His father might have been low-key, but the elder Garten, who passed away in , was a decorated military veteran who served across three wars and picked up a number of medals, including a Distinguished Service Cross, three Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars, five Purple Hearts, the Legion of Merit, two Joint Commendation Medals, and two Air Medals. Garten says he remained in the dark about his father's own military career and his heroism until much later, which is no surprise, because as he said in , "Anyone who came into our house, if they didn't know he was in the military, they would have never known he was this decorated soldier.
To the Gartens, being a military family meant moving around quite a bit, and as a consequence, they lived in quite a few places across the United States and overseas. And while living life on the road might sound exciting, Garten describes his growing up years as happy, but a bit lonely. We can only imagine that moving around as much as the Gartens did could have either made or broken family ties, and in their case, the Gartens became close.
When it was time to leave for university, he chose Dartmouth, and enrolled in with a major in government. Garten and Ina's first date took place at a coffee shop in Westport, a venue they decided on after a failed attempt to enter a bar in Port Chester, New York. Ina recalls: "It [the bar] was a disaster. I had never been to a bar in my life! The guy at the door says, 'Where's your ID?
Their relationship was different from those of their peers, because as Jeffrey puts it, "It was very fashionable at the time for guys to date women who were going off to medical school or law school. Soon after saying "I do," Jeffrey was sent on an Army deployment to Thailand. Ina saved all the letters. Following Jeffrey's deployment, the couple went on that Parisian camping trip. In a recent interview, Ina credited her cooking passion to a French chicken dish the pair ate while on the four-month adventure in France when they were newlyweds.
Even now, despite the couple's busy lives , Ina and Jeffrey still travel to Paris every year to celebrate their anniversary. He said he wanted to take me to Paris but maybe before we can afford to stay in a hotel, we'll go camping; then later we could stay in a hotel; and maybe someday we could afford to have an apartment in Paris. Jeffrey, you've made all my dreams come true!
She continued, saying Jeffrey is a constant force in her life. Maybe this is why their relationship is so strong and that they can handle being away from each other for a few days a week now. During that time they only talked once on the phone. Then in the s because of his job, Jeffrey went to Tokyo.
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