Sequel: The Ballad of Michael & Beulah ›
Status: Completed
A Ballad For Beulah
The Prologue
Beulah Mason was born on a sunny, but extremely hot and dry day in Tucson, Arizona on May 19th, 1980. She was a little ray of sunshine to her parents, Chester and Rochelle, but to her older siblings who spanned in age of being 13 years older than her, she was just another mouth their mom and dad had to feed.
With a pair of blue eyes to drink you in and melt your heart, her cherubic face soon won her 7 older siblings over within her first year of life. At the age of two months the family moved from Arizona to RAF Lakenheath in Norfolk, England due to Chester Mason's position in the Air Force as a Staff Sergeant. The family did not live on base, however, and instead resided in a quaint cul de sac neighborhood in the nearby town of Thetford.
It was there that Beulah first learned to talk and walk. And how her parents managed to raise eight children in a cramped house on military wages would always be beyond her.
And life in England was peaceful. In those first couple of years, she had her brothers Nick, who was a year older, and her brother Larry, who was just three years older to play with whilst the remaining five clumped together.
All the Mason children were, in order of birth -- Elliot, who was born in 1967; Frederick, who was born in 1969; Claire, who was born in 1971; Thomas, who was born in 1972; Stephen, who was born in 1975; Lawrence, who was born in 1977; Nicholas, who was born in 1979; and...of course...Beulah in '80.
And, again...though life seemed like a never-ending fairytale to lil' Beulah, it was a hard life for her parents and older siblings who were more aware of their financial strains.
In 1983, the Masons moved back Stateside, to live in base housing at the McGuire AFB in Wrightstown, New Jersey. It was there that Beulah and her brother, her best friend, Nick started elementary school.
And it was also where their world came crashing down.
* * *
In June of 1985, Elliot, the eldest Mason, graduated from high school, and being that the Air Force life was all he knew growing up, it seemed perfectly reasonable for he, himself, to also enlist like his father before him. After training out in Utah, he was stationed at the Wright-Patterson AFB in Fairborn, Ohio; leaving it one less mouth to feed for Mr. and Mrs. Mason.
A year passed, and the summer of '86 had begun and at the age of 44, Chester Mason had made the decision to retire from the Air Force, having had 26 years in the service. He was planning on buying a home and finally settling down in one place for the first time in his life and possibly getting work, still on the Air Force base as a civilian. He had everything planned out, and the night in early July, when he and his wife were headed to his retirement party at a banquet hall not that far away, he was talking so animatedly about all the things he wanted to do for himself and his family.
With a kiss and a hug, Chester and Rochelle Mason bid their children goodnight and promised to see them in the morning because they would be asleep by the time they returned home.
And that would be the first and last promise they would ever break.
* * *
At three in the morning, there was a knock at the door that sounded more like a harsh pounding, followed by the doorbell ringing nonstop. All remaining seven siblings got out of their beds and climbed down the staircase to see who it was as Freddie answered the door to only be greeted by base police.
Beulah wasn't completely aware of everything going on for she was only six years old.
A six year old girl with big, blue eyes and wore her hair in pigtails because she was convinced she was the next Punky Brewster, despite being blonde. The only things she ever had to worry or think about were if today was a day she'd rather play with Barbie dolls over her My Little Ponies. Or maybe She-Ra over Popples. Or Rainbow Brite over Strawberry Shortcake.
And maybe she didn't want to play toys. Maybe she just wanted to watch Ghostbusters or Duck Tales.
At six years old, she shouldn't have to think about what would happen to her when her parents were killed by a drunk driver.
* * *
As stated in her parents' Will, all children who were under the age of 18 and hadn't graduated from high school were to live with their oldest sibling. Which meant Elliot. At first the state wanted to fight the will, believing that 19-year-old Elliot was incapable of taking care of his siblings, financially. But the determined and family orientated young man he was, he fought for his parents' will, and won.
By August of 1986, the seven younger Mason children moved into a four bedroom house off-base in Fairborn, Ohio; compliments of the United States Air Force.
* * *
Losing her parents had been hard, but because Beulah was still so young, it was easier for her to move on than it was for her older brothers and her sister.
Sure, she missed her mommy and daddy, but she was still surrounded by so much family, that it was like her parents were just gone to work and would be back...someday.
And, eventually, Beulah got over the death, accepting they were never coming back, and she grew up looking to Elliot as her father figure.
In 1987, Freddie graduated from high school and went on to the University of Cincinnati for photography and business, paying his own way. And when Elliot was transferred to Travis AFB in Fairfield, California, Claire refused to go. She was rather close to Freddie and decided the only way for her to stay near her brother while she finished her senior year of high school would be to live with their paternal grandmother in the neighboring Covington, Kentucky...just across the river from Cincinnati.
With her older sister no longer in the same household, it made Beulah the only girl. And at 8 years of age, she was nearing teenagedom within the next five...and she would no longer have the female figure in her life. But, being a trooper like her eldest brother, Beulah dealt with what life threw at her, and started the third grade in the Sunshine State.
