M is for Married: My parents’ 1948 wedding in Gloversville, N.Y. Thirteenth of 26 posts in the April 2024 Blogging From #AtoZChallenge. Theme, My Life: The Prequel (in Snapshots) — adding my parents’ story to the family history mix. Please join me on the journey.
The key event in this series on My Life: The Prequal was the eventual marriage of my parents Norm and Peg (Laurence) Charboneau.
That landmark union took place on Nov. 25, 1948, in my mom’s hometown of Gloversville, N.Y., and my dad’s family happily traveled there to be part of the wedding — as well as the dinner and reception afterwards at the Hotel Kingsborough.
The local newspaper did a nice write up of the wedding, shown below. The clipping was among my parents’ records and is likely from the Gloversville-Johnstown Leader Republican.
A religiously mixed marriage
What is omitted from the news story is that my parents were embarking on a religiously mixed union.
Mom was Catholic – like her German and Italian immigrant ancestors before her –and she drew comfort and support from her church affiliation. But Dad was a vaguely lapsed Protestant who, during my early childhood, never attended church or showed any religious inclinations.
For that reason, they were married in the rectory of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, rather than in the church itself — and Dad had to pledge to raise us children Catholic.
That’s the way things stood until Dad, in his 40s, finally decided to become a Catholic himself — giving us kids the unique opportunity to attend his baptism!
Focus on family
Whatever their differences in interests and temperament, my parents agreed on the big picture — they wanted a family. And when I interviewed them during their later years, that hadn’t changed.
I asked Dad what he considered his biggest life accomplishment and he said: “I know I should say my career, but my biggest accomplishment is really our family.”
Mom — whose accomplishments included both a Masters and a Doctorate in music education — answered the same way: “I’d have to say, our family.”
Perhaps the best evidence of what their marriage meant to them was that — tucked away among their papers — they saved the invitation, and even the napkin, from their 1948 wedding day. Symbolic documents, faded but long remembered, as Mom and Dad embarked on their life together.
Up next, N is for Norm’s Navy Days: My dad’s WWII service. Please stop back! Meanwhile, please visit today’s other bloggers at Awww Mondays using the link below.
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© 2024 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.
It says a lot when both partners say their biggest accomplishments were their families. Careers and hobbies come and go, but family is family. Alana ramblinwitham
Love their aswers for their biggest accomplishments! The perfect answer, that also says a lot about them! What a great tribute to your parents! 🙂
It must have been a kick for you to attend your father’s baptism! That’s a switcheroo! My husband’s view was similar to your dad’s on family. My husband, when we were discussing marriage and family prior to embarking on same, told me he had attended a lecture by a businessman, who told his audience that a man had to make a choice on what he considered most important: his work or his family. While my husband’s work, in the Coast Guard and as a civilian computer progammer, often took him away from home, his focus was always on his family, on me and our two daughters. He said, during that pre-marital discussion, that he made his choice then and there at that businessman’s lecture: his most important focus would always be his family, and he has kept to that through 53 years of marriage.
I think “Our family.” is the best answer ever.
I love their answers to what their biggest accomplishment was and they both said their family. That is beautiful.
“Turkey Day” bride made me smile. And the story of your Dad deciding to become Catholic is wonderful to pass down to descendants.
Oh what a lovely post. Your parents were most good looking.
I loved that the differences were put on the back burner and the focus on family took the lead. You made me smile.
Thank you for joining the Awww Mondays Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Awww Monday and week. ♥
Oh what a wonderful post tribute to your Mom and Dad ~ beautiful photos ~ thanks,
Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
This is beautiful, thanks for sharing. Happy to have found you as part of the A-Z.