This is the photograph taken at my parents' wedding, Mochiu and Leia Rotaru, which took place in Stefanesti in January 1937.
My parents met as was the custom in those days - through matchmaking. The parents of a boy would start looking for a young woman for their son, while the parents of a girl would start looking for a young man for their daughter. 'Look, there is this young girl in Hanesti, she is hardworking, a dressmaker by trade, she has a steady job.' The young man's parents: 'He has a job, too; he learned the trade of a shop assistant.' And one thing led to another… Well, that's how they met.
This village - Hanesti - is located 10 km from Saveni and back then, if you wanted to go to the city, let us say, you hired a cart, or two, or three, and the young girls and men in Hanesti would all go to Saveni - here they met young girls and men from Saveni. They met at a certain place for tea and, by starting relationships of this kind, willingly or unwillingly, they would get to know each other. So my parents met, they were probably pleased with each other - for they must have been, since they gave birth to us - and they got married. They married in 1937, my father was 27 and my mother was 29.
My parents' wedding was held in January 1937, and in October - exactly nine months later - I was born, Saul Rotariu.
