Louie and I were married on May 14, 1966. I was 20 and he was 28. Years later Louie admitted that he was glad I had turned 20 on Feb 24 because he didn't want to marry a teenager.
In my growing up years I was a bit of a tomboy, not interested in beauty routines or fashion. With my intentions during high school to become a nun I wasn't instructed in the customs of weddings or sentimentality. Buying an expensive (or even a low budget) wedding dress was not on my to do list. I borrowed my wedding dress from my sister-in-
law, Sandy, who lived in Indianapolis, since we were about the same size. With a few tucks the dress fit perfectly. After the wedding I gave her $15 to have it cleaned.
reception started at 4PM at Sugar Bush, ending
with the dance back at Gruener Wald around 8PM. On Sunday we returned to Sugar Bush to open our large amount of gifts. Finally mid afternoon Louie and I left to drive to Canada for our 10 day honeymoon.
We drove to Sault Ste. Marie (su-saint-mari) in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan about a 6 hour drive from Park Falls.
(photo: Louie's mom, Rose, and Louie; Georgia with dad, John)
I don't remember where we stayed in Canada, but I do remember us going into a tavern and both sitting at the bar. Quickly a fellow came over and in broken English with a French accent announced that ladies were not allowed to sit at the bar. We could sit at tables close by.
Our goal was to drive across southern Canada to Niagara Falls and cross back into America. We drove through West Point since that was my childhood fantasy and tried to buzz through New York City. After being stuck in traffic and railroaded through Lincoln Tunnel at least two times we exited the city and continued to Pennsylvania to stay with my cousin Mary and her husband. After touring the congress building and various DC sites we started west to visit in Indianapolis and then work our way back to northern Wisconsin to spend a couple days at my dad's cabin on the Flambeau River.
Louie was employed at the time with the Forest Service in northern WI. He had recently accepted a position in Milwaukee, WI. Two weeks after returning to Park Falls we packed up and moved there. We settled in our apartment and soon discovered I was pregnant.
Early pregnancy was difficult for me but I was content. Louie, however, was becoming more and more dissatisfied with his job and city living. He longed to get back to Park Falls.
We made several weekend 6 hour trips "up north" those months, including for weekend National Guard drills. Louie also started to devise an exit plan to leave Milwaukee and return to Park Falls.
Our daughter, Debbie, was born in Milwaukee on Feb. 20, 1967. Louie was elated to be a father. He didn't hesitate to wake up a sleeping baby to show her off to visitors or just to interact with her. I was quietly thrilled to have a sweet baby to snuggle and ready to begin a life of motherhood
Two weeks later we got a phone call from Park Falls. The farm house that Louie grew up in had burned down. It had been a very cold blizzardy night with the small wood heater in the kitchen filled and crackling. There was a chimney fire, sparks lighting old shingles like match sticks. By the time the fire department arrived a few miles out of town, all they could do was watch the burn. His mom, Rose, and Uncle Al were not harmed but nothing was left. A few days later the three of us made a trip north. Louie's first response as we got close to town was, "I don't have a home to go to anymore". We stayed with Aunt Emma while we visited.
After our wedding we had packed up all the nicer, more expensive, fragile gifts and stored them in the attic at the farm. My treasure was a 12 piece setting and serving dishes of stoneware that I had picked out in Indianapolis, a gift from my siblings. Louie also had a large collection of baseball cards and golf club sets that he chose to leave at home while we lived in Milwaukee. We had not been smart enough to buy personal property insurance, so we lost a lot.
While we were in Park Falls Rose's brothers and friends decided they would pull together and rebuild her house. She and Uncle Al stayed with her daughter, Judy, during the rebuilding. Louie wanted to be part of the labor.
He also obtained a sales job with the local paper mill and signed to start in June. Come May 9, Louie's Birthday, we found ourselves moving back to Park Falls.
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