"Have convictions. Be friendly. Stick to your beliefs as
they stick to theirs. Work as hard as they do."
Eleanor Roosevelt
Before Stella Meets Levi
Stella's parents have spent their marriage saving up money for
Stella to go to college. In fact, Stella's own mother had put herself through
college with the help of her own sister in the 1920s. Stella eventually
ends up in Eugene, Oregon, at the University of Oregon. She wants to be
a labor organizer but because she is a woman in the 1950s she decides to
take business classes instead.
She joins a sorority. College is a shock for a girl coming from
a small Oregon town to a big University. She is no longer the smartest,
best dancer, best pianist or the most popular girl.
Her parents sell her horse while she's gone and she gives up her
dreams to perform.
During the summers she works as a waitress at little cafe near
the coast called Orfords. The U.S. Coast Guard station is nearby.
The Poem
Living is all in the lines
and how you lay the lines,
notes in the margins, gutturals, eyelet curtains.
What's the pick-up today, baby?
What's your name?
Rollers in the hair piling up high.
The heart strings zing, zing, zing,
taught, stiff and quivering.
The heart is a hopeful motor
that glides and thumps and shakes
all the way to the sea
beyond where any of us can see,
to the open arms...
Before Levi Meets Stella
Levi gets stationed in Port Orford, Oregon, soon after boot camp.
Although he was a stubborn kid who didn't like being told what to do, he
soon realizes doing what you're told is the best way to get through boot
camp.
In Port Orford, the coast guard boys out at Cape Blanco have bad
reputation as a bunch of kids reading comic books. Levi happens to love
comic books. It's a Loran Station, a kind of early GPS, and this branch
of the Coast Guard doesn't do search and rescue. In fact, Levi never learned
to swim out at the ranch. When a fishing boat goes aground, they have to
call in the Navy to rescue the boat. This doesn't impress the town folk.
Levi learns the Loran navigation system.
Levi and some friends stage a fake murder at the local Castaway
Hotel and Restaurant. This also doesn't impress the town folk.
Levi Meets Stella
Stella happens to be the only waitress of age who can serve liquor
at Orfords. Levi comes in one night and orders a beer. She asks for his ID
card and discovers he's not 21. She refuses to serve him beer. He comes back
later and asks what her name is. She won't tell him. He takes a guess. "Is
it Stella?" She is mildly amused by this. Later, around 10 pm that night,
Stella is closing up the cafe and she sees Levi tapping on the window and
motioning to his watch. He seems to be asking if she's available at closing
time to go out on a date. She grabs her coat and decides to go.
We all peel labels, sweetie.
She comes outside and locks up the restaurant and asks where they're
going. This surprises Levi because he was just asking if the cafe was still
open. He's too shy to admit this to her so he takes her out for a date to
Aggie's a converted barn coffee shop that stays open all night. Stella likes
his sense of humor.
Stella's parents don't take to Levi at first. He's not ambitious
they feel and he's too shy for small talk. Plus, he can't fix his own car
and it's always breaking down. Plus Stella hasn't finished college yet and
they're worried she'll drop out to get married. One night Stella and Levi
accidentally stay out all night. They claim they fell asleep. When Levi returns
Stella home at dawn, her father is just leaving for work. Levi's car breaks
down again outside their house. Stella's father has to stop and fix it. Levi's
father is not impressed by this.
Plus it's the summer before Levi gets shipped out to the Philippines.
Stella and Levi date for six months. He takes her out for roast beef sandwiches
and to see Johnny Cash who Levi loves. Stella later admits she thought Cash
was going to be a trumpet player.
Johnny Cash Interlude
They go to the movies. After the six months is over they decide to
get married. Stella's parents are very unhappy with this news because women
who get married quit college.
Never mix, never worry.
Stella and Levi get married in Stewart, Nevada, and have their reception
in Levi's house at the Stewart Indian School.
Stella and Levi visit her sister before he leaves for the Philippines.
When he finally goes, Stella cries for days. He'll be gone for a year. Her
mother isn't sympathetic at all:"She knew what she was getting into."
But her sister and her Dad feel sorry for her and try to cheer her up.
Stella and Levi before he leaves:
They write each other love letters all year and Levi sends her money
to finish school. Stella also works as a maid during her last year of college.
Levi takes pictures with his new camera. Stella sends him a picture of herself
with a letter on the back. Stella graduates college.
Levi comes back and they spend some time in upstate New York, San
Jose, California, and Washington D.C. before Levi is finally discharged from
the service.
The take a six month trip across the country, attend the Olympics
and then move to Albuquerque New Mexico.
Levi's family is charmed by Stella from the first and she loves his
big extended New Mexico family. Levi's father even buys her a horse for her
visits to Roy.
The Singapore Sling
1 1/2 ounces gin
1 ounce Benedictine
1 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce cherry liqueur
1/4 ounce simple syrup
2 ounces club soda
Lemon slice, garnish
Maraschino cherry, garnish
