Steve & Emily Godek - Early Years of Marriage - 1935

In 1932 a friend persuaded Emily to participate in a play that was put on by the woman’s group at St. Stanislaus Church. One day during a rehearsal of the play, the director realized that she needed some men to fill parts in the play. At the same time the choir was practicing upstairs in the church. The director went to the choir to ask if anyone would like to be in the play. A young man named Stephen Godek volunteered. Emily would meet him for the first time that day. Emily and Stephen fell in love and became a couple.

Their time together was precious. They enjoyed picnics, dancing, and attending gatherings together. Stephen recalls how often he would he would travel from his family home on West Main Street in Chicopee Falls to Emily at Chicopee Street. He would take the “short cut” crossing the pedestrian bridge behind Fisk rubber then going down Granby Road to Chicopee Street.

Stephen & Emily would marry on September 23, 1935 at St. Stanislaus Church. They did not have much money so they married on a Monday as it was less expensive than renting the church on a Saturday. The wedding celebration was held at aunt Josie’s house on Chicopee Street. There was a bounty of all types of homemade Polish foods and pastries, as well as an accordionist, and fiddle player. Everyone ate, drank, danced, and celebrated well into the night. This precious day would be the start of a truly holy marriage that would last their lifetimes. The wedding was a new beginning and triumph for Emily to build a new family after the loss of her mother.

The newlyweds moved to a home at 110 Chicopee Street just down the Street from Emily’s aunt Josie. It was a first floor apartment in a home on Chicopee Street next to where Chicopee Provision stands today (roughly where the Massachusetts Turnpike now runs). The flood of 1936 flooded this house. The flood of 1938 flooded the home again. At this point they decided to move to an apartment in a home located on Archie Street near Szot Park.

It seemed that brighter days had come for Emily’s family. Her brother Stanley had married in 1934. Stanley lived in Ware, MA with his wife’s family. Emily’s father Leon had changed his ways and was treating his new wife and daughter very well.

Emily continued to work at F.W. Sickles and Stephen at Westinghouse. They hoped to start a family of their own. They were very happy and had hope for the future.

On December 26, 1941 tragedy would strike, ripping open the wounds that ran deep in Emily. Her brother Stanley committed suicide. The exact reasons why he ended his life are not clear. It was said that he was distressed by marital problems. At the time of his death Stanley was twenty-five years old. This event was an awful horror for Emily. As with her mother’s suicide, her brother’s death would cause her pain and sorrow that would endure for a lifetime.

Emily pressed on, with the hopes and goal of having her own children and family. {more photos}

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Steve & Emily - Early Years of Marriage 1935 -1943