Robert Martens's video: 1940s - The Girl That Dad Didn t Marry

Ever wonder where you'd be today if either of your parents had married someone else? I rarely thought of it myself, until I discovered this home movie of my father as an older teenager holding hands with -- GASP -- another woman! When I confronted Dad with the evidence, he had no choice but to fess up. The mysterious lady was Dottie, his first sweetheart, whom he had known since high school. By the time they appeared in this movie, they had dated long and steadily enough that a marriage in their future seemed like a sure thing. You can see Dad's parents treating Dottie like she were already a part of the family (the boy is Dad's cousin). Alas, love can be fickle. The following summer she ditched him for another guy -- ouch! Dad got over it. Several years later he found his true love in a young nurse from West Virginia named Margaret Hunt. In 2003 they celebrated their 50th. Way to go, Mom and Dad! Filmed by Dad's father, Gus Martens, somewhere on Long Island in the later 1940's. Robert W. Martens Groundhog Day, 2011