Wednesday, December 19, 2007

First, let me start out by saying today is my daughter-in-law’s birthday. Happy birthday, mother to my three precious grandsons. Hope your day is fantastic! And you’re staying warm and well! We miss you guys so much!

On December 19, 1962, also a Wednesday, my dear hubby and I started our official meeting and began our journey together. We had met before at a youth fellowship program which was held every week at our church, a large downtown church we had both become members of at different times.

He had even taken a friend and me home one night from the fellowship when my sister, who usually drove us there and back, played sick. We had walked the eleven long blocks to the church that night rather than waiting for the bus. Oh yes, I've always referred to us as definitely being street walkers, without fear of attack at that time in our lives. We actually were street walkers every night, but that’s a story for another day. (Oh, the days of innocence!)

My friend had a major crush on him and had been flirting with him for some time. I’m not sure if he even realized it or not, but he should have. She was pretty obvious. Somehow he found out we were going to have to catch the bus home that night and offered to give us a lift. That was great news to her. She immediately accepted and hopped in the front seat next to him and rather than stand on the street corner waiting for the bus by myself, I got in on the passenger side.
I’m not really even sure just how the rest of the months played out, but he wasn’t interested in my friend after all, though she still liked him.

This particular Wednesday night we had a Candlelight service at the church at the end of prayer meeting. Somehow I managed to ditch another friend of mine and my sister because for some strange unknown reason my candle kept blowing out, which meant I kept having to drop back a few people each time and someone else would light my candle. This went on for a little while until low and behold who should be there to light my candle but…yep, you guessed it! Mr. Man. Cutie Pie. Handsome.

He would tell me later that for some reason his candle kept going out but he kept heading forward to have his lit. Now isn’t that just strange? He could have just lied to me about that. I don’t know.

I know I ruined a perfectly good heavy dress coat because it was covered with candle wax from the wind and dripping wax. It would be years after we married before I would get another heavy coat to match that one, and thanks to a friend’s dog or better known as devil dog, my poor fur collar on that one was chewed up. Obviously, I had terrible luck with heavy coats. Many years later the kids came along and well, you know how that goes. No need for anything expensive at that point. You just make a mad dash out of the cold.

Anyway, an even stranger thing was his candle didn’t blow out any more and neither did mine! Hmmm. Wonder why that happened?

The rest of the story was…he asked if he could drive me home. Was I going to say no? I don’t think so. He was awfully handsome and had a really nice personality. I could enjoy being with him, I was pretty sure. At least enough to give it a try, couldn’t I? To heck with my other friend. If she hadn’t landed him by now, she probably wasn’t going to.

So, I boldly walk up to my sister and tell her, “He is going to drive me home”, to which she says with much attitude, “You came with me, you’re going home with me!” Yeah, right. See you back at the Church’s home, Sis. And I turned and walked away to his car. If she didn’t know enough about him to know he wasn’t a serial killer by now, she certainly wasn’t going to learn anything more, because she had known him much longer than I had.

When I finally went in, my sister and the friend who wasn’t interested in him, were hanging over the balcony, acting like goof balls, giggling, waiting for me to come home to a locked front door. They had had the house mother lock the doors so I couldn't get back in. No, I wasn’t really late. I think curfew was maybe 11:00 or 11:30 on week nights and not much later on weekends. (Yes, we did have curfew at the Church's home even though we were out on our own, working and paying our own rent. Those were the days when a woman's honor was protected if she lived in one of their homes.) I had made curfew, maybe not by too long, but I had made it. They were just being cute, or so they thought!

He and I had sat outside the Church’s home in his car and talked for a long time, obviously being watched like a hawk by my sister and friend. He asked me for my phone number, which I gave him. He didn’t write it down so I figured that was that, because he wouldn’t remember it. Cross him right off my list! Now I’m wondering if he didn’t already knew that number from calling other girls up there? Yep, probably did have that number memorized already.

I should have had a clue, however, because he didn’t call me again until well after Christmas and into the New Year. He was apparently too cheap to spring for a Christmas present. Now that was convenient, wasn’t it? He said he had been busy with out of town visits back home. But he did finally call and we started our long months of dating which eventually led to marriage, two children, a daughter-in-law and then a son-in-law and so far, four grandchildren.

Actually it was just nine full months that we dated, but they were as I said, full, because once we started dating he practically lived at our apartment. I did say, practically. By that time my sister and I had moved out of the Church's home and into our own little apartment in a nosey landlord's house! Couldn't get away from those protectors. I had to marry him to get him out of my sister’s way. And since he was eating almost every evening meal with us she was threatening to make me pay for his groceries, not to mention she was cooking for us all. I was a working girl and not making so much money I could pay for both of us. The only way I could make him pay for his groceries was to marry him! I told you he was cheap, didn’t I?
Happy Anniversary, Sweetie! Aren’t you lucky your candle kept going out?