April 2, 1974 - April 2, 2008

When you get married in Europe you need a civil wedding ceremony but not a religious ceremony. Jack and I had both ceremonies in 1974. We drove to Basel, Switzerland on March 31'st and on April Fools' Day we two fools registered to marry each other the next day. So on the morning of April 2, 1974 we went to the Canton of Basel's City Hall and got married. After lunch in Basel we drove back to Frankfurt, Germany where we both went back to work the next day. The students in my first grade class had been practicing with the room mother to call me Mrs. Shipley, so they were really excited to come into the classroom on April 3 and say Good Morning, Mrs. Shipley. It took me awhile to get used to it. Later in the month we had our Catholic Wedding Ceremony at St. Sebastian's Catholic Church on post.