A Sad Story with a Fairy Tale Ending

Today I came upon quite a Coming to America story. HeHimself's (Hubby) Great Uncle Jake Schwarz was married and had kids with his first wife who sadly died. Later in life, Uncle Jake married again to a widow with grown children. They moved to California from Iowa in 1920. They had quite a life there, but it is her earlier life story I want to share.

This lady was born in Germany but grew up in Denmark. For whateveer reason she got to be 26 and was still not married. One way or another she was contacted by a man who invited her to come to the US and marry him, sight unseen. She accepted the offer and set sail.

When her ship landed in New York she pinned a tag with her first name on it to her dress and stood waiting on the wharf for her groom. And waited and waited...but he never did appear. Who knows why, got lost, chickened out, went on the wrong day, couldn't find her, got a better offer? At any rate there she was stuck in NY, knowing nobody, and not speaking English. What a heart-tugging story.

In the end, somehow she got to Iowa and within a year she was married to a man who did not leave her waiting at the altar. Even after their kids grew up and he died, her story went on. Along came Widowed Uncle Jake who married her and whisked her off to the The Golden State where it seems like they lived happily ever after.

So, that is your real-life bedtime story for tonight. Sweet dreams.