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HILLY RIDGE SALES & SERVICE
Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022
The Sentinel JUNIATA VALLEY MAGAZINE
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Continued from Page 43
up to vouch for them. The stipulation of the War Bride Act was that a foreign fiancee had to marry within three months of arrival in America, so someone had to claim them at the airport.
I can’t imagine what it must have been like to wonder if the person you had committed your life to was actually now abandoning you. Perhaps Elizabeth wondered if Mahlon had decided he didn’t really want to marry a German girl. Or maybe she imagined that he had found an American bride instead.
Elizabeth was a 19-year-old who didn’t speak much English, had seen war, devastation and death in her home country and was now faced with getting back on that jumbo airliner to go back to Germany.
As it turned out, my grandfather wasn’t a noshow. He simply was late getting to the airport. Two girls waited, but only one stayed in America, as the other young woman waiting with Elizabeth had to return to Germany when her fiance never arrived.
My grandparents’ love had stood the test of time and distance, as well as language and cultural barriers. They remained devoted to one another until my grandfather’s death in 1995. They had two daughters and five grandchildren.
We called my grandparents “Oma” and “Opa” as a nod to my grandmother’s German roots. I’m deeply grateful that my dear Oma was able to go back to Germany in the early 1960s and see her parents again, and introduce my mom to her grandparents that she’d only heard stories about previously.
My Oma passed away in 2013 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. But I’ll never forget the unbreakable bond that my grandparents had. And I’m grateful that my grandfather made it to the airport in time.
Snapshots Trixie Adair
Being a grandparents to seven with one coming soon. My husband and I love being grandparents. Love spending as much time as we can.
We Love You Deacin, William, Geneva, Kingston, Donald, Sebastian and Little Lizzie Jane. Hugs and kisses.
— Grammy and Pappy Adair
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