Marriage: Tony and Lorraine

Tony was now 22 years old and Lorraine 20. They decided they wanted to get married. Lorraine's parents had us for dinner at their home when they got engaged. For every date our son chose my husband would say, “It's the wrong time of the year. We are so busy right now.” So finally our son set April 16, 1950, as their wedding date.

Tony was the first one to get married in our family, Lorraine was the first one to get married in her family. The girls in the wedding party gave Lorraine a wedding shower at her home. They had a large wedding. They had four bridesmaids and four ushers. John was best man for his brother; Lorraine's cousin was the maid of honor. They also had a flower girl and a pillow boy. Tony and Lorraine got married in the same church that Tony and I got married in, Saint Vincent's. My husband hired a suit for the wedding. I wore a brown lace gown, brown hat, gloves, shoes, and a brown half coat. We all looked lovely.

There were about 200 people at the wedding which was held at the Suburban Hotel in Summit, N.J. At the reception, tables were set with the forks, spoons, knives and glasses. The food was set on a buffet table. Everyone got his own food and then sat at the tables. We even invited two of my high school teachers, Miss Brooks and Miss Simpson. They had also been Tony's high school teachers. Tony and Lorraine went to Florida for their honeymoon.

When Tony and Lorraine were first looking for an apartment they said they wanted to be independent. They looked around for a place to live. The rooms they saw didn't suit them, so Tony asked us if he could use two rooms on the first floor of our house as the living room and bedroom for their apartment. They would use my kitchen. I had five rooms and a bath, also on the same floor. We also had the whole second floor.

There was a storage room right near the two rooms; it was full of porch chairs and all the things we didn't always use. This storage room also had a walk-in closet. Our son Tony asked us if he could turn that room into a kitchen for him and Lorraine.

I told him, “You know your father is very busy. He doesn't have time to empty the room out.” Tony offered to do it himself. His brother John and his sisters helped Tony clear the room out, and then they painted it. We bought them a large gas stove and a double cabinet sink. The walk-in closet was large. It held the dishes, groceries and broom. They now had a three and a half room apartment and bathroom. It has stayed an apartment since. They got heat, electricity and water all for $35.00 a month. Tony and Lorraine were happy to get the apartment. They also had a separate front and back entrance.