My mother, Barbara Ann Jones, and my father, Anthony DeMonte met each other in 1978 on the campus of Southern Ivy University in Southern Ivy, Maddocha.  My father was a friend of my mother's sister, Penya Jones.  Penya introduced my mother to my father.

When they first met, it was love at first site.  There was one small problem, my mother was African-American and my father was Caucasian. My father was also from a very prominent family in Maddocha.  My mother and father dated for six months, with only my Aunt Penya knowing their secret.

My mother's family found out when she and Penya were at home for the Christmas holiday. One of my mother's other sisters overheard her and Penya talking about my father. My mother's sibling, who was excited to hear about the love interest in my mother's life burst into the room excited. Both my mother and my aunt looked at her as if she was crazy and quickly kicked her out of the room.  My mother and aunt's sibling became a bit suspicious, ran, and told the other members of the family who were down stairs.  My mother and aunt's mother called them down stairs and began to question the both of them about this man, but my mother and aunt only told their mother that my mother and father had only gone out a couple of times.

My father, who was also at home for the holidays wanted to tell someone about his new girlfriend.  He told the only person that he thought he could trust, his uncle, Vachi DeMonte.  Vachi was excited for my father, until he found out that my mother was African-American.  Vachi advised my father that it would not be a good idea to continue to date my mother. Vachi told him that the family would not approve of my mother and father dating.  My father swore Vachi to secrecy and left to think about his relationship.

My mother and father returned to school after the holiday break. They had a lot to talk about. They both told about what happened over the holiday break. At the end of the conversation, my father got on one knee, pulled a ring out of his pocket, and proposed to my mother. She thought for a moment and said yes to his proposal.  My Aunt Penya found out the news a couple of days later.  My aunt was happy, excited, and worried.  My aunt knew that the family would not be too willing to accept my mother and father's engagement or marriage.

My mother and father decided to tell both of their families together of their plans. They separately called their families and had them meet at one of the DeMonte family owned restaurants, that my mother and father had rented for the evening.

Neither family knew what was going on when they saw the other family.  A waiter from the restaurant tried to kick my mother's family out of the restaurant until he saw that their names were on the guest list.  When my mother and father walked into the dining area of the restaurant, arm in arm, pandemonium broke loose.

My father's Uncle Vachi, walked out of the restaurant along with most of my father's family. The only member of my father's family that stayed was his mother.  My mother's family stayed, but they grabbed my mother and pulled her off to the side to talk to her.  My mother's family was mad at both her and my aunt for keeping such a secret from them.  My mother was ordered to break up with my father.  When she refused, my mother's family left the restaurant.

My father and his mother were talking to each other, when my mother began to walk towards my father.  His mother stood up and walked off from the two.  My father's mother, who had dated an African-American at one time, was not upset because my father had been dating an African-American woman; she was upset because my father had not told her anything. My father's mother sat down with both my mother and father and talked to them.  At the end of the conversation, my mother and father were more confused than ever.

When my father announced that he and my mother were going to get married, my father's family disowned him. Every member of the family was forbidden to see him by his father. My father's mother could not even see him. Somehow, my father's mother talked her husband into giving my father $20,000. This was the last thing that my father ever received from his family, except for a gift that his mother sent to the wedding.  My father legally changed his name to Antony Miantay before he and my mother were married.

My mother's family was divided about my mother's wedding.  Half of the family was happy for my mother and the other half was upset with my mother. The biggest opposition was from my mother's maternal grandfather, who was the patriarch of the family. He voiced his opposition to my mother, her wedding, and her intended husband.

On June 19, 1980, my mother and father were married. Some of my mother's family was at her wedding. There was a Caucasian lady sitting in the back of the church.  She left before the wedding was over. The lady was my father's mother.  My mother and father were introduced to the world as Antony and Barbara Miantay.

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