There came a time when Droozy had to say goodbye to her home in Weirton. It was wartime and Papa had to join in the war effort and work in a defense factory where he could earn more money to support his family. Father went first to locate a job. This again left Mrs. Abner and her three children.

Droozy was very sad thinking about the big move. She was not quite fifteen years old. The day came when she had to say goodbye to her beloved hills. She walked up the steep mountain which was near her home and bent down to kiss the ground. She plucked a few wild flowers, sat down and braided them into a chain which she placed on her head. Droozy walked backwards down the hill, looking up all the time to remember all that was there, all the beauty of nature that she cherished so much. Next the teenager walked to her friends’ houses, one after the other, to let them know she would no longer be there to enjoy their company and to share secrets with them. She had no telephone and everything had to be done in person. She saw her friend Joanne Kuslak who had the same birthday as Droozy. She visited the Jack’s Queen Helen and played a final game of jacks with her and she walked past her beloved school where she had done so well and been looked up to for her accomplishments.

Droozy packed a small satchel with her belongings and a bag of food for the road.  She bade her mother farewell and gave her young brother a hug. Together she and sister Fanny set out for the bus station to take a bus that would take them to Cleveland, Ohio.  Both girls waved goodbye out the window as the large vehicle pulled away.

As Droozy sat in her comfortable chair in the bus surrounded by fellow travelers she thought of other times that she had to bid farewell to people and places she had known. She thought of her friend Gerda Berkenwald who she played with in Breslau, Germany and who was transported eventually to a concentration camp where she died; of leaving Bad Mergentheim, the place of her birth with its hustle and bustle. She thought of the marketplace where tourists and merchants gathered with their fruits and vegetables; of the fountain in the midst of town which poured an endless stream of sparkling water into its basin; of the little friend Lieselotte who had lived upstairs of her; of three year old Kate with whom she had played. She thought about Crailsheim where she had spent four years of her young life and of Hans Landauer, a childhood friend with whom she had run many a race; and of the beautiful garden that surrounded their home.

Farewells were very much a part of Droozy’s life, but she knew that they were also beginnings of happier times and of adventures.