True Love

My parents on their wedding day.

    As promised, a love story.   Now my sister and I remember different versions of this story but the basics are the same.  Mom had been invited out for dinner at a friends house, for her birthday.  They had  a good time and it was late when everyone left.  Mama decided to walk home so she headed out and of course it was already dark outside.  Well there was a curfew in place to limit black market dealings. A lot of times it was an exchange, for example I will give you american toilet paper and you give me fresh meat from the market.  My mom actually did this with a neighbor friend years later.  We are so used to having everything at our disposal that I think it is hard to comprehend not having toilet paper, or bread or meat.  Well back to the story, mama was walking home and up comes the GI in a jeep and pulls over and stops my mother.  He checked her papers and wanted to know what she was doing out so late, my mother told him about the party and what happened.  Then he wanted to know where she lived, saying he would take her home but my mother did not want him to know where she lived and would not tell him.  Well he lets her go and mom goes home and thinks everything is over with.  The next morning a delivery arrives, I can't remember what he sent and that was the beginning of their years together. My dad Arthur L. Sage was the MP who pulled my mother over.  We always told people my dad arrested my mom for their first date.    They courted for a while and were married May 28th 1949, once mom passed all the requirements of the Army.  You see, you couldn't just get married, they made sure mom was in good health, she had to get papers from her home town, and I believe this is when mom found her family again.  Mom said dad was so giving and sweet.  He had a gentle spirit and loving sharing his candy and rations with the children in the area.  Daddy adopted my older sister and from that point on she was his daughter.  We never knew she was adopted until we were all older.  I know their early years of marriage were filled with happiness.  Mom even cooked her reception dinner and they filled the bathtub with ice and beer and drinks.  See after going through everything in the war, they knew what was really important was spending time with friends, and they didn't have a lot either.  Mama's wedding suit was sent to her from daddy's mom, June, we called her Meme(pronounced maymay).   

My parents at their party.

Well there is the wedding day.  But I think there will be more to come.  My parents gave us so many lessons in life.  Neither one of them spoke much about the war or the things that they had done.  They felt they were just doing what needed to be done and  I often wonder if I would have done the same.  My dad went in the service before he was 18, he was in Africa and contracted malaria.  He then went up through Italy and into Germany.  He received two bronze stars, which we didn't know about until after he died.  So I think it is important not only for us to learn from those who have gone before us but also for us to pass on our stories to our children.  Each family has something special to offer.  Enjoy your family and friends, God Bless.  Ciao, Maria