Read Online The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story by Lily Koppel - Free Book Online
Authors: Lily Koppel
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giving shape to florals, flame stitches, even abstract designs. She never stuck the wrong color in the wrong square, and rarely seemed to miss a hole. Neither did Alan.
At home during the week in Virginia Beach while Alan was off at the Cape training, Louise managed a household of girls, looking after her two daughters, Laura and Julie, and a niece, Alice, who had lived with the Shepards ever since Louise’s sister had died from mysterious causes. Louise had already gone through long periods of separation from Alan as a Navy wife. As the other wives noticed, Louise had an unusual elegance and reserve about her. She had been raised at Longwood Gardens, the spectacular Du Pont estate in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, where her father was the chief groundskeeper and engineer.
Longwood Gardens was America’s Versailles, more than a thousand acres comprising formal Italian and French gardens, English rose gardens, woodlands, meadows, and a glass-canopied conservatory lush with orchids and exotic flowers. Inspired by the grand Italianate marble fountains of Europe, Mr. Du Pont had created similar wonders on his estate. Louise’s father was a favorite of his and he sent her parents all over Europe to study these great fountains, so her father could design and construct water marvels for the Du Pont estate.
The most splendiferous feature Louise’s father designed was a massive pipe organ connected to an extensive system of fountains and colored lights. As a girl, Louise had often helped her father create brilliant bursts of colored water with the push of a button or the press of a pedal. The ever-changing colors of the water jets provided a magnificent backdrop for the ballets staged at the Du Ponts’.
Old man Du Pont didn’t have any children, so the couple was especially attentive to Louise and her older sister, Adele, who were affectionately known as VIP kids around the estate. When they were little girls, they used to play hide-and-go-seek in the underground passage that connected the groundskeeper’s cottage to the main house. They enjoyed tea parties in the trellised garden with their dolls and teddy bears, and when they were older they were invited to the formal tea dances, garden parties, and lavish balls the Du Ponts hosted. Louise was like Audrey Hepburn, starring in Sabrina as the chauffeur’s daughter living on a wealthy estate. The Du Ponts even returned from one of their many tours of the Continent with new dresses for the sisters.
When Louise was a teenager, her parents sent her to Principia in St. Louis, a private Christian Science boarding school. People dismissed Christian Science as that religion that didn’t allow you to go to a doctor, which was true, but in the East, Christian Science had high social cachet. At Principia, Louise was known as “Frosty” because of her icy reserve. They also called her “Miss Westinghouse,” after the refrigerator. It was at Principia, at a Christmas dance, that she met Alan, who was there visiting his sister Polly. He, too, had grown up going to a Christian Science church (although his faith didn’t particularly carry into adulthood). Louise’s schoolmates thought he was an arrogant jerk and didn’t want her to marry him, but marry him she did, and she was not sorry about it.
Keeping up her calm and elegant demeanor, her “Frosty” façade, proved to be a perennially challenging part of being Alan Shepard’s wife. Louise took her role as a Navy wife seriously. She was loving but strict with her girls, and she used secret codes to keep them in line. If they didn’t put their napkins in their laps, Louise would look over and very quietly say, “White Sails.” If, after taking a serving of fruit cocktail, the girls had neglected to return their spoons to the doily on their place setting, Louise would say, “Star-Spangled Banner.” That meant, “Spoons out of the bowl, girls, spoons by your plates. Mind your manners!” It was a monumental challenge
At home during the week in Virginia Beach while Alan was off at the Cape training, Louise managed a household of girls, looking after her two daughters, Laura and Julie, and a niece, Alice, who had lived with the Shepards ever since Louise’s sister had died from mysterious causes. Louise had already gone through long periods of separation from Alan as a Navy wife. As the other wives noticed, Louise had an unusual elegance and reserve about her. She had been raised at Longwood Gardens, the spectacular Du Pont estate in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, where her father was the chief groundskeeper and engineer.
Longwood Gardens was America’s Versailles, more than a thousand acres comprising formal Italian and French gardens, English rose gardens, woodlands, meadows, and a glass-canopied conservatory lush with orchids and exotic flowers. Inspired by the grand Italianate marble fountains of Europe, Mr. Du Pont had created similar wonders on his estate. Louise’s father was a favorite of his and he sent her parents all over Europe to study these great fountains, so her father could design and construct water marvels for the Du Pont estate.
The most splendiferous feature Louise’s father designed was a massive pipe organ connected to an extensive system of fountains and colored lights. As a girl, Louise had often helped her father create brilliant bursts of colored water with the push of a button or the press of a pedal. The ever-changing colors of the water jets provided a magnificent backdrop for the ballets staged at the Du Ponts’.
Old man Du Pont didn’t have any children, so the couple was especially attentive to Louise and her older sister, Adele, who were affectionately known as VIP kids around the estate. When they were little girls, they used to play hide-and-go-seek in the underground passage that connected the groundskeeper’s cottage to the main house. They enjoyed tea parties in the trellised garden with their dolls and teddy bears, and when they were older they were invited to the formal tea dances, garden parties, and lavish balls the Du Ponts hosted. Louise was like Audrey Hepburn, starring in Sabrina as the chauffeur’s daughter living on a wealthy estate. The Du Ponts even returned from one of their many tours of the Continent with new dresses for the sisters.
When Louise was a teenager, her parents sent her to Principia in St. Louis, a private Christian Science boarding school. People dismissed Christian Science as that religion that didn’t allow you to go to a doctor, which was true, but in the East, Christian Science had high social cachet. At Principia, Louise was known as “Frosty” because of her icy reserve. They also called her “Miss Westinghouse,” after the refrigerator. It was at Principia, at a Christmas dance, that she met Alan, who was there visiting his sister Polly. He, too, had grown up going to a Christian Science church (although his faith didn’t particularly carry into adulthood). Louise’s schoolmates thought he was an arrogant jerk and didn’t want her to marry him, but marry him she did, and she was not sorry about it.
Keeping up her calm and elegant demeanor, her “Frosty” façade, proved to be a perennially challenging part of being Alan Shepard’s wife. Louise took her role as a Navy wife seriously. She was loving but strict with her girls, and she used secret codes to keep them in line. If they didn’t put their napkins in their laps, Louise would look over and very quietly say, “White Sails.” If, after taking a serving of fruit cocktail, the girls had neglected to return their spoons to the doily on their place setting, Louise would say, “Star-Spangled Banner.” That meant, “Spoons out of the bowl, girls, spoons by your plates. Mind your manners!” It was a monumental challenge
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