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Saturday, March 18, 2017

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- A Critical Life Decision

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!



Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music):

1)  Did you or your ancestor make a critical life decision that really changed their life in terms of place, work, family, relationships, etc.?

2)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a comment on Facebook or Google+.

Here's mine:

The most critical of decisions of my ancestors that I know about is probably that of my father, Frederick Walton Seaver.

In 1940, he was age 29, residing in Leominster, Massachusetts with his sister Ruth and her family, working as an investigator for a loan company, and sweeping snow off the porch and walkways for his sister.  According to three of his sisters, he was in a relationship with a Catholic young lady.  My father asked her father for permission to marry, and the girl's father said "No" because my father was not Catholic.  

My father decided to leave Leominster and go to San Diego.  He mailed a letter on 18 December to his Aunt Emily (Richmond) Taylor in San Diego from Columbus, Ohio that said "...I'll be out to see you by Sunday, Dec. 22."  and "...This is rather sudden, but the opportunity came, and I took it."

I was told that he drove across the country in three days and arrived on the doorstep before the letter arrived.  Needless to say, they were surprised!  But they took him in, and he spent several months with them until he could get a place of his own.

One night at dinner with the family, my father said "I need a girlfriend..." and Aunt Emily's 14 year old granddaughter, Marcia, piped up "I know a pretty teacher at my school..."  The teacher was invited to dinner at the Taylor house, and a relationship began.  You can probably guess that the teacher was my mother, Betty Virginia Carringer, who was in her first year teaching Art at Woodrow Wilson Junior High School where Marcia went to school.  

Fred and Betty married on 12 July 1942 in San Diego, and his mother, Bess (Richmond) Seaver and his youngest sister Geraldine Seaver came all the way to San Diego on the train for the event.  

After their marriage, Fred and Betty rented a house at 577 Twin Oaks Avenue in Chula Vista, and they both started working at Rohr Aircraft in Chula Vista, which was making aircraft parts for World War II aircraft.  Betty stopped working when she became pregnant, and their first son was born in October 1943.

There were so many decisions involved here that affected the lives of my parents, their three sons, and their descendants, including:

*  Fred asked the Leominster girlfriend to marry him.
*  The girlfriend's father said no.
*  Fred decided to leave Leominster and drive to San Diego.
*  The Taylor family took him in right at Christmas time.
*  Fred declared that he wanted a girlfriend.
*  Marcia piped up saying she knew of a pretty teacher.
*  Betty accepted a dinner invitation, and they started dating.
*  Fred made and Betty accepted a marriage proposal.
*  They got married.

I'm glad they did!  One of my favorite sayings is:  "There are things that happen in a moment that take a lifetime to explain."

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Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.


7 comments:

  1. Hi Randy, Here is my post. http://emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2017/03/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-ancestor-who-made-a-critical-decision/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Here is the link to my post. http://skeezicks1957.blogspot.com/2017/03/saturday-night-genealogy-challenge.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aww. What a great story. I love how your father and his family turned a disappointing situation into something awesome.

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  4. Thanks for sharing this story of your parents. What's meant to be will always find a way. You were meant to be here. :)

    This was a very emotional question for me. Here's the link to my post: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

    Have a blessed night.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It took me awhile as I had several I could write.

    https://remlinggenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/03/saturday-challenge-life-decisions-that.html

    ReplyDelete