My father insisted that Ben and I get married the day I arrived in Tokyo. The wedding was to take place in the chapel at Yakota Air Force Base where Ben was stationed. Even though the base chaplain and his wife wrote to my parents extending an invitation for me to stay with them the … Continue reading 4. Tokyo 9 September 1955: The Wedding
3. Tokyo Wedding Backstory Part. 2: Waiting
Note: On September 7, 1955, I flew from Phoenix, Arizona to Tokyo Japan. I went there to marry a young airman I had met in the summer of 1954, just before his departure for the Far East. We were both very young. Ben was nineteen at the time of our marriage; I was seventeen.The following … Continue reading 3. Tokyo Wedding Backstory Part. 2: Waiting
2. Tokyo Wedding: Backstory, Part I
When I was sixteen, a junior in high school, my family moved from our home in Stockton, California to Phoenix, Arizona. We were going there because my father had answered a call by the California branch of the International Union of Gospel Missions to start a Rescue Mission in that city. After several trips to … Continue reading 2. Tokyo Wedding: Backstory, Part I
1. Christmas 1955: Japan
On September 7, 1955, I flew from Phoenix, Arizona to Tokyo Japan. I went there to marry a young airman I had met in the summer of 1954, just before his departure for the Far East. We were both very young. Ben was nineteen at the time of our marriage; I was seventeen. Memories of … Continue reading 1. Christmas 1955: Japan
Epilogue: The House on Coronado Avenue
The house in the photo above is where I lived a major part of my childhood. My family moved there the fall of 1942; we moved away in June 1949. I was four when we moved in, eleven when we moved out. I had finished 6th grade at Woodrow Wilson Elementary and would have entered … Continue reading Epilogue: The House on Coronado Avenue
Old Photos: 1930s
Child Bride, my second book, begins each chapter with an old photo, or in one case a painting. I wanted it to be an album of memories, stories and photos that together tell the story of my parents' marriage that focuses on the early years, the 1930s and 1940s. I grew up hearing stories of … Continue reading Old Photos: 1930s
It is finished. The new Book is now available
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1081395028 It is finished. The book about my mother, Agnes Young Willems, is now in print and available on Amazon. If you click on the link above you will not only be able to see the back cover and read the book description, you can go inside the book and turn the pages. Really fun. … Continue reading It is finished. The new Book is now available
Mom on a Motorcycle
Mom made a box cover that allowed their schnauzer to ride along with her and Dad on their motorcycle. Yes, Mr. Prez is wearing a hat and sunglasses. Although Prez looks rather miserable in the photo, he actually loved those rides and would try to jump up on the cycle whenever my folks get near … Continue reading Mom on a Motorcycle
11. Sewing
It is late fall, the living room is dark except for the pool of golden light that shines on my mother’s hands as she guides the fabric for my new nightgown under the pressure foot of our old Singer sewing machine, the teeth of the feed-dog pulling the fabric as her feet work the treadle. … Continue reading 11. Sewing
10. School
November 1947: November is the beginning of the rainy season, the month the weather pattern shifts and brings rain-filled clouds to end the long, dry California summer. I am sitting at my desk in Mrs Bellows’ room at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School. Rain is hitting the glass on the tall windows that line the … Continue reading 10. School
