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My entry for "Love" crosses over nicely with last week's theme "So Far Away." I think, to be cautious, I will leave off the real names of my relatives, since this is a somewhat recent story and is about the parents and grandparents of living cousins.
During World War II, my grandmother's cousin Diane had a war job working in San Diego, CA. There she met and fell in love with an Australian seaman named Joe. They enjoyed a mad whirlwind romance and decided to get married. When the war ended, it was time for Joe's ship to return to Australia. The world was a bit larger in those days, and the chances that they could afford to get Diane across the Pacific any time soon seemed pretty small. Apparently Joe hadn't intended to leave the service and stay in the States, or perhaps his military wasn't offering any lawful discharge at that time. I can't help but think they hadn't quite thought this thing through. Crazy kids. :-) So they hatched a scheme. They smuggled Diane on board Joe's ship, wearing a sailor's uniform. She stayed in hiding for I don't know how long before being discovered. No one turned the ship around, so she ended up happily in Australia with her husband.
I don't know many more details of the story (any Aussie cousins reading this? PM me!) but my imagination fills them in. I assume she was discovered, but I put myself in the ship's commander's shoes. The war is FINALLY over and every man on board is headed home, probably most of them back to their civilian lives. Spirits are high. A seaman turns out to have smuggled his bride on board. Yes, he could take her back to San Diego (or drop her off in Hawaii), yes he could discipline the guy and probably should. What actually happened? I don't know, but I picture them all popping a cork and toasting the happy couple. *g* Crazy kids.
During World War II, my grandmother's cousin Diane had a war job working in San Diego, CA. There she met and fell in love with an Australian seaman named Joe. They enjoyed a mad whirlwind romance and decided to get married. When the war ended, it was time for Joe's ship to return to Australia. The world was a bit larger in those days, and the chances that they could afford to get Diane across the Pacific any time soon seemed pretty small. Apparently Joe hadn't intended to leave the service and stay in the States, or perhaps his military wasn't offering any lawful discharge at that time. I can't help but think they hadn't quite thought this thing through. Crazy kids. :-) So they hatched a scheme. They smuggled Diane on board Joe's ship, wearing a sailor's uniform. She stayed in hiding for I don't know how long before being discovered. No one turned the ship around, so she ended up happily in Australia with her husband.
I don't know many more details of the story (any Aussie cousins reading this? PM me!) but my imagination fills them in. I assume she was discovered, but I put myself in the ship's commander's shoes. The war is FINALLY over and every man on board is headed home, probably most of them back to their civilian lives. Spirits are high. A seaman turns out to have smuggled his bride on board. Yes, he could take her back to San Diego (or drop her off in Hawaii), yes he could discipline the guy and probably should. What actually happened? I don't know, but I picture them all popping a cork and toasting the happy couple. *g* Crazy kids.