Ester invited Elsa and Anya to have dinner with her at her new residence. She saw Anya at English class that week where they discussed the invitation to supper at Ester’s. Since Elsa wasn’t coming to English classes for now, Ester had written her a note to inform of the plans. Dr. Gustafson had advised Elsa to take it easy in her last few months. Elsa made arrangements with Mr. Yungdahl to drive her to Ester’s. William would pick her up after her visit.
Ester was excited to have company. She had made extra bread and roast beef at the Petters to serve her guests at the supper. Before Ester laid out the table, starting with the linen table cloth her mother had made for her as a house warming gift, she had to ask the caretaker if she could borrow a chair. She reviewed whether she needed anything else before she left. She had gotten extra plates from an old set discarded by the Petters. Anya was bringing more silverware from those discarded by the University House kitchen. Elsa was bringing mugs that William had gotten from a lumber salesman. She would use her special silver spoon to serve the fruit for their desert. She was serving canned peaches with a small piece of cream cheese on top. She opened the windows to catch a soft afternoon breeze. It was always cooler near the lake. As she looked out the window she saw Anya approaching her building. She was dressed for summer in her white linen blouse and white linen skirt and straw hat.
Ester ran downstairs to greet her friend opening the door before Anya could knock.
“Anya,” Ester said as she hugged her friend. The women then heard a call coming from the street.
“Hej, Ester!” Elsa had shouted as she exited Mr. Yungdahl’s vehicle. Both women turned to wave at her and waited to see if she needed help carrying anything up the stairs.
After they greeted each other at the door, Ester said, “I have to borrow a chair from the building caretaker. You both go upstairs. The door is open. I will be right back.
Anya took Elsa’s bag to make her climb up the stairs easier and the friends chattered away comfortably in Swedish as they made their way to Ester’s room.
“This is such a nice building.” Elsa said to Anya.
“Yah, Ester was so lucky to get a reference from her employer to get this place. Single women are not always welcome in buildings like this. I live in a boarding house. I admire Ester for wanting to be independent. I don’t think I am as brave as her.
“Anya, Ester told me how you marched in the 4th of July parade with the WCTU. I think that was very brave,” said Elsa.
“Oh, no. I was just helping my friends. They are clothing workers and are just wanting better working conditions and wages so they want to get the union to give them the right to vote. But you are right, I didn’t expect it would anger anyone. This is America. We learn about free speech in our citizenship classes.”
“You have applied for citizenship!” Elsa said. “I think you are more independent than you think.
“This must be Ester’s door,” Anya said.
“I’m coming! Ester called as she raced up the stairs carrying a dining chair. “Here, let me get the door.”
Ester carried the chair to her little dining table by the window. “There now I have a chair for all my guests,” She said. “I’m so happy you both have come.”
The women placed their bags on the chairs so they all could finish setting the table with the things they brought. Ester laid out the roast beef and the bread. She had some butter, too. She poured water in the mugs Anya had placed on the table along with the few pieces of silverware, two knives and three forks. Ester put the peaches on the table and sat down with her friends.
“These curtains are lovely, Ester. Did you make them yourself?” Elsa asked.
“No, Astrid gave them to me when I moved in. She had them made for the windows in one of her bedrooms but she found they were the wrong color after the room was repainted.
“That was lucky for you.” Anya said. “This is delicious roast beef. You are such a good cook, Ester. That’s one skill I don’t have.”
“Ester, tell us about your outing to Riverview (*) with Olof.” Elsa said.
Ester smiled broadly as she started to talk about Olof, “He was such a gentleman. He waited for me to come downstairs when he called here.”
“Ooh!” both women commented.
“He kissed me on the cheek and took my hand as we walked to the streetcar. It was a long ride down Western Avenue to Addison Street. The car got more and more crowded on the way with lots of other people going to Riverview, too. We piled off the streetcar and joined the long entrance line. Just viewing the Ferris wheel overwhelmed me. It was so high. I wanted to walk around before we went on the rides but Olof couldn’t wait. He was as excited as a child on Christmas morning. The lines were long as we waited to get on the Ferris wheel but the day was so beautiful with lake breezes and sunshine we didn’t mind. When we finally got a seat, Olof insisted I take off my hat and we put both our hats on the floor so they wouldn’t blow away.”
