I never knew exactly when my paternal grandparents were married.  All I had ever seen was 1906 in San Francisco, CA.  I knew that my dad had been born 7/15/1907 in San Francisco, CA, but never had a birth certificate for him.

Last year my sons got my husband and I round trip tickets and a weeks accomodations in San Francisco for my 65th birthday.  We went this past April and I started searching for any information I could find.  First I went in search of my dad’s birth certificate, but I had no luck.  I wasn’t too surprised because during that time many children were born at home and not in a hospital and frequently the births were not recorded.  I had that happen on my mom, so I didn’t think too much of it when I didn’t find dads.  Next I started looking for a marriage license for my grandparents.  I searched in 1906 and found nothing, so I looked for brides since my maiden name starts with an M and that is the most common start for a last name.  Lo and behold, I found it, but not in 1906 as I thought.  They were married on my birthday (June 13th), but in 1907, not 1906.  I guess that is why my grandmother would never say exactly when they were married.  It was not in either her or his obituary.  I’m sure she must have taken a lot of grief over that as it was not very common in those days.  I wonder what she must have thought when I was born all those years later on the date of her wedding, but she couldn’t say a word.

I look forward to seeing her again one day and tell her I know the truth, but perhaps she already knows.

Lynn Hemmelgarn