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Archiver > WARBRIDES > 2006-09 > 1159234959


From: "Joyce Vonstrahl" <>
Subject: Re: [WARBRIDES] War Bride Impact
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 18:42:39 -0700
References: <BAYC1-PASMTP05648AF63E830F602C88D8AB240@CEZ.ICE><003901c6e0c2$3394e0f0$2bc58c48@yourlk4rlmsu41><004e01c6e0de$850b4e30$4b000a0a@roblaptop>
In-Reply-To: <004e01c6e0de$850b4e30$4b000a0a@roblaptop>


Elizabeth, you are so right, most of us came straight from "home" to our new
life, with our dear loves. This made all the difference, we loved our
husbands, and life was new for them too, no longer servicemen, suddenly they
were husbands and fathers. What an adventure it was, getting used to houses
built from wood, at least in Northern California where we lived. The first
few weeks we were here, we also used dipping well water, wood stoves etc,
but again, it was fun and such a happy time. My first purchases were from
Sears Roebuck catalogue: Betty Crocker cook book and Good Housekeeping Book.
I really enjoyed learning. American Warbrides don't quite have the
communication that you Canadians have, but belonging to WW11 Warbrides has
given me a perspective on how many of us are here, and Sisters All. Life
always has ups and downs regardless of "Places" but we have all made a
difference someway in our adopted countries. I hope we all live long and
prosper as the well known Mr Spock says,
Love Joyce

On 9/25/06, Elizabeth <> wrote:
>
> Agree, many underestimate the impact of the War Brides on our society,
> even
> they do. Two weeks ago attended a wedding in Canada. The groom was the
> American. My family was one of five USA non-relatives who attended. Even
> cousins from Scotland came for the event. I was amused by the comments
> during the toasts about how the bride was going to "another country" to
> live. We were only 5 hours of driving time away from her new home. Had
> she
> married someone from Vancouver, the odds of the family seeing her would
> have
> been greatly reduced. And these comments were from people who originally
> were from Scotland!
>
> My thoughts then went to what it was like in the late 40s and early 50s,
> when travel wasn't as easy, as quick or as inexpensive as it is today.
> There were so many unknowns that the War Brides had. Much of life back
> then
> on this side of the ocean was just unfathomable to people in Europe. For
> example, the scale of this land is still not grasped by many. Maps are
> sized to fit the paper, creating unreal size relationships.
>
> My mother-in-law often has told me that she never told her family of what
> her life was like when she first arrived. As an upper-class city girl,
> she
> believed that they would have been horrified to learn that her running
> water
> was the crick out back, and that her milk came from the goat tied in front
> of the two-room log cabin. If she wanted to cook, she first had to gather
> the wood and find the eggs. This for a girl who did not learn to cook at
> her mother's side. Because of rationing. her mother wouldn't let her
> touch
> anything for fear of waste.
>
> She also had instant family, besides her baby son. Her husband had
> previously been married and from that union had a boy and a
> girl. Together
> they produced four boys. Can you imagine, going from the only female
> grandchild with eight doting uncles and aunts to being the only female
> adult
> with six children under the age of 10, and in a foreign country?
>
> If nothing else, my mother-in-law is a survivor, as are all the other War
> Brides, and our two countries are a lot better because of them. Thank you
> all!
>
> Elizabeth Walton Robinson
> Daughter-in-law of
> Susanne Schuster Robinson Tripp
> German War Bride
>
>
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--
Joyce

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