Mother of Blue Stars

ANDY: Fire away!

MARY glares at ANDY

DOLORES: With six boys in the service, our readers will want to know: how well do you sleep at night?

MARY chuckles.

MARY: Oh, by the end of the day I am pooped!  I fall fast asleep. Sometimes I doze off in the chair in the living room.

DOLORES: So you don’t dwell too much on the safety of your boys, agonizing if they’re okay?

MARY: I pray for their safety.  That is all I can do.

DOLORES: Describe a typical day in the life of Mary Banas.

MARY: My day!? Who wants to hear about my day?

DOLORES: For starters, I do.  And our readers.

MARY chuckles.

MARY: Why so important my day?

DOLORES: For reader identification.

MARY looks at ELEANOR; Eleanor looks at DOLORES. 

DOLORES: Our readers will enjoy seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary.   So what time do you get up, on a typical day?

ELEANOR: Mom is an early riser!

MARY: I feel silly talking about my day.  It’s nothing special.  I cook and clean and shop and try to run a hard ship.

DOLORES: Hard ship?

ELEANOR: She meant a ‘tight ship’.

MARY: Oh, yes, a tight ship. Sometimes if there’s time in the morning I go to Mass. And I enjoy your reading your newspaper.  It helps me learn better English.  

DOLORES: What I’m looking for, Mrs. Banas, is your North Star.  What keeps you going?  Where do you find inspiration? What is the source of your inner strength?  

MARY pauses in thought.

MARY:  I am sorry, Dolores, I have never thought about these things.  You’re asking some very hard questions! 

DOLORES:  Do you read the Bible?

MARY: I read it some as a child, back home.

DOLORES: Do you have a group of lady-friends that you socialize with?

MARY: Oh, yes!  

DOLORES: Tell me about that.

MARY: We meet sometimes on Sundays.   

DOLORES: How many women are in your group?

MARY: [thinking] Oh, five or six.

DOLORES: All with boys in the service?

MARY: We have a lot of fun! Sometimes we trade recipes.

DOLORES: Do you ever discuss the war?

MARY: We enjoy each other’s company.

ELEANOR: I’ve been to a few of these get-togethers. The war is hardly mentioned.  

DOLORES: Oh, I see.  That’s interesting.

Beat as DOLORES records a note.

Continued tomorrow.