40 Years Ago

He was the 2nd of four children, born in Taunton, MA to a Canadian mother and a Bostonian father, who moved to Bath, ME not long after he was born.

She was the oldest of six. Born and raised in South Weymouth, MA, the daughter of immigrants from Newfoundland.

They met at a plane crash at the Naval Air Station, down the street from her parents’ house.

He was 20. She was 15.

They were married in 1967: a week after her graduation and almost a month before her 18th birthday. Not long after, he and his army medi-vac unit were flying to Germany, awaiting orders for Vietnam. She went shortly after, living with him in a tiny apartment, fearing when his orders came and rejoicing when they were rescinded…fearing when they came up again and were rescinded again…came up for a third time and for a third time, his unit was spared.

Within a year, she (pregnant) flew back to Boston to live with her parents, her two brothers and three sisters. On her 19th birthday, she gave birth to their first child. He was still in Germany and didn’t know he had daughter.

Finally, his tour was over and he came home to Massachusetts. Within two years, they moved to a little apartment in Bangor Maine, then to a little apartment in Gardiner Maine. It was 1970, when their son was born. Two years later, they bought a house and four years after that, their youngest daughter came into the world.

40 years was celebrated Saturday night with a trip to Portland, with tunes from 1967 playing on the cd player and dinner at Rí~Rá’s...with family, good food, good drink and rich desserts!

The family gathered outside
Jessica, Mum, Dad, Dina, Alex's nose and Derek's Head
Mum
Dad and Dina
An enthused Jessica

Alex and Derek

40 years of trials and tribulations. 40 years of fun and good times. 40 years of love, of memories, of…to quote my Dad…“putting up with a lot of shit.” Mum says, "diddo"

My sister, my brother and I are convinced that if they haven’t killed each other after 40 years, chances are they’re never going to!