I am trying not to dwell on my Navy experience, but it was a fact of life. To be brief, for the rest of Nineteen Fifty Four we cruised the East Coast and the Caribbean. Whenever we were close-by New York, I would try to get home. (We did have one weekend in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and I went home by the Myrtle Avenue El train and a city bus.)
Nineteen Fifty Four did bring one sad period. My good friend Jack Shine was killed in a car accident, on his way from home, back to Quonset Point, Rhode Island. It was a shock to everyone in the neighborhood.
Back to our plans.... It was somehow discovered that my father, before passing away, had sent a letter to his union, (Local three of the electrical workers) stating that I was in the Navy and he wished to put my name on the list of eligible sons. He probably knew that I would never be able to gain entrance to the printers union, as they were a Father-Son organization. (As were the electricians.) I thank the Lord Above to this day for my father's foresight. I decided to become an electrician.
I was discharged from the Navy on March Twenty Seventh, Nineteen Fifty Five. The Brough was in the Boston Navy Yard at the time. When I arrived home things began to fall into place, not that Helen did not have things under control. I took a couple of weeks rest, and joined the ranks of electrical apprentices. Our wedding date was to be May Twenty First, and we had settled on The Glenville Inn for our reception. Six dollars a head and an open bar seemed like a good deal. For that sum, we had a complete spring broiled half-chicken dinner and all the trimmings, four piece band included! Six dollars today is more like a bar tip!
In
early April, we were fortunate enough to have aquired an apartment.
It was through a friend of my mother that we heard of it, and we jumped
at the opportunity. The apartment was in a four floor walk up on
Sixty Ninth Street and Myrtle Avenue, across the street from my mothers
apartment. It was really in bad shape but since there was such a
demand for housing, we accepted it. After a complete paint job, some
wallpapering, and having the floors sanded, it looked pretty good.
Now we were ready, aside from the furniture which would be delivered while
we were on our honeymoon. (Our apartment was on the second floor,
on the foreground corner of the building in this photo.
The
Wedding took place Saturday morning, at an eleven A. M. Nuptual Mass.
Everything came off without a hitch. Helen looked just gorgeous coming
down the aisle and I was probably shaking in my shoes. As much as
we both looked forward to this, it's always a relief when the ceremony
is over.
It was a small wedding party compared
to some, but that's the way Helen wanted it.
Now it was off to the Glenville Inn for the reception and more picture taking, where this photo was taken. From left to right, Lenny Cassin, my brother Bob the Best-Man, Dolores Reynolds the Maid-of-Honor, the new Mr. and Mrs. Shea, and Joe Eckle, my old Navy pal.
A good time was had by all and Helen and I were off on our honeymoon.
No, it wasn't in Bermuda or Tahiti or Hawaii or the Bahamas, it was in
the Pocono Mountains, at the Pocono Gardens Lodge. We stayed in the
old Pennsylvania Hotel in Manhattan and departed for the Poconos on Sunday
morning. How many newlyweds today, travel by Trailways bus? Not many.
We had a great week, one to remember!
