A Place for Love and other Tragedies

Olea Mae Babbel Woolf at Bimbo's 365 Club, San Francisco, 1947

Golden Gate Bridge--1957

In 1946, a young girl from Idaho, born of German immigrant parents and freshly graduated from BYU, moved to San Francisco to complete a one-year program as a medical technologist at Stanford Hospital. The thrill of the magical city and the excitement of new friends and experiences in a world recently blessed by peace were magnified in the strong bold expansive symbol of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Olea and Tony Woolf, San Francisco 1947

This young woman who found love and romance within a few short months into her last year of education would frequently make her way to the bridge to walk across it. Standing in the middle and looking out across the S.F. Bay towards The City, Sausalito, and the East Bay represented new horizons and endless possibilities. Looking west across the Pacific Ocean or below to see a freighter heading out to sea, smokestacks billowing, inspired confidence and celebrated freedom in her mind and heart. This young woman was my mother.

As Mom and Dad married and quickly had 7 children, we children were the beneficiaries of my mother’s love affair with the Golden Gate Bridge. We not only lived across the bay where we could see the bridge every time we left our home, but we could also see it every day on our way to and from all of our schools. Our weekend outings often consisted of trips to The City for picnics and bridge walks. When relatives came to visit we wouldn’t let them leave without “the walk”. One family reunion in 1963, at least 40 or 50 of us lined up single file and played follow the leader all the way across the Golden Gate, while onlookers and gawkers took pictures and movies. As I got older my high school boyfriend and I used to drive over to the bridge for a stroll across it. After one high school prom at The Fairmount Hotel we made our way over to the bridge to “take in the view”. When my sister, Marlene, got engaged to Kelly, the proposal happened on the bridge.

Even after my folks moved from my childhood home, they made occasional trips back to San Francisco just to include a walk again across the Golden Gate. As they got older in years, with every walk, Mom would say, “Well, this is probably my last walk across the Bridge”. And when things weren’t quite going so well for her she’d say, “That’s it! I’m going to jump off the bridge.” There was never any question in our minds as to which bridge she was referring and also that she would also never do it. In fact, today we still often say, when there’s a problem brewing, “Well, you just might as well go jump off the Bridge”. Unfortunately, at my 40th high school reunion, upon asking one of my friends how his younger sister was, he answered, “I’m so mad at her. She jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge 5 years ago!” I was shocked and horrified and didn’t know how to respond. I guess it was good he was a psychologist because maybe he knew how to deal with that. I guess it was also good he was somewhat drunk because he probably didn’t notice me stammering and sputtering.

Upon the 50th anniversary of the Golden Gate members of the Woolf family, including yours truly, made the exodus across the bridge along with thousands of others. The city of San Francisco really made a mistake when they planned this ‘happening” because with the bridge closed down for the day, people started walking across from both ends. The idea was that we would meet and pass in the middle and continue to the other side. However, there were so many of us that we got logjammed in the center, the bridge started swaying, and we had to turn around, carefully, and try to make it back to land.

A very familiar site, Mom and Dad beginning their walk

When Mom turned 80 we celebrated her birthday by walking across the bridge for her "last walk". T-shirts were made in her honor. And of course we had to dance the hokey pokey.

Never quite sure what we might see passing beneath

Some of the celebrants

One of my favorite pictures

When parts of the bridge were being sold several years back Marlene and Kelly arranged for us to buy one of the portions as an anniversary present for our parents. It was cemented into their Auburn backyard.

Tony and Olea around 1992-93

And was literally one of the only things still standing after their recent fire. Such resilience, such strength, such a role model!

After the fire

NO WONDER WE LOVE THIS BRIDGE!

Open up your Golden Gate, California here I come