European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 12, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Going a Long Way toward a Maine marriage by Joseph Owen Stah writer 7 the ingredients for this Story Are a one divorced male. A one nominally married female. A one girl looking for daddy. A one Nosy Friend a one letter to the stars and stripes. A five plane trips spanning three continents. A vast amounts of philippine food Buffet style. Here show they fit together after his divorce in 1982, Bill Noble wore his Independence like a shroud. He had not sought a second Bachelor Hood and once it arrived he endured it awkwardly. Usually resistant to change and often reluctant to take the Ini Dative he seemed stranded on life s stage with no prompter in the wings. From Bill a Point of View in Sidney Maine his marriage had broken up suddenly and unexpectedly. It was As though a truck had killed a Moose one night on the narrow Highway in front of his House and he had found the rigid carcass lying in his Yard the next Day. The Driver is Long gone and you can to revive the Moose so you do what it takes to dispose of it even though you done to really want to. Bill maintained a useful stoicism through it All working As a state soil scientist during the week and As a Rock a no Roll drummer on weekends. And occasionally he visited me and my family in Germany. A if you want to get married Bill go to the Philippines a 1 told him once one of Many flighty ideas we discussed. A College classmate who served in the Navy at Subic Bay once told me that Many philippine women go to great lengths to marry americans. Nothing i heard later refuted that claim. But going to the ends of the Earth to find a Bride such an undertaking. Such a headache. The idea sounds so artificial. What if she a just scheming to get a . Passport besides Arentt there enough single women in Maine Bill a reaction was lukewarm. We hardly mentioned the idea after that. He noticed however that in those Days the stars and stripes published Short solicitations for pen pals in tiny print on the letters Page. Philippine women submitted about 90 percent of them. Bill took a copy of the paper Home. By the time of his last visit with us he had developed a Lively correspondence with two philippine women working in Kuwait. The details escape me. In any event they lost track of each other. That did no to happen with Tina Marcelino. Bill culled her name from the pen pal list and wrote to her in october 1991, she replied and sent her photograph. The picture revealed that like Many philippine women she had a Broad nose and straight Black hair. She was smiling. Tina filled that letter and others with details of her life in the tropics. She was 32. She was married but separated. She had a daughter Vessaris 6, they lived near Dumaguet a City on Negros Island. Tina taught English. Her native language was Cebuano. Bill then 39, sent her his picture. I still wonder what Tina thought when she saw it. Since the mid-1970s, he has sported the same hairstyle a a neck length Neo Woodstock sweep covering a rampaging Bald spot. Wire rim glasses a Mustache and a Beard the size of a cheer it top off the menu. He looks just Radical enough to fit in with his band and just civilized enough for the office. His footwear of Choice is sneakers a preference the photo probably did no to reveal. The letter bound relationship soon reached an inevitable plateau. So Bill who once considered drive sidelights so a Rompf Toivi Vessaris Bill and Tina at the oct 24 wedding ing to Boston an adventure decided to visit Tina in june 1992 for two exotic weeks. After changing planes in Manila he found himself in a foliage choked land of motorbikes and Bamboo houses where most cooking occurs outdoors. Tina a family and friends showered Bill with attention. Vessaris an infectiously pleasant child cottoned to him. Needing Little further inspiration Bill and Tina hit it off Well immediately. You did t need to be a psychiatrist to figure out what effect this had. By the time Bill went Home he was sure he did t want to spend any More nights sleepless in Sidney conversing with the wind. Tina a husband had left a few years ago but the couple never had sought an annulment in their predominantly roman Catholic country. After Bill a visit she appealed to her husband to cooperate with annulment proceedings. He consented at first but then Learned that an american was in the picture and held out for Money. Tin consulted with Bill. They agreed they should reject the demand. Underscoring her determination not to give in Tina went to Hong Kong to work As a Nanny. Bill waited patiently. There was nothing else to do. They continued writing to each other. Finally the husband relented. The annulment process began. Bill returned to Dumaguet in january this year for a month Long visit. He and Tina took sightseeing trips and daydreamed about the Serene years that would follow the bureaucratic paper Trail. By the time the annulment became final in May Bill already had initiated another tedious process a applying for a 90-Day Fiancee a visa on Tina a behalf. Tina went to the  embassy in Manila for an interview. The visa arrived in the summer. Tina and Vessaris flew to Maine in mid August. All that remained was the wedding. 