I am inspired today by the Genealogy Tip of the Day newsletter sent out by Michael John Neill. What caught my eye was this:
"Determining how your ancestor met their spouse can be an interesting genealogical endeavor. It may not even be possible to do anything other than conjecture about their meeting. But at the very least, researching them with the intention of discovering how they met may result in new information–even if it has nothing to do with their marriage."
I know how my mother and father met, because my mother told me.
Mom was raised in Pensacola, Florida, and graduated from Pensacola High School in 1935. My father, raised in Pasadena, California, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1934.
Dad had always been interested in flying, having been a member of the "Aero Club" at Pasadena High School/Junior College, a combined educational institution. After graduation, Dad served on an aircraft carrier, and, in 1937, was chosen for flight school at Pensacola Naval Air Station. Ah, fate.
My mother could be very determined. Once she made up her mind to do something, it was going to be done come Hell or high water. She and her friends, the social elite of Pensacola, would hang out at the Officers' Club at NAS Pensacola to see who they could meet. My mother told me that she spotted my father across the proverbial crowded room, and decided, "That's the man I'm going to marry." Dad's fate was sealed.
She most likely introduced herself to him, rather than wait for someone else to arrange an introduction. And the rest is history.
They were married 16 July 1937. These wedding pictures are hand-colored and mounted on tiles of porcelain.
