Evelyn Ryan and Charles McCafferty

Wedding of Charles McCafferty and Evelyn Ryan

I am fortunate, at my age, to still have two siblings of my mother who are still with us -- Evelyn and Jim.  Family historians know how fortunate they are to be be able to have a "fact checker" who can help ascertain whether or not a story is fact or fiction.  My Aunt Evelyn does that for me.

As mentioned in earlier posts, my mother and her two sisters all got married between January and June of 1948.  They were part of the group of post World War II brides and veteran husbands who were responsible for the "Baby Boom."  I am part of that generation.

My brother located a picture album filled with 8 x 10 pictures of the wedding of all three girls.  Some were completely new to me.  I've decided to put some of them into collages and make them part of the family history record recorded in this blog. Evelyn and Charlie will celebrate their 64th Wedding Anniversary in April. They are the parents of four children, 21 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Bridesmaids were Florence Ryan, Virginia Ryan Jones, and Clara McCafferty
The men pictured include Roy Ryan (father of the bride), Jim Ryan and John McCafferty

The Wedding Party

In this collage, the picture on the top left includes Marie Metz (aunt), Beatrice McCafferty, Charles McCafferty, Evelyn Ryan McCafferty, Virginia Ryan, Roy Ryan and August Vonderheide.  The wedding party included John McCafferty, Jim Ryan, Jim McCafferty, Charles McCafferty, Evelyn Ryan McCaffery, Virginia Ryan Jones, Clara McCafferty and Florence Ryan.

Note: If you happen to like photo collages, check out additional ones on a wide variety of topics at Little Red House.  Mary Carroll offers bloggers an opportunity to share their latest collages with others as part of Mosaic Monday.

Music of Our Parents - True Love

Background:  Shadowhouse Creations

My parents, Johnny Jones and Ginnie Ryan, married 63 years ago on January 24th, 1948.  As mentioned in an earlier post, they were part of the post-war group of brides and grooms who were later responsible for the "Baby Boom."  My mother and her two sisters, Evelyn and Florence, all got married between January and May of 1948.  Evelyn was actually the first to get engaged, but she felt that, as the oldest, my mother should get married first.  Therefore, my Mom and Dad had to "get it together" and schedule a date before Evelyn's planned April wedding.

It snowed that January 24th, and my mother used to say that there was a movie out at the time called The Bride Wore Boots.  Sure enough, a search of Wikipedia came up with a review of a 1946 romantic comedy staring Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Cummings -- not the most memorable film.

But this is one in a series of posts that discusses the music of our parents -- songs that are etched into the collective memories of the "Big Kids."  One of my favorites is a song called True Love.  I found out that this song, written by Cole Porter, was featured in a 1956 film called High Society.  It starred Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra.  The lyrics were simple.

True Love

Sung by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly

Suntanned, windblown
Honeymooners at last alone
Feeling far above par
Oh, how lucky we are

While I give to you and you give to me
True love, true love
So on and on it will always be
True love, true love

For you and I have a guardian angel
On high, with nothing to do
But to give to you and to give to me
Love forever true

For you and I have a guardian angel
On high, with nothin' to do
But to give to you and to give to me
Love forever true
Love forever true

"True Love" earned Grace Kelly (Later "Princess Grace of Monaco") her first and only gold record. It earned Bing his 21st.  (Credit:  Oldie Lyrics)

I put together a photoshow that features the marriage of Charles McCafferty and Evelyn Ryan.  It is accompanied by this beautiful song.  To hear it, click on this link:  McCafferty Memories

To see a clip of the movie with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly, view this youtube clip.  I love the sailboat.