Joel Helfman (JH): I was playing stick ball.
Julia Helfman (FJH): I was reading a book.
JH: You caught the ball, and I came to retrieve it.
FJH: You were the skinniest boy I’d ever seen.
JH: And I thought to myself, ’What a hot babe.’
FJH: (Laughs.) Did you really?
JH: And the rest is almost history.
FJH: We became fast friends.
JH: And that’s all we were…
FJH: That’s right. There was no hanky panky, there was no writing my name next to yours… How come you never made a pass at me?
JH: You were really beautiful, but you were above fooling around… I left home for Chicago when I was about seventeen and a half …
FJH: Right.
JH: I wrote to you and said I was coming back to New York for a week. And I would love to see you.
FJH: Right.
JH: Were you enthusiastic about it?
FJH: No.
JH: Oh… ok.
FJH: I said, ’Well, he’s been gone over a year and I haven’t even gotten a postcard.’ And my mother said, ’He’s such a nice boy. You always enjoy being with him.’ So I thought, ’Well, I’ll listen to my mother.”’
JH: So I came back and we saw each other every day and then we were walking home in the park….
FJH: Thursday night…
JH: And you stopped and said —
FJH: I’ll say what I said.
JH: Go ahead.
FJH: I said, ’How much do you like me — a little or a lot?’ You said —
FJH and JH: ’A whole lot.’
FJH: And I said, ’I like you more than any other male except my Papa.’ And then I looked at you and I said —
JH: ’What are we gonna do about it?’
FJH: And what did you say?
JH: ’We could get married.’
FJH: And I said, ’Let’s.’ We had never even kissed, we had never held hands. So, you walked me up the five flights of stairs and then you gave me a kiss on the lips, and that was enough for me. I went into the apartment and I said, ’Papa. I’m going to get married.’ He said, ’No, you’re not! You’ve got a brain, you’re gonna make something of yourself.’ And I said, ’Papa, there’s just something about him that just makes me feel I can do things. I know we can build a great life together. I just know it, Papa.’ And my father looked at me and he said, ’I have never doubted your judgment. If this is what you want, I support you in it.’ And that was that.
JH: We’re happy, right?
FJH: (Sigh.) Everyday I look at you and I say to myself, ’How was I smart enough to know that this, this young man would always keep me happy… always make me feel safe… always challenge me?’
JH: And there’s no one that comes anywhere near close to you.
FJH: Oh my God, honey. We’re both lucky. And I think this is done because what more can we say?
JH: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
FJH: Unless I leap across this table and just hug and kiss you. (Laughs.)
