He was drafted for World War II and wanted someone to write and come home to.
The common understanding at that time was that a soldier who had a girl waiting for him at home was more likely to come home safely.
My grandmother had a stormy relationship with her mother and wanted out of the house. My grandfather shipped out overseas a few days after they were married but, while it may have been a rough beginning for my Grandparents, they stayed happy together "until death do us part".
A photo received by my grandfather while he was a pilot stationed in Italy
Their home was in Detroit in the duplex that you can see in the photo’s background
L→R: My grandmother’s sister (holding Wiffy the dog), her husband who was a bus driver, my greatgrandmother, and my grandmother holding my mother.
My mom’s dad had nicknamed her ‘Toughie’ when she was a baby.
This was taken while my grandfather was on leave.
In front of her daddy fantasy car.
My mom lived in Detroit with her family up until she was 21 and she left to go to University. She had been there for less than a year before she met my dad. They were married 3 months later.
I love old photos! I can spend hours going through them. I have family from Detroit as well! My grandmother used to have the most amazing house in a part of the city called Indian Village. The house was amazing and had so many sets of stairs! All my family left during the riots and sold up, it got pretty bad. I was so sad as I was younger so only have vague flashes of the houses. I was just a child when I went and it was already considered scary, the early 70s. Thanks for sharing and interesting story too.
I love old photos too. I just did a Google of Indian Village. That must have been a totally awesome place to be! I've heard some about the riots (I learned Canadian history) and thought previously that it would have been really awful to try being a neutral bystander. Because of the Los Angeles rioting that they've had in the past it always kind of stuck in mind that it only happens in neighborhoods that already tend to be on the bad side and generally speaking it didn't affect the better neighborhoods though (with more thought) I expect I would have been freaked out enough to seriously consider relocating too.
Wow. What marvelous memories!
My mother and father were married December 7, 1945. Dad was home to stay...My mother left us this year at age 89 (Dad died in 2009) and my brother and I archived a bunch of photos. You made me think I need to share some of them.
Thanks for a great personal glimpse of your family!
Thanks! Definitely share. Make a series if you have enough!