A GI's Souvenir

Annette Shaub was "the souvenir that a young GI brought back home" to America.

She has the classic military romance and when she talks about it she giggles much like I imagine she did years ago as a young girl living in Holland who met a GI named Jim Shaub.

"He was stationed in Europe, and at that time my hometown, Breda, had the largest bowling alley in West Europe, so all of these GIs would come to bowl, that's how we met," Shaub said.

The two had been married for a year and a half when he was sent back to the states, and she came with him. It was 1968, she was 20 years old and moving away from home to a place her brother was convinced had a drug dealer on every street.

Because her husband was in the military, she was able to get her citizenship five years after arriving in the United States.

"This is my country, this is where I belong. I love this country. They have welcomed me. This is where I came to know the Lord," Shaub said.

Despite her family's original concerns, they have come to visit her on multiple occasions.

"They love to come shopping for electronics which are so much less expensive here, they love the freedom, the parking, everything is so much bigger and so much more open," Shaub said.

"Little things, like our paper towels are twice as big here. And then I take them to Costco."

She jokes about the differences, and how much bigger everything is in America. But she also insists that this is a country "based in freedom."

"We have so much more freedom here that we don't even realize, people have no clue," Shaub said.

The love and admiration she has come to have in America all started because she met an American who brought her home.

"I was the souvenir he never put in the attic," Shaub laughed. "I always think about it. I came from one continent, Jim came from another and we met on a third."