When love comes

the long version

Gerry Nussbaum fell in love when she was nineteen. The man she met across the hedge in Hollywood, California, was blue eyed, and tall with a ready smile. Gerry lived a life of privilege in a musical family. John Barrett came from a big hard scrabble Montana family that made a living in the coalmines. Nothing could keep the lovers apart, not even their religious differences. John was a Catholic and Gerry a Jew in a time when mixed marriages just didn't happen. There were no cowboys or Indians or big ranches in the western that was John and Gerry's life. During the 1940's, '50's and '60's, they raised a family of six boys moving from place to place, seeking jobs that would put meals on the table and a roof over their heads. Some times the roof leaked and sometimes there wasn't quite enough to eat. From Gerry's life of privilege came ideas and curiosity about the world. From John came an unerring sense of right and wrong. Together the couple raised their children to overcome obstacles and succeed in their lives. The unqualified love that Gerry and John had for each other and their family is the heart of this story.