Elizabeth May Fairfield was cursed with the misfortune of always missing someone. Since she was five years old, you could find her sitting on her porch in Diamond, MO, waiting for someone to return home. In July of 1914, her father was drafted into the war and every evening after her piano lesson, Elizabeth would sit on her porch for a couple hours until her mother called for dinner or the sun went down. Her father returned home a day before her 15th birthday, May 11th 1917, after being shot in the arm. Elizabeth was granted a good six months of contentedness before her brother, Samuel, moved to the University of Arkansas. She thought of her brother in similar fashion on her porch until every summer came and he returned. Although with every summer her father left to work on her grandfather's farm so she was left waiting for another.
Elizabeth attended a high school that was only a short walk from where she lived. She excelled in the arts, spending a lot of her time painting or playing the piano. She joined the women's rights movement at an early age, her mother leading the way. She attended her first rally with her mother when she was ten years old and took part in many protests years after. She held on to the dream of becoming a business owner. She wanted to open a florist shop and cafe.
After graduating from high school, she became one of the few women in her graduating class to attend a university. She was the only woman in her business classes at Missouri State University and faced a lot of prejudice. However, it was at the university where she met James Lee Simmons.
James was a Junior at the university, earning a music degree. He was a pianist protege, a skilled guitarist, and a talented vocal artist. He focused most of his attention on jazz, a genre that had heightened in America. He dreamed of performing in famous concert halls.
Elizabeth first met James in the music room. She was leaving class when she heard him playing the piano. The music intrigued her and she was reminded of how much she loved to play. She watched him play and once he was finished he said hello to her. They introduced themselves and began to meet in the music room every afternoon for the second semester. Before they left home for the summer, they spent time out side of school together. When Elizabeth returned home to her mother, father, and younger sister, she was left to wait again.
Elizabeth and James were both afraid that they wouldn't find each other the next year but, with Elizabeth waiting patiently in the music room, they were reunited and her sophomore year, his senior, was spent falling in love with each other. After he graduated, James proposed to Elizabeth and they got married that fall. James was successful with his music, working as an accompanist or a director. They moved into a small yellow house and her parents moved closer as well for her younger sister graduated high school. With Eliza excelling in her business classes, she thought that maybe her life of waiting was finally over.
