28 | February | 2025 | Theresa Donahoe

February 29, 1964

From left to right: Grandpa Charlie, Grandma Esther, Mom, Dad, Grandma Gerry, Grandpa Frank

You may have noticed they got married on the elusive date of February 29th– a leap year. They weren’t supposed to. The original wedding date was scheduled for April 4, 1964, and the wedding invitations had already been mailed out. But then dad got his Vietnam draft card on February 19th with 21 days to report! So my Grandmother called all the guests by phone with the new wedding date. Rumors broke out that my mother was pregnant. She showed them when she didn’t give birth nine months later.

My dad is one of five boys and one sister. All the boys miraculously avoided the draft.

Uncle Mike – Joined the seminary to become a priest.

Uncle Dave – Was in the Navy as an officer and was commissioned to the Pentagon. He never saw war.

Dad – See above

Uncle Pete – Already married.

Uncle Mark – Draft number too high.

Then after they got married, Uncle Sam started drafting married men, unless they had children, so my parents got pregnant with my brother. *Crisis averted*

It’s really weird to me that my parents’ generation has not only lived through a war, but both Kennedys’ and MLK’s assassinations. What have I lived through? Well, Reagan was shot but recovered. There was the cold war, but it felt so far away, and I didn’t really get it at the time. The only way the cold war affected me was the 1980s music that was influenced by it. And even then, I didn’t get it. I guess you could say my generation has been somewhat protected. Don’t get me wrong- we weren’t wimps by any means- we were super feral and had tons of freedom. We definitely weren’t coddled. But I don’t remember being traumatized by war or rumors of war either. I mean, look at us: