You all stop that bickering.

It's time you girls was getting to bed.

- Hi, fidelia. - Hello, fidelia.

- Where have you been all day? - Where's your mother?

I'm in here, in Jane's room.

All right, Princess, the mirror's all yours now.

You can have a wonderful time looking at yourself.

Evening, miz Hilton.

Did captain Hilton get away all right this afternoon?

Yes, fidelia. He said he'd send you a postcard from New Orleans.

What about you? How did things go?

I got that job this afternoon with some lofty people uptown.

The wages is mighty fine-I starts right away-.

But I ain't gonna be contentment.

I ain't gonna be contentment like I been right here all these years.

I'm afraid we're not going to be very contentment either, fidelia.

What's more, I don't know what kind of housekeeper I'm going to make.

I can tell you something. You ain't gonna be very good.

I've been figuring out this budget. I don't see how we're going to make it.

I've already arranged to sell the car.

I don't think the government pays them officers enough.

I don't see why Mr. Hilton ain't worth as much to uncle Sam

as he was to that advertising company.

You'll probably have a much easier time

than you've had taking care of all of us.

You're not leaving us?

Did we do something to make you mad?

Honey, you couldn't do nothing to make me mad, no matter what.

You're just like my own child.

Did I hear something about fidelia leaving?

Now, Jane, I'm just as unhappy about it as you are.

We can't keep up the payments on the house

just by cutting down on your allowances.

Golly. First pop, and now fidelia.

That's enough of that, brig. I don't want no mourning.

You say good night to your sister and run along to bed.

You, too, Jane. Tomorrow's a school day.

The lord himself will have to take care of these calamities somehow.

You'll come to see us, won't you, fidelia?

Of course I will, child.

If you don't pick up your clothes, you never will keep a husband.

Men don't fancy disorderment.

- Good night for now, Jane, honey. - Good night, fidelia.

Wheel I'm a commando!

This is all that's left of fidelia's last cake,

and I'm afraid it's pretty stale, but cake is cake these days.

I don't care what they do as long as they don't ration pickles.

Yes, I know.

You'll have chronic indigestion by the time the war's over.

Hi, Gladys.

What on earth's the matter with that child?

Gladys is afraid of grownups, that's all.

I'd like to hear her say two words just to be sure she can talk.

Who you talking about-Gladys? I don't see how brig can put up with it.

I don't think much of your friends. They're all man-crazy just like you are-.

It's too early in the morning to argue.

Hurry up. You'll be late.

You tell Becky Anderson the next time she tries to high-hat me...

- Good morning, Mr. Mahoney. - Good morning, girls.

- Good morning. - Good morning, Mrs. Hilton.

I thought I'd bring the groceries and see if there was anything I could do.

That is nice of you. I think I'll need all the help I can get.

Hope you won't mind waiting on last month's bill.

I haven't received my first allotment check yet,

and I'm not a very good manager.

I know, everybody's got problems these days.

Now, you take me, for instance.

I'm trying to get enough of everything for my customers.

Would you believe it, Mrs. Hilton... One of them had the nerve

to ask me why I didn't go into the black market.

- Me, with my boy in the service. - You don't mean Johnny?

I wondered why I haven't seen him lately.

Yes, ma'am, and he's a mighty fine boy.

I've got a picture of him in his uniform right here.

I'd love to see him.

You're very proud of him, aren't you?

Yes, ma'am.

There are two things that Johnny always wanted to be.

One of them was to be an aviator.

And what is Johnny's other ambition, Mr. Mahoney?

Well, you wouldn't be believin' this maybe,

but it's advertising - advertising.

My Johnny always wanted to be an advertising man.

Well, I'm sure he'll be very successful at it.

You really think that, do you, ma'am?

Yes, I do.

You do?

Well, I guess I'd better be running along.

- Good-bye, Mrs. Hilton. - Good-bye.

Mr. Mahoney.

I think Mr. Hilton might like to help Johnny

get into the advertising business when the war's over.

Now, that is an idea. It wouldn't have occurred to me.

Mr. Hilton is in the advertising business, isn't he?

And I'm sure he'd be delighted.

We've always thought Johnny was a fine, intelligent boy.

That he is, ma'am. That and a whole lot more.

And you've really given us something to look fonivard to...

Me and Johnny and the missus.

It was very nice of you to come and visit with me this way.

Not at all, ma'am. Not at all.

- Mother. - Yes?

Do you think that I could be a good secretary?

Ha, a secretary.

Why don't you be a wac? You could be their mascot.

All right, go ahead and starve. See if I care.

Dumb magazines.

Everybody's got magazines.

I know!

Why don't we take somebody into the house -a roomer?

If you're going to throw away aces, Jane, that's fine with me.

Mother, why shouldn't we rent a room?

- There's such a terrible shortage. - Go away-.

Down with five.

It's perfectly ridiculous, brig. A stranger in our home.

Where you get your ideas is beyond me.

Certainly it's ridiculous. It's communism... that's what it is.

Oh, pooh. We could get an officer maybe.

And it might be sort of like having pop back.

An officer.

I think maybe she's right.

I understand there's not a room to be had in town.

It might be very patriotic of us to take an officer into our house.

Patriotism hasn't anything to do with it.

You're just crazy about uniforms.

We should do everything we can for our soldiers.

Brig, Jane, now that's enough.

Do you want to finish this game or don't you?

- 102. It's a blitz. - Turn out the dining room lights.

Suppose pop were looking for a room in some crowded city.

Hurry up, Jane. It can't be that hard to figure out.

Suppose there was a family like ours that had three bedrooms.

Don't you think it would be malicious not to rent a room to pop?

Well, Jane?

I won almost $6,000.

592 points at $10 a point.

Deduct it from what you owe me.

And poor pop sleeping in the park!

All right, all right, pop is sleeping in the park

and the people are malicious and we decide to rent him a room.

- Now you satisfied? - You'll do it?

I didn't say I'd do it. I'll think about it.

Knew you couldn't be mean like those characters in that other city.