My father was born in a small town in Italy. It's kind of near Pompeii and Naples. My family is so Italian that my father was born in my great grand mother's house and literally didn't speak english until he moved to Brooklyn, NY when he was 8. He was bullied in school and went by Frank instead of Francesco, because he was "too Italian" for his classmates. He has an older brother and my grandparents couldn't afford to send them both to college, so my father entered the military when he was 18, first joining the Marines and then eventually the Army.
My mother was born and raised in Panama. Her mother's sister married into the Noriega (yeah THE Noriega THE Panamanian dictator) family and my mom grew up with rich friends. Her parents divorced and both remarried and divorced again. Her father was a successful businessman and offered money as long as she paid her dues. Unlike my father who is reserved and was bullied, my mom was the life of the party. She jokes that she was the bully. Her name is Yertiza (pronounced Jer Eat Za)
She is extremely charming, and has an aura of confidence that is more inviting than off putting.
My mom hung out with her neighbors a lot, and one neighbor was a psychic. She told my mom, "You will marry a foreigner. A soldier. An American."
Yeah right, my mom thought. No one can tie me down.
My parents met when my father was stationed in Panama.
This is probably the most beautiful story I've ever heard.
My mother was in college, working and her boss gave her a proposition. If she could find people to rent some apartments, she'd get a cut of the money her boss would earn in the deal. She lived in a small apartment with 4 of her best friends and found that it would be a good plan.
Luckily, one of my mom's friends was seeing an American soldier and she knew they could afford nicer places to live. This soldier was named John, and John was so in love with my mom's roommate, Cathy, that he would drive around the block waiting for Cathy to come or go so he could ask her out on a date. John was the one who was showing my dad around and he stopped by their apartment just as my mother was coming home from work.
My mom smiled and asked John if he'd like to check the apartments out, he said yes if she could convince Cathy to come along. My mom agreed.
She didn't see my father sitting next to John, staring at her.
"That's when I knew she was the woman I was going to get married to," my dad always says.
Frank himself was kind of a player though, he had a girlfriend named Iris. She was a little bit older, but a good girlfriend it seems. She'd take off his boots and massage his feet every day.
In retrospect it seems like my dad feels bad for how he dumped Iris, but I think when you're instantly attracted to someone, you can't help but forget anyone else.
So, anyways, my dad and John get my mom and Cathy and they all head towards the apartments. John invited another friend to come along, so my mom's guard was down. It wasn't a double date, just a few friends checking these apartments out.
My mom dated your typical bad boys and party animals, so when she was left alone in the car with my silent, reserved father who ignored her every time she tried to make conversation she asked, "So, are you gay or something?"
He snapped his head and frowned, "No."
"Oh, okay."
Eventually John, Cathy and their random friend came back, and John suggested they all got dinner. Doing the math my mom realized that 3 men and 2 women didn't equal a double date.
Low and behold the rando was dropped off home.
So, that was my parents' first date.
A week or so went by and my mom and dad didn't speak, but obviously my dad was hoping she'd come around.
One day my mom got in a huge fight with her roommates and she hid in her room. Out of boredom she fished around and found my dad's number. They talked and he said he'd call her back so they could plan another date. My mom hung up, smug because she outsmarted him: he didn't have her number. This was a time far before caller ID.
He called back and when she asked how he got her number he told her John gave it to him.
Obviously.
They went on another date and my mom went back to his house. Because soldiers overseas are often given curfews, my mom agreed to sleep on the couch. (Or so she says, I totally think they banged)
My dad had a boa constrictor in the living room, so he slept on the opposite side of the couch from her, but kept her company.
My mom woke up to the smell of him making breakfast and the sound of him talking on the phone in a foreign language.
"Who's that?" she asked. "What language were you speaking?"
"My parents," my dad replied. "It was Italian."
"And that's when I knew we were going to get married," my mom always says.