Lottie's Photos: Life Long Friendships, 1939

Ed, Lottie, Rosemary, Mickey and Don

This photo was taken in 1939 and shows dad, mom Rosemary Garrity, Mickey Risoli and probably Don, the man that Mickey dated until she joined the W.A.V.E.S. during World War II. One of the qualities I most admired in my mother is how easily she made friends and how dedicated she was to maintaining those friendships for the rest of their lives. Mickey was clearly mom’s best friend. They met in grammar school and actively cultivated their friendship until Mickey died.

Early on mom, Mickey and Rosemary did things together. More than once they hiked all the way to Castro Valley, mom took both of them to spend time at her Uncle Henry’s cabin in Ben Lomand, and on August 7, 1936 the three of them went to Chinatown in San Francisco and then to the Golden Gate Theater for a movie. Then something happened in 1938 and mom spent less time with Rosemary but she continued to spend time with Mickey regularly. On November 24, 1939 they both skipped work and went to watch the big game between UC Berkeley and Stanford University – the Bears won the game. For New Year's Eve that same year mom, dad, Mickey and Don all went to the Alta Mira club to celebrate and they didn’t get home until 3 AM.

Mom and Mickey cut school together when they were 16, they went to the movies at the Paramount theater, and wrote letters to each other when mom went to Ben Lomand or Brookdale, and when mom was away on her honeymoon.

Mom and Rosemary also did things together without Mickey. They went to the garden show and movies at the Paramount in Oakland and the Warfield in San Francisco. Rosemary helped mom with her biology and geometry homework in high school. One time after hiking to Lake Chabot mom got a bad case of poison oak and Rosemary brought her some medicine. She also brought mom’s homework home to her. One thing I hadn’t known until reading mom’s diary is that Rosemary was not a native-born US citizen. On January 9, 1941 Rosemary asked mom to go with her when she filled out the paperwork to be naturalized. A few days later mom attended her naturalization ceremony.

Rosemary and Mickey both attended UC Berkeley after high school. Mickey became an elementary school teacher and Rosemary was a nurse who worked in Florida for a time and then moved to Alaska to work as a nurse. Neither Mickey nor Rosemary ever married but Mickey spend most of her life in a relationship with Nellie Smith.