My parents married in June of 1945, the month after Germany surrendered. World War II continued for a few more months into September.
That first year, they rented a farm just around the corner from the Martins, Dad’s folks. This was southeast of Madison, Kansas. Dad’s sister Dorothy, her husband and their two children moved in with them until the Stafford’s house in town was ready.
Dad’s dream was to raise registered Aryshire dairy cattle. They borrowed money from the bank and from Mom’s father to buy their first stock.
On January 15, 1946, when the farm rent came due, the young couple moved to the Martin home place. Their first child, a son, was born on Valentine’s Day. Mom remembers being in the hospital for 10 days “which was the custom at that time.”
The winter and spring were very wet. Some of the cattle developed mastitis and the young couple took a big loss as they had to be sold for butchering.
The farm sale flyer is dated 1947.
It was a struggle to get through with just the garden and the chickens while getting ready for the farm sale in October. Years later, Mom wrote a story about that time called, “The Dream That Went Bust.”
In November 1947, they added a daughter to the family. With the money from the sale, they paid off the bank loan.
Gail and Clyde Martin with their first two children, Owen and Susan. (Scrapbook design from Smilebox)
Next month, I’ll post Mom’s essay on that time, as I see it isn’t in either of her books or online anywhere.
Discovering Mom 
That’s sad, but they kept on going. And they had family to depend on when they needed that support. It makes such a difference to be close to family, both physically and relationship wise.
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