|
Some of you may
remember my oldest Granddaughter's birthday last month. It's on
October 13, but for some reason I kept thinking it was October
20th and I almost missed it! I couldn't for the life of me
figure out where the date Oct. 20 came from or why it seemed so
familiar. Then it dawned on me the other day.... On October 20, 1968 I met Michael, a young student pilot for Lufthansa German airlines, and who later became my husband and father of my two kids. As my regulars know, I do folk dancing. Back in 1968 I was just a dancer and occasionally I would perform demonstrations with a group of dancers for the fun of it. One of these groups did primarily German dances and we had a gig at a German-American Oktoberfest in Chula Vista, located near the Mexican border. Here's a picture of me together with my dance partner of the time, Steve. In this case we were doing a Russian dance......  Since the rest is long, I'm putting it behind the curtain….. The German pilots trained at nearby Brown Field, and, having nothing better to do, they decided to see what kind of Oktoberfest the Americans put together. There he saw me dancing on the outdoor stage and wanted to meet me, in spite of the fact he thought I was only 14! He later found out from a girl friend of mine, Hansi, that I was indeed 18, and so his interest grew more. Through her, we got introduced. At the time I was studying German, among other things, at San Diego State and had a test the next morning, so we spent the evening practicing vocabulary! How romantic! 
Soon it was time to leave. It was already dark outside so he walked me to my car, together with Hansi, who was doing her best to get him to hold my hand and/or give me a kiss! On our first meeting! Geeez As I approached the car, I noticed that the hood was a bit open. I closed it, thinking that was just a freak, then I opened the car door and the dome light didn’t come on! As I said, we were near the border, and it seemed that some bandits had stolen my car battery! We went back to the hall and told the other guests to check their cars. It turned out the some had batteries missing, some had their chrome removed. So, how to get home now? Michael had to board the bus with his buddies, who were all watching us very closely, of course! He then gave me a quick kiss and promised to call the next day to see how things had worked out. Steve and I called my mom, who managed to get a battery from my neighbor. Steve drove me to get it, then we drove back with the battery. On the way we saw a pedestrian get hit by a car. Steve immediately get out of the car to help (he was that type of guy). There were enough helpers and the guy seemed alright so we continued back to the park, installed the battery, and I could finally drive home. I believe I gave a statement to the police, but nothing came of it. So, that’s how I met Michael. Needless to say, he called the very next night and we talked on the phone forever. He knew I danced on Sundays at Balboa Park, so the next weekend he joined his buddies for a trip to the zoo. Instead of the zoo, he walked over to where my dancing was. Of course, he managed to “miss the bus” to take him back to the airfield, meaning I would have to drive him back there. I called my mom and asked if he could come to dinner, and she said yes. Soooooo, to make a long story short, he met my mom and my younger brother and later mom and I drove him all the way to Brown Field (my older brother was away with the Navy and my dad, also Navy, was taking the battleship New Jersey out of mothballs). Over the next weeks he came home for dinner nearly every Sunday. He of course got invited for Thanksgiving dinner. He’s on the left, my younger brother on the right…. and yes, that IS me in the middle!  And on December 3rd we got engaged! When I told my mom, she replied: "What took him so long?"  He also joined us for Christmas....  Wow, dig those knee highs! LOL Dig the "modern" radio practice equipment they used those days.....  At Brown Field they were being trained by the now defunct PSA (Pacific Southwest Airlines)....yes, they start off on smaller aircraft....  On January 2, 1969, he had to return back to Germany. The next weeks and months were filled with daily letter writing and occasional phone calls. Then, in June, he came back over to "kidnap" me to Germany.... To be continued..... Westy
|
|
|
# 1, Xanadu wrote this on 11/10/07
What a great story, but I hate those last 3 words "to be continued". lol. Great pictures, too. I just adore that first one! How cool. Do Chapter 2 real soon! Hugs.