Take me to your mother!

After Randy left for training at Mt. Fuji, I was all alone in a big house in a strange country with no idea how to get to base and even if I did get there, I did not know anyone. It was kind of hard for me coming from being with my family. At home I had my parents and 5 brothers and sisters so there was always noise and company. I made friends with some neighborhood children and played baseball with them during the day. Baseball is universal. Also I spent a lot of time reading and watching the Olympics on our TV. One day I was standing on our balcony and saw an American boy riding his bike. I yelled to him "Hey!! Are you American?" He said "yes" and I said "Take me to your Mother!" Well, he did. Funny I can't remember her name now. Her son was Michael. I went to their home and talked with her awhile and she invited to show me around a little. She had a van and we piled in and drove to the base. We went to the Exchange and then to the Officer Club. We ordered strawberry daiquiris and sat outside by the pool. Thinking of it now makes me laugh because my husband was an E-2 and I was sitting inside the O'club. I had no idea of the segregation between officers and enlisted men. Her husband was in charge of the aircraft aboard the USS Midway. We spent a few days going around shopping and stuff and it was quite fun. One day we came home from an excursion and Michael looked in my house and said "there's a man on your couch in his underwear!" Well, it was Randy home early from Mt. Fuji. They came home early due to the weather. It was nice to have him home!

Our first home

Randy had to save enough money to get us a house off base and I had to sell my car and save for my plane ticket so it took a little time. When the day finally came for me to leave my family and Randy's family took me to the airport. I had never been on plane and now I was going to Japan with 2 suitcases and $20.00 in my purse! (It's still hard for me to believe that our families were so supportive of this) Anyway, one suitcase contained all my clothes and the other contained my "household goods" which were a 4 place serving set of Corelle, some silverware, one pot, one frying pan, and a few towels and pictures. Once I arrived in Japan, I found Randy and we got on the bus to Yokosuka. The bus arrived at what used to be the bank and Randy left me standing there while he ran to get our car at the Marine Barracks. I was terrified but so happy to be with him. It was late and dark so I could not see anything. We drove to our house at 5-7-9 Takeyama. As Randy searched for a place to park, our neighbors showed us that the entrance to our front door was actually our parking spot. Our house was huge! It had a kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom on the first floor and upstairs there were 4 bedrooms and a balcony. I thought houses were supposed to be small in Japan so that was a shock! My hubby had a castle for me! When we woke up the next morning Randy ran to the store right next to our house and got us some canned coffee out of the machine which was cool because we did not have that in the states. We got dressed and went to the base for my id card and to sign up for command sponsorship and to get a few groceries and some yen since we were living off base. I met most of Randy's friends that day which was fun. None of them were married so there were no other wives to meet. And then about 3 days later Randy left for 2 weeks of training at Mt. Fuji. So there I was in Japan, in a huge house off base, not knowing how to drive or even get to the base for that matter, and alone!! Welcome to military life!

The Beginning......

I started going with my first boyfriend in the 9th grade! All my friends were asking boys to the Sadie Hawkins dance and they kind of talked me into asking him. We had fun but I was terribly shy. He says he knew there was something special about me since he first met me in the 7th grade. We went together thru high school with a couple of break ups but always ended up back together. We were in love! In the 11th grade, he signed up for the Marine Corps on the delayed entry program. I was devastated that he would leave after graduation. We graduated in June and he left for boot camp on July 25. I wrote to him everyday. I had a job at a bank so I kept busy with work. He came home from boot camp and we got engaged. We went together to get the ring. It was a quarter carat solitaire diamond that cost $500.00. He went back to California for Infantry training school with the plan of coming home for a Christmas wedding. Well, right after Infantry training school, he did not get much time off. He flew home for a couple days over Christmas and then was sent to Yokosuka Japan for barracks duty. What a shock that was to us. Somehow we thought we would be in California living on a base. Now we had no idea when he would be home again. His grandfather passed away in March and he got to come home. He came home on a Friday and on Saturday we told our parents that we would be getting married the following Saturday. We called a church and rented a hall on Monday. Our parents called people on the phone to invite them to the wedding which did happen on Saturday, March 24, 1984. We were 18 years old! We had great food, a cake, and set up a stereo for dancing. It was a blast! Everyone could feel the love! We went up north to Alpena for our honeymoon at the Holiday Inn. Randy left to go back to Japan about a week later. I did not join him there until August!

I got a comment!!

Wow! I got a comment. A comment from Christina the wench!! Thank you Christina. I have not looked at my blog since my last post. I have been reading Christina's blog for quite sometime. I found her through Gingersmom, who I found through The Japan years. I found the Japan years while looking for information on Yokosuka, Japan. My hubby and I lived there for 3 years. More on that with my next post! What is really strange about finding Christina's blog is that I think we may live very near to each other! Weird! Thanks again Christina-you made my day!