Can you imagine? Your only son goes off to fight in a war because it sounds like fun? Then, when the war is over, he stays overseas. When he finally does come home, he steps off the boat with a pregnant Italian woman that no one knows, and only your son can talk to. Actually, he did call from Italy to say that he was getting married. To hear Aunt Al tell the story, that call was challenging. Speaking of Aunt Al, she had just married this huge, military-ineligible biker dude. As I understand things, Granny was not really happy with that match for her only daughter. Try to conjure Granny’s reaction when her married-to-a-biker daughter tells her that her only son is coming home from the war with a non-English-speaking war bride (Aunt Al took the call from Dad). When Dad and Mom finally stepped off the train, the word that comes to mind is ‘tense’.
Can you imagine? Your only son goes off to fight in a war because it sounds like fun? Then, when the war is over, he stays overseas. When he finally does come home, he steps off the boat with a pregnant Italian woman that no one knows, and only your son can talk to. Actually, he did call from Italy to say that he was getting married. To hear Aunt Al tell the story, that call was challenging. Speaking of Aunt Al, she had just married this huge, military-ineligible biker dude. As I understand things, Granny was not really happy with that match for her only daughter. Try to conjure Granny’s reaction when her married-to-a-biker daughter tells her that her only son is coming home from the war with a non-English-speaking war bride (Aunt Al took the call from Dad). When Dad and Mom finally stepped off the train, the word that comes to mind is ‘tense’.
Dad was gone a long time, and had received a wound, so I imagine that the greeting he received was overwhelmingly joyous, and there were hugs, tears, and smiles all around. How much of that was shared with Mom? I can only imagine. She didn’t speak English, so she had to rely on Dad for whatever went on verbally.
Mom: “Charlie, what are they saying?”
Dad: “They are very excited to meet you and have you in the family!”
Mom: “Is that what ‘!@##%^&*()_’ means?”
As Mom tells it, the only people to welcome her with open arms and make her feel like part of a family were Aunt Ruth and Uncle Otto, Dad’s former in-laws. Eventually, Granny and everyone else succumbed to Mom’s charms; I don’t think that I ever knew anyone who did not love Mom. Eventually, everyone settled into a family life that was as normal as Paddock family life could be.
You just gotta give it to Mom: she was one tough cookie. That was an expression of hers about others, but it fits her well. She was tough, but soft.
OK, so I spoke to Angela today. I told her about the blog and gave her the link. She is going to go into it and see if she can help us unravel some of the mysteries of Mom's side of the family. I'm sure she'll have some valuable input.
I also told her about the upcoming June reunion. She wants very much to come join us even is only for a couple of days. So she will be working on that. We can "interview" her then and get some good skinny.
So Angela is joining the blog and was very excited about it. Stay tuned!
Posted by: Aunt Anna | 03/01/2009 at 10:14 PM
Oh, one other thought. I think Mom's first word in English when she got off the boat in New York was "chilly" which was misinterpreted to be "chili" and that's what she ended up eating. Welcome to America!
Posted by: Aunt Anna | 03/01/2009 at 10:15 PM
LOL! I hadn't heard that one. I like it.
Posted by: Charlie | 03/02/2009 at 12:48 PM