Peggy, I read the story in the Oregonian this morning and could not wait and went online to read the rest of the story. Ester Gavin and my mother have a couple of things in common. The both came to America because of a dream for a better life for themselves and they did this by marring a GI and using the 1945 War Bride Act which expired on December 31, 1948 to gain entry to America . In my mother's case she did not arrive in Portland until October 30, 1948. But she was determined to become an US citizen and she went to night school at Benson HS to learn English and was naturalized on October 4th, 1951. While at Benson she made many friends with other Italians and that kept her from feeling completely lonely. In looking Ester Gavin has any thought been given to she if she followed this route? Eugene ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peggy Baldwin at Family Passages" <peggy.baldwin@family-passages.com> To: "eugenemelvin roots" <eugenemelvin.roots@comcast.net>, orforum-l@rootsweb.com Sent: Monday, December 26, 2011 1:08:32 PM Subject: RE: [GFO] War Bride Story I'm mentioned at the end of day 2, as a professional genealogist, and the beginning of day 3 by name. I did some of the work last year for Icelandic family members. Peggy Peggy Baldwin, MLS Family Passages LLC www.family-passages.com 503-916-9410 Pacific Northwest & Oregon Trail -----Original Message----- From: orforum-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:orforum-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of eugenemelvin.roots@comcast.net Sent: Monday, December 26, 2011 12:56 PM To: orforum-l@rootsweb.com Subject: [GFO] War Bride Story A Great but sad Story on family research. Eugene http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/12/war_bride_esther_gavin . html#incart_mrt     ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORFORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message