Journey to Fulfillment is the story of a couple who have enjoyed 50 years of marriage. It includes tales of their ancestors, their children, and their grandchildren. Following is the authors introduction. When I was young I often asked my mother, Do you think Ill ever get married? My mothers reply was always yes, to which she would immediately add, the Blaisdell girls were shy like you in high school, but they both found husbands when they went to college. I would sigh and walk away thinking, I wish I could find a boyfriend now. I lived in a small town in New England where I had a reputation as a wallflower. I was young for my grade and usually had only one close girl friend in each grade in school. As a student in junior high school I went with most of my classmates to ballroom dancing classes. When the dance teacher told the boys to take a partner, most of them rushed to asked the more popular girls. I was in the group of girls that were asked, reluctantly, to dance after all the good partners had been chosen. During the first two years of high school I was extremely shy. I enjoyed my academic studies, but being a good student did not bring me popularity with other students. About the time that I feared I was stuck in a rut in that small town forever, my parents announced that my father had taken a new job in Washington DC. My life was about to change. The family moved to a suburb of Washington DC and I began my junior year in high school. Washington was a cosmopolitan city with a transient population because of frequent job turnover in government jobs. Newcomers were welcomed and it was easy to make friends. Fortunately I was asked to join a cluster of students and, for the first time in my life, I felt accepted by a warm group of friends. One Sunday, a girl who lived down the street invited me to attend a church youth group that was meeting at her house. I was somewhat timid about going as I was still very shy with strangers, but I accepted the invitation. The meeting began with refreshments in the dining room. Then the group moved into the living room for the program and discussion. I held back and stood behind a large chair at the entrance to the living room. A young man from the group came over to me and said, Why dont your come in and join the others? I replied, Im too shy, but he insisted that I join them. His name was Mike and this was the beginning of a lifelong love

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