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On Thanksgiving I shared about my mother's letters from the 1960's. I had always known that my parents had a swift engagement and the letters just emphasized it. Before I handed them over to my brother and nephew (since they are carrying down the family line, not me) I read a few more and here are a few more fun tidbits in the chronology.
June 20, 1963 They met. See the above mentioned post.
July 14 "Peter (dad) is not sure yet that he loves me although I feel that in time he will. He keeps asking me to pray for him as he wants to have the honor of marrying me. Peter keeps talking of the things we will do when we’re married that I’m afraid he’s hooked although he doesn’t know it."
July 23 "Well the vacation did it. Peter realized that he was in love with me and decided to propose upon my return. Of course, he planned to do it on a moonlit night under the stars but I goofed up his plans this noon. He came for lunch and we were sitting. I looked so sad and he asked me why. I told him I was afraid he might leave me. So he proposed there and then. He couldn’t stand to see me unhappy."
Aug. 6 Letter from dad to Lolo asking for permission to marry mom. See other post.
They were married October 20th. Lolo did fly over from the Philippines to give mom away.
Some other interesting tidbits...
Mom tells her father that at this point dad's income is $725 a month.That's $8,700 a year. That calculates to $62,182 a year now. Not bad, dad. Good catch, mom.
They went to Alcapulco for their honeymoon, which was quite the destination back in the 60's. These days Alcapulco is considered one of the more dangerous Mexican cities.
In a letter of November 18, after they are married, they are shocked by prices for breakfast at a hotel. $1.75 for pancakes, $.70 for oatmeal and $.30 for orange juice. That pancake price today would be $12.50. Yeah, I guess that's pretty expensive just for pancakes.
It's no wonder I love the show Mad Men to see what life was like back then.
