Hicks in New York

In her third year at Northwestern,
She developed an internal infection
That was cured by the new drug, penicillin,
But kept her home for the spring quarter.

Unless she went back to N.U. in the summer,
She would be behind, so during her convalescence
She explored alternatives, and found
Literature for The New York School of Interior Design.

She convinced her father that she had learned
Enough from Northwestern's program.
Whereas the NYSID experience would be
A much more professional preparation.

Her mother was not about to let her move
To New York without suitable living arrangements.
Through customer contacts, they found a pension
On Park Avenue that boarded girls studying
  in various academies as day students.

These girls all came from good families in the East,
And were to  be carefully chaperoned by the landlady.
In fact, they turned out to pretty wild kids who
Were anxious to get away from home and sample
  the delights of Manhattan.

So our heroine emigrated to the Big Apple
And never looked back thereafter.
She made friends with the cream of society's debutantes,
Absorbing their mannerisms and savoir faire.

In those days, NYSID was not yet accredited,
Offering only a one year program of study.
She took her classes very seriously,
Spending hours sketching in the city's museums.

Among fond remembrances were meeting the
Debutante of the Year, one Jacqueline Bouvier,
Who had roomed at Miss Porter's School with one of the girls,
And the night one girl's mother took them to the Village Gate
  to hear the new French chanteuse, Edith Piaf.

Of course, there were also weekend bus rides to West Point,
Where the boyfriend was in his third year.
In fact, they became engaged at Christmas vacation,
Though marriage was still a year and a half in the future.

The following year, she got a job
As an order clerk for an import firm in NYC,
Renting an apartment first with the fiancee of his roommate,
And then later with a friend from home who later
  met and married a cadet from the Class of 1950.

As a senior, or first classman, he got weekend leaves,
So they explored Manhattan together
From Greenwich Village to Riverside Park,
Specializing in the small, inexpensive cafes.

On other weekends, there were football games
And Saturday evening hops at West Point.
On nice Sundays, buying the New York Times
Sitting in a grotto on Flirtation Walk, watching
   the boats going up and down the Hudson.