“That sounds like Mr. Johansson.” Elsa said. “Always practical.”
Ester continued with her story as she dished out the peach desert to her friends. “I was so scared, but thrilled also. Olof put his arm around me and held me as I covered my eyes and we slowly rose to the top. He took my hands away from my eyes and made me look out across the city. Oh, I can’t tell you what an amazing site it was. I kept my eyes open as we went around twice more. Olof teased me by shaking the seat and making me grab onto him for fear of falling. The rogue just wanted to kiss me again.
The woman laughed with Ester at her joy.
“What else did you do after the Ferris wheel?” Anya asked.
“Well, we walked around and got a drink and some corn on the cob. Then Olof played a ring toss game and won a prize for me.” Ester showed the woman a doll that rolled back and forth when you pushed it.
“We also went on the merry-go-round. Olof lifted me onto the horse and stood by me so I wouldn’t fall off going up and down. All the fresh air and activity wore me out. We walked over to the river side and sat on a bench in the sun for a time. It was just lovely.”
“It sounds like you had a wonderful time.” Elsa remarked. I can’t wait until this child is born so we can take him or her to the amusement park.”
“I hope you are getting enough rest now as Dr. Gustafson suggested. It won’t be long now.” Ester said.
“Did you pick names for the baby yet?” Anya asked.
“No, we are just waiting to see the baby to be inspired. William wants to give him an American name, like George or Theodore. I like Lillian or Eleanor.”
“Those are all good names.” Ester said. “Anya did you tell Elsa about what happened at the parade?”
“Some.” Anya said.
“She mentioned it as we came up the stairs.” Elsa said.
“Overall it was fairly uneventful. Just the rowdy men at the end”
“What! You could have been hurt much worse.” Ester said. “You should be more careful. There are always ‘rowdy men’ around to cause trouble.”
“I know. I just want to believe that women getting the vote wasn’t something men should worry about. Is it silly of me to have such expectations?” She asked.
The other women sighed and shrugged their shoulders.
“I don’t get politics. I just worry about your safety, Anya.” Ester said.
“Let’s go outside and sit in the sunshine. It’s almost time for William to pick me up.” Elsa suggested.
Ester got a blanket and her friends gathered up their things. Ester brought the chair downstairs to return it to the caretaker when her friends left. She also thought Elsa wouldn’t be able to sit on the ground in her condition, anyway.
As they sat down on the lawn in the building court yard to wait for William, Anya said, “Oh yes, I wanted to ask you both if…” She rooted around in her bag and pulled out a newspaper page. “If you two would like to go see this Swedish women’s singing group? They are going to be at the Emporium Theater in two weeks. I thought we could have luncheon and then see the Swedish singing group. I was going to ask my friends from the boarding house but they wouldn’t be able to understand what the singers were singing so I thought you both would like it better.”
Anya handed the newspaper advertisement to Elsa to read.
“The Smaland Swedish singers. (**) 2pm on Sunday. It says they sing traditional Swedish folk songs and harmonies. Oh, it sounds like our old choral group from home. I would love to go. I will just have to wait and see how I feel. But you and Ester should go,” Elsa said. Then she handed the newspaper ad to Ester.
“I can definitely go with you Anya,” Ester said. “Let’s plan on it and maybe we all can go if Elsa feels good.”
“Hej! Ladies.” William called as he approached them. “Are you ready to go Elsa?” He asked.
William helped Elsa up from the chair and they said their good-byes and thanked Ester. When Ester watched her friends leave, she felt happy. She was content having such good friends to share her life with here in America. Here they had freedom that none of them had before, to live their youthful lives in simple and almost carefree stability and comfort.