The state where she would meet first and greatest crush.
The certain someone who would, in years to come, change her life forever.
With a pair of blue eyes to drink you in and melt your heart, her cherubic face soon won her 7 older siblings over within her first year of life. At the age of two months the family moved from Arizona to RAF Lakenheath in Norfolk, England due to Chester Mason's position in the Air Force as a Staff Sergeant. The family did not live on base, however, and instead resided in a quaint cul de sac neighborhood in the nearby town of Thetford.
It was there that Beulah first learned to talk and walk. And how her parents managed to raise eight children in a cramped house on military wages would always be beyond her.
And life in England was peaceful. In those first couple of years, she had her brothers Nick, who was a year older, and her brother Larry, who was just three years older to play with whilst the remaining five clumped together.
All the Mason children were, in order of birth -- Elliot, who was born in 1967; Frederick, who was born in 1969; Claire, who was born in 1971; Thomas, who was born in 1972; Stephen, who was born in 1975; Lawrence, who was born in 1977; Nicholas, who was born in 1979; and...of course...Beulah in '80.
And, again...though life seemed like a never-ending fairytale to lil' Beulah, it was a hard life for her parents and older siblings who were more aware of their financial strains.
In 1983, the Masons moved back Stateside, to live in base housing at the McGuire AFB in Wrightstown, New Jersey. It was there that Beulah and her brother, her best friend, Nick started elementary school.
And it was also where their world came crashing down.
* * *
In June of 1985, Elliot, the eldest Mason, graduated from high school, and being that the Air Force life was all he knew growing up, it seemed perfectly reasonable for he, himself, to also enlist like his father before him. After training out in Utah, he was stationed at the Wright-Patterson AFB in Fairborn, Ohio; leaving it one less mouth to feed for Mr. and Mrs. Mason.
A year passed, and the summer of '86 had begun and at the age of 44, Chester Mason had made the decision to retire from the Air Force, having had 26 years in the service. He was planning on buying a home and finally settling down in one place for the first time in his life and possibly getting work, still on the Air Force base as a civilian. He had everything planned out, and the night in early July, when he and his wife were headed to his retirement party at a banquet hall not that far away, he was talking so animatedly about all the things he wanted to do for himself and his family.
With a kiss and a hug, Chester and Rochelle Mason bid their children goodnight and promised to see them in the morning because they would be asleep by the time they returned home.
And that would be the first and last promise they would ever break.
* * *
At three in the morning, there was a knock at the door that sounded more like a harsh pounding, followed by the doorbell ringing nonstop. All remaining seven siblings got out of their beds and climbed down the staircase to see who it was as Freddie answered the door to only be greeted by base police.
Beulah wasn't completely aware of everything going on for she was only six years old.
A six year old girl with big, blue eyes and wore her hair in pigtails because she was convinced she was the next Punky Brewster, despite being blonde. The only things she ever had to worry or think about were if today was a day she'd rather play with Barbie dolls over her My Little Ponies. Or maybe She-Ra over Popples. Or Rainbow Brite over Strawberry Shortcake.
And maybe she didn't want to play toys. Maybe she just wanted to watch Ghostbusters or Duck Tales.
At six years old, she shouldn't have to think about what would happen to her when her parents were killed by a drunk driver.
* * *
As stated in her parents' Will, all children who were under the age of 18 and hadn't graduated from high school were to live with their oldest sibling. Which meant Elliot. At first the state wanted to fight the will, believing that 19-year-old Elliot was incapable of taking care of his siblings, financially. But the determined and family orientated young man he was, he fought for his parents' will, and won.
By August of 1986, the seven younger Mason children moved into a four bedroom house off-base in Fairborn, Ohio; compliments of the United States Air Force.
* * *
Losing her parents had been hard, but because Beulah was still so young, it was easier for her to move on than it was for her older brothers and her sister.
Sure, she missed her mommy and daddy, but she was still surrounded by so much family, that it was like her parents were just gone to work and would be back...someday.
And, eventually, Beulah got over the death, accepting they were never coming back, and she grew up looking to Elliot as her father figure.
In 1987, Freddie graduated from high school and went on to the University of Cincinnati for photography and business, paying his own way. And when Elliot was transferred to Travis AFB in Fairfield, California, Claire refused to go. She was rather close to Freddie and decided the only way for her to stay near her brother while she finished her senior year of high school would be to live with their paternal grandmother in the neighboring Covington, Kentucky...just across the river from Cincinnati.
With her older sister no longer in the same household, it made Beulah the only girl. And at 8 years of age, she was nearing teenagedom within the next five...and she would no longer have the female figure in her life. But, being a trooper like her eldest brother, Beulah dealt with what life threw at her, and started the third grade in the Sunshine State.
The state where she would meet first and greatest crush.
The certain someone who would, in years to come, change her life forever.