The Plaque

Josh's maternal grandparents, Sam and Ann Blank, met at Pier 45 in San Francisco in 1945. Sam was in the Army and Ann worked as a secretary in an office in the building at Pier 45. According to family lore, Sam came into the office in his uniform, took off his hat, and set it on the desk. Ann, feeling playful, hid Sam's hat! And that's how this love story began! They were married on November 3, 1945.

On their 55th anniversary, in November 2000, Ann had an engraved plaque made that says:

On their 55th anniversary, Ann and Sam went to Pier 45, and surreptitiously glued the plaque onto the outside wall of the building where they had met. A short while later, they walked by to see if the plaque was still there. It was! They checked back several weeks later, thinking that someone might have realized it wasn't supposed to be there and taken it down. It was still there!

A family tradition has grown up around the plaque. Whenever a family member or family friend is going to be in San Francisco, we ask them to check to see if the plaque is still there. We also ask them to take a picture of themselves with the plaque. Ann keeps a photo album with all of the pictures of people standing in front of the plaque.

The plaque has been there for 15 years, and now looks like an official historic marker attached to the wall at Pier 45! Ann and Sam are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary on November 3, 2015. Ann is 91 years old and Sam is 95. For their anniversary, they are going to visit the plaque with family members and have their picture taken again!

Ann & Sam couldn't be with us in Santa Barbara for our wedding, so they recorded these well wishes!