Second Chapter: Married to the Bottle
Shortly after getting married in 1948, Loretta became pregnant with their first child Betty Sue. And things started to get rough early on as Mooney sent her back to her parents as he was preoccupied with philandering. Even after reconciling, the couple still had a lot of fights and issues with Mooney’s womanizing. One time, Doo even slept with the wife of Loretta’s brother.
And when she gave birth to their second child Jack Benny in 1949, he wasn’t even there. And there was also a time during Loretta’s early life as a mother when Mooney disappeared for two weeks. She and her children had to survive on dandelions and games that she herself shot in their own backyard.
And in just six years of marriage, Loretta and Mooney already had four kids. They welcomed Clara Marie (also known as Cissie) in 1952 and Ernest Ray in 1954. Then, she got her big break in 1960 and got pregnant with her twins Peggy and Patsy (named after her best friend Patsy Cline) in 1964.
As an artist, Loretta spent a lot of her time on the road, and Mooney continued on with his infidelities, inviting women after women into their home while she was away. And every time she returned, she didn’t know if she was coming home to a fight. In addition, Mooney drank a lot, which was the reason for his physically abusive acts.
But Loretta stood up for herself and her kids. She would be there fighting him like she’d be fighting the other woman. Whatever form of violence he did to her, she’d get back the same way. It was pretty rough in their home.
But there was one fight that she could never forget. Mooney was supposed to take her out, so she dolled up, but when he came home drunk, she knew they weren’t going anywhere. But then Doo got her on one of her pin curls, and she threw a punch at his shoulder, but she was shocked when it landed on his mouth. She heard teeth breaking into tiny little pieces and dropping on the hardwood floor. At that point, she thought that that was it and she would be dead, but he ended up saying nothing.
But there were also times that she would rather not come home or just escape everything. But she stuck through it all because of her kids. She also added that despite their situation, they loved each other. And for Loretta, if you can’t fight for your man, then he was not someone worth having.
