Page 45 of Coral Memories

Heather almost laughed at that.

“Say yes to your young man.” Ginger kissed her on the cheek.

Smiling now, Heather said, “I’ll call him before he leaves for work and tell him I’m okay.” She refilled her coffee and turned around. “Oh, hey, did you see the letter I left in the study for you? It came when you were out with Jack yesterday. It looked personal. I’ll get it for you.”

Heather returned shortly with the letter.

“Thank you, dear.” Ginger glanced at the return address and smiled, pocketing it. She would open it later.

For now, she had work to do. Feeling a sense of relief for Heather, Ginger returned to the kitchen and opened her computer to finish her presentation. She planned to meet with Jack again today. Maybe she would tell him about her early work with computers. She hadn’t thought of Commodore Hopper in years. Rear Admiral, that is. Lower half.

As she shifted in her chair, Oliver’s letter crinkled its presence in her pocket. She would read it when she had time to relax and savor it.

Listeningto the latest Elvis Presley song playing in the background to drown the noise of the computers, Ginger’s fingers flew across the keyboard, her eyes fixed on the glowing green text on the computer screen. The whir of the giant machine fans filled the air, punctuated by the rhythmic clacking of keys.

She pulled her sweater around her shoulders and shivered. The room was kept cold to cool the massive computers that took up half the floor space.

She had been selected for this assignment and was eager to use her mathematical skills in an emerging field. Computing was evolving at a breakneck pace and would change the world—and her work—as she’d known it.

Ginger was assigned to the COBOL programming language project. She found it exciting because it was the first computer language created with common language commands, so it could be used by a wider variety of people, such as those in business.If x, then y, else z.She was helping to further this word-based language.

“How are you doing, Ginger?”

Ginger looked up to see her mentor, Grace Hopper, looking at her with curiosity and admiration.

“I’ve just tested this code, and it’s working now,” Ginger replied.

Grace nodded approvingly. “Excellent work. Your contributions to the COBOL project have been invaluable. Have you considered my offer to stay on with the team?”

“My husband will be returning from overseas soon, so I won’t be able to. But I’ve enjoyed contributing.”

While Bertrand was away these past months, she had rented a furnished duplex for herself, Sandi, and anau pair, who was happy to travel with Ginger and see more of the United States. In this case, Pennsylvania. But Bertrand was hinting at a possible relocation for them and had asked her to meet him at their townhouse when he arrived home.

“You’re welcome to return anytime,” Grace said. “You have keen insights to problems that require sophisticated solutions. Perhaps you could work on a consulting basis for special assignments?”

“I’d like that,” Ginger replied. “There are times I could be available.” She had also worked on projects at universities in Boston. This kept Ginger mentally occupied. Sandi was too young to be in school, and Bertrand was gaining experience across several European countries, so she was taking advantage of opportunities.

“Let’s coordinate on those times,” Grace said. “Your help in advancing this project is greatly needed. You share my vision that computers can be used more widely.”

“Thank you,” Ginger said, humbled at her mentor’s trust.

Ginger thought COBOL was revolutionary and could see how it would spread the use of computers beyond the office of mathematicians and scientists who had to laboriously code each command.

She recalled the secretarial work she had performed for Kurt. She thought executives and secretaries could be trained to use programming languages for repetitive tasks like payroll.

A decade ago, Grace Hopper developed the pioneering A-0 compiler, a groundbreaking tool that transformed complex mathematical code into machine-readable instructions. That innovation marked a significant leap forward. Next, Grace suggested a revolutionary idea: writing programs using words instead of symbols. Despite being told it would never work, shepersisted. Her team successfully developed FLOW-MATIC, the first programming language to use word commands.

COBOL was derived from that, and Ginger was helping to refine it.

Grace’s eyes lit with another thought. “Would you consider writing a paper on your work for publication?”

Ginger shook her head. “I don’t have the educational credentials, but I could contribute or write the article under someone else’s name on the team.”

Grace nodded. “You’re likely correct. That is a prudent decision, if unfortunate.”

“Knowing my work has value is enough for me,” Ginger added. She didn’t need to call attention to herself.

She had security clearance now and seldom discussed her work with anyone outside her immediate team. She’d settled on the term statistician to describe her work. Few knew what that entailed, so she was generally safe at cocktail parties. For those who did, she could discuss recent studies or theories before turning the conversation to the latest Broadway play.

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