Page 67 - Sun Rays Febuary 2013

FEBRUARY 2013 SUNRAYS | 67
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She borrowed his toaster and
the rest is history
I got a DoDDS (Department of Defense Dependents Schools) job
teaching in Japan at the Yokota AFB high school and rented a
house in a Tokyo suburb. I met another American, an Air Force
man, who rented the house next door. I borrowed his toaster, and
the rest is history. Less than three months later we were married,
after waiting several weeks for blood test results. I refused to be
married on Pearl Harbor Day, so we moved it to December 6th,
the earliest date we could both take off from work. Our memorable
wedding day involved taking the train into downtown Tokyo dur-
ing rush hour, getting paperwork done at the American Embassy,
asking two strangers in the lobby there to be our witnesses, taking
a cab to the local Japanese registry office for the official marriage
license (written in kanji on a scroll), and returning to the embassy to
get a translation of the license. We spent our three-day honeymoon
seeing the sights of Tokyo. An unconventional beginning, but Rod
and I are still happily married 23 years later.
— Cheryl & Rod Mees, N52
Yes, strange as it may seem they both have the same last
name, but spelled differently. Gail is S-t-o-u-f-f-er and Jerry
is S-t-o-f-e-r. It is the first day of Senior University and Gail
is picking up her name tag and notices another name tag with
the spelling of Stofer, which she assumes is misspelled. Jerry
happens to be in one of her classes so she introduces herself
and apologizes to Jerry for the misspelling of his name and
finds out that it is correct. They chat and laugh about who
does not know how to spell. During the next few months they
see each other in class or at the Symphony and occasionally sit
together. Jerry leaves for Europe in April and is gone almost
a month, but Gail has requested to see his pictures when he
returns. When he returns Gail invites him over and they have
a great time, become friends but don’t really start to date
until later around Thanksgiving. Plans develop for traveling
together and spending time with each other. That summer
they decide to “merge” and they bought a home and moved in
July 2008. They loved each other very much but neither one
wanted to get married; Gail had been a widow for 10 years and
Jerry single for some time. When you are 70 years old, have
been living alone and MAYBE set in your ways, can you live
with someone even if you love them? The plan was to have a
“lease agreement” so each year if things were good, they would
just renew their “lease.” Seems everything was working out
just fine because they kept renewing the lease and laughed
about it each time. It was around Thanksgiving, now 4 years
after they had started dating seriously, talking about when
they first got together and the future. It is not really clear
which one first suggested that they may as well get married,
but they both agreed it would be a wonderful thing to be Mr.
and Mrs. Jerry Stofer. A very simple ceremony in their home
with only the Pastor to unite them was their choice for their
wedding. This is not the end of the story as they plan to have
many happy years together. If you go back to the poem now
you will understand what the meaning is.
— Gail & Jerry Stofer, N19
T’was four days before Christmas and the angels were singing.
For Jerry and Gail, wedding bells were ringing.
At 4 p.m., Pastor Hay came to their home.
Wedding vows were made to them alone.
Gail Stouffer or Gail Stofer, which would it be?
She chose to be the same as he.
What’s in a name?
Cheryl and Rod Mees on their honeymoon in Tokyo.
Jerry and Gail Stofer exchanging vows in their Sun City home.