A young teen named Ardis became fast friends with Mary Rockwell when the artist’s family moved next door. She worked for Mary in her home and pitchforked hay onto wagons at her father’s dairy farm with Tommy Rockwell. At the end of WW II, Norman had her model for what the Society of Illustrators would call “the greatest magazine illustration ever,” G.I. HOMECOMING, 1945. She wanted to catch a glimpse of him painting the masterpiece and tried to peek through his screen door.