1 Learned in late August that my brother was planning to marry on oct. 23.1 called Bill immediately and asked if he had set a Date. A we were thinking about sometime in late september Quot he said a but we Haven to nailed it Down  i pushed for oct. 24. He and Tina mulled it Over. Then Bill called Back and said if i could attend the 24th would be Fine. Tina got on the line. A thank you for your paper a she said. A it worked Quot i flew to new York and made the trek up to Maine. The first thing i noticed was that Bill a House in Sidney was much tidier than usual. Either he had spruced it up before his new instant family arrived or Tina did it afterwards or both. The second thing 1 noticed Bill and Tina seemed completely at ease with one another. The third thing when Vessaris wanted Bill a attention she moaned Quot daa Kaaa by a a these were healthy signs. Especially the part about the House which had suffered markedly from a bachelors indifference to aesthetics a by the Way a Bill said a i done to know whether i told you this but you re the Best  i asked what i should Wear. Just a Good shirt and pants but no tie he said adding a it done to want you looking better than i  i drove to Camden Maine for my brother a wed Ding then returned to Sidney the next morning to help Bill and Tina prepare for their do it yourself event at the Gardiner sportsman a club about 10 Miles away. We spent several hours carting philippine Noodle casseroles vegetable trays punch soda Beer paper. Plates decorations band equipment and other Low Caliper wedding doodads and setting them up in the rented Hall. Bill a Niece Debbie Lent a hand. So did some philippine women whom Tina had met since arriving in Maine. Philippine women a network like crazy a Bill said. A As the 80 or so guests were arriving i summoned Bill Tina and Vessaris outside so i could photograph them next to co Bossee Stream before the Light of autumn dusk vanished. Bill stood loosely at attention for every shot looking like a stuffed animal in a toy shop window. Tina was relaxed. Vessaris was bored but  inside the Young Justice of the peace confided nervously that this was his first civil ceremony. He wore an open shirt Collar. A the was wearing a tie when he arrived a Bill said. A i told him a you look Fine but the ties got to go. I figure this is the one time in my life when i get to determine How everybody else  the ceremony started about 6 . The excited Justice of the peace lunged into the a with this ring part of the nuptials without realizing that none of us had rings. They were still tied to a Small Cushion in the Lap of the fidgety 5-year-old ring bearer Bill a grand Nephew Dylan. I grabbed the Cushion and fumbled with the knot releasing the rings too late for one vow but in time for the other. That was the unimportant part. More important was the fact that Bill and Tina pledged to love each other forever. We sat Down to eat. Nobody thought about a receiving line until later. It did no to matter Bill a disdain for such formalities rivals his dislike for neckties. Tina did no to seem to notice. I offered a Public Toast suggesting that Bill and Tina a wedding was the closest thing to a fairy tale Romance that id Ever heard of. The rest of the evening was a swirling Coalescence of confetti and Rock music. A philippine woman caught the bridal bouquet and an uncomfortable looking teen aged Buck was drafted to slide a Garter up her leg. By 9 30, most guests had left. We spent an hour and a half wiping scouring sweeping dismantling and packing. Then we All drove Back to the Noble House where i attacked leftover noodles. Bill and Tina whose honeymoon was to be an overnight trip to the White mountains the next Day chatted in the Kitchen with friends from Waterville casually As though the evenings major event had been Only a living room poker party. Vessaris fell asleep on the Couch. Tina also exhausted eventually wandered off to bed. The friends from Waterville went Home. Bill and i stood talking in the driveway where the pungent Aroma of fallen leaves permeated the night air. He said he would t be returning to Germany soon. He had a family to look after. Jess arise amiable temperament amazes him he said. So does Tina a patience. A Teil her every Day that you love her Quot i said. A Tell both of  we said goodbye As i drove off 1 marvelled that the events of a few months had swept away the emotional debris of a decade. 1 called Bill recently. The logs Are stacked for the Wood stove. Jess ares did Well on her first report card. Bill had taken pictures of Tina and Vessaris in an Early snowfall a their first. Bill and Tina Are Busy reinventing their lives. Christmas is coming but 1 swear it arrived two months Early in Sidney Maine. Page 6 sunday december 12. 1993