part two • 1960 to 1964

courtship & marriage

Most of Inge's contemporaries got married at around the same time in the late 50s and early 60s and these people became her lifelong friends. Brother Horst married Ulla. (They had three children, Andreas, Thomas and Regina.) Gisela married Fransjoseph. Tall Helga married Gunther (and had two daughters Susanne and Barbara). Marlies never married but stayed close to Tall Helga and Inge over the years.
 
 
the romance

After some early courting with others, Inge met Desmond Brown in 1960 when she was 24. Desmond was a dashing Canadian soldier who was hooked on opera. He would take Inge on dates with a portable turntable and his Gilbert and Sullivan records. Their first date he surprised her, taking her from Luxembourg where she lived, worked and studied French, to the base in France for a movie.

It was in Luxembourg where they met, at a café Des was patronizing with his sister Rosalie, whom he left to ask the barmaid with the great legs if she would go out with him. That was Inge in the 60s. Great legs. Nice smile. Smokey grey eyes. Learning French. And getting a foot hold on life. After that Inge went back to Germany to work and Des did alot more driving.

Des came with two young adorable children, Richard and Pamela, who were in boarding school at the time and came home to France and Germany to meet Inge. Inge married Des in 1962, twice. The army required a civil ceremony in France where Des was stationed. Also, Inge and her mother wanted a church wedding in Deutschland. The photos would have you believe it was quite a party… with Inge’s mother’s bathtub filled to brimming with wine and spirits for the reception which was held at her flat.

Then there was the honeymoon in Spain at the almost posh hotel of the legendary pool. And then to live briefly in France, first in Longyoun and then in Montmedy. Inge had her first child of two, here, her daughter Karen.

Inge meets Des

Inge meets Des

Inge met Des when he walked into the cafe where she was working, with his sister Rosalie whom he left at the cafe to ask Inge out for a date with him....

passport photo early 60s

south of France
Des and Inge

Des and Inge

in the first weeks of dating

Richard and Pamela

Richard and Pamela

Des came with two adorable children, Richard and Pamela.
trips to Paris

trips to Paris

Des and Inge took many driving trips around Europe. They especially cherished Paris.
on another trip

on another trip

cathedral in Reims

cathedral in Reims

part of the Roman Catholic Notre-Dame Cathedral in northern France was a favourite of Des. Despite no religiousness between the two, Inge and Des...
cathedral in Reims

cathedral in Reims

Vimy Ridge

Vimy Ridge

Des' curiosity about Canadians in the war, and his fascination with this very large solitary figure took Inge to this moment several times

oh so Inge
witticisms and aphorisms of Inge's beloved Jane Austen

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