My dads parents were married during the second world war. They had known each other since my grandmother was 2 and my grandfather was 5. He was best friends with her older brother and she tagged along with them wherever they went. Somewhere along the line they fell in love and remained in love their whole lives. My grandfather passed away last year.
The story of their marriage is incredibly romantic. He was stationed in Egypt and sent her a telegram saying that he was getting leave in a few weeks time. They decided it would be the perfect time to be married. My grandmother spent those few weeks organising everything. A rabbi, food (they were on rations at the time and all the ladies in the building that my grandmother lived clubbed together their food vouchers so that she would have a wedding feast), a dress and so on…
When my grandfather’s ship arrived in Durban they wouldn’t let it dock (something about influenza or some such), eventually he was allowed on shore and made his way up to Johannesburg, just in time for his wedding.
They didn’t have a photographer so on their 1st wedding anniversary they had ‘wedding’ photos taken.
This is my favourite picture of them.
