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Dan
Martinets' grandfather was a tailor. A good tailor. He was so good
he was in demand to sew wedding dresses for Granger women. One such
girl was Anna, who at 16 years old was a somewhat reluctant bride.
Arranged marriages
were common back in Europe and the tradition was not unknown to
the Czechs. Anna's parents had decided that the son of lifelong
friends would be the best thing for the girl who was becoming quite
a beauty. Somehow, her measurements were taken and delivered to
Joseph who sewed a beautiful white gown for the upcoming event.
As the day approached,
Anna was undoubtedly anxious and on the day she was due in church
she disappeared. She was nowhere to be seen. The railroad stationmaster
was questioned, but he hadn't seen anyone in a wedding dress leave
town that day. It's even possible that they searched the "American"
side of the tracks to see if she had somehow gone to the wrong church.
And so it was
that the groom was left waiting at the altar. Not too much attention
was paid to him for everyone was looking for Anna. Finally, after
everyone went home, the flowers wilted, and the sun was going down,
a solitary figure clad in white emerged from the cotton field in
back of Anna's family's house. It was Anna. She figured that the
cotton field was the last place anyone would look, and she figured
right.
Now that everyone knew how strongly she felt (including the groom),
further plans weren't mentioned and the matter was dropped. Then
Anna disappeared again. The cotton field was the first place they
checked, and when they went to the tailor to ask if he had seen
her, they were looking at a silent sewing machine.
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