60 Years of Marriage

This is my mother at the age of eighteen.

My mother was a senior in high school in Pomona when she was asked to pose on the wing of a bomber at nearby Ontario Army-Air Base. The picture was published in a local newspaper in 1944.

This is my father, the dashing fighter pilot, posed on the wing of his fighter jet.

My father grew up in a small agricultural town in Idaho. His father was either the town judge, district attorney or just a practicing attorney depending on how the last election went. Dad was the seventh of eight children and was born when his mom, a former teacher was 45.

Dad wanted to go to college, but it was the Great Depression and financially that was out of the question, so he ended up joining the military. It was his only real hope for having any kind of a decent future.

He was on a ship off the Aleutian Islands when Pearl Harbor was bombed. A few months later, he became a fighter pilot. After finishing his tour of duty in the Pacific, he was transferred to Ontario Army-Air Base in California. It is there that he met my mother at a dance.

My mother's parent's divorced when she was a baby. She and her mom, who was only 19 at the time, lived with mom's grandparents on their orange ranch in Pomona. Eventually her mom remarried and they moved to Big Bear, where they owned the only grocery store in town. After a Safeway came to town, their store went out of business and they moved back to Pomona.

Mom was interested in becoming an actress or fashion designer, but meeting my father at the age of 18 changed all of that.

Mom was the prettiest girl dad had ever seen. She looked nothing like the Idaho farm girls back home. He swept her off her feet and a year later they were married.

September 15, 1945

(I got married in the same dress, but it didn't bring me the same luck.)

My father was a career Air Force pilot and flew in two more wars. Life wasn't always easy. My parents had three children and moved frequently. My dad was often gone for long periods of time, so my mom had to be strong to keep things as normal as possible for the kids. It takes a very special woman to be a military wife. My mom is not only beautiful and sweet natured, but strong as steel.

After my dad retired, he went to law school and became a lawyer like his dad. Eventually, I followed in my dad's footsteps and became a third generation lawyer.

I admire my parent's commitment to each other. Sixty years of marriage is quite an accomplishment. And, my parents still cuddle and talk baby talk to each other when they think that no one is looking.