It was long, long ago, in a far away place........
No, really.....David and I met through mutual friends. He was not from our little town but had come here to live with, and work for, his uncle Harvey.
It was my first year out of high school, his fourth year out.
About the mutual friends......I didn't know it when we first met, but I was dating one of his good friends. (O M Goodness, NOooooooooo!) Yep, so here goes~~~~~~~~~
One winter Saturday my friend, Marita, and I were on our way to the National Guard Armory to have lunch with her boyfriend and my boyfriend at the time. Slight problem, though. The roads were icy, and when I say icy I do mean i c y!!!! After we slid all over town and realized we could not begin to make the 30 mile trip to the armory, we settled on staying in town and eating at a local restaurant.
Walking into the restaurant we spotted her boyfriend with this guy, both in their army fatigues. Seems they couldn't make it to guard duty and settled on dropping in for a bite to eat.
We spent the day, riding around town....I mean sliding around town, doing donuts and having a blast, driving like fools on I C E! And I feel in love with someone I didn't know before that day.
At the end of the day he told me he wouldn't see me anymore until I broke up with my boyfriend, his good friend. And the rest is history............(not too romantic but hey, it's lasted 37+ years).
But, it gets better.
We decided on an Oct. 10th wedding. The colors were to be pale yellow and salmon. The bridesmaids dresses were finished. The songs were chosen. The invitations were in the mail. Everything was taken care of and ready to go .
On the evening of August 29th, after attending my third wedding shower,
I made a decision.....................................
'Hey, mom, I've decided I don't want to get married!'
(Hey, daddy always told me not to JUMP into anything.......He was okay with my decision......I'm feeling a load off my shoulders,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, why the piercing look???????)
Okie dokie! Things were, let's say, not too good around my house!!!!! You might say, things were just plain ice cold.
I was hitting the pavement taking wedding gifts back and forth. My wedding book has cute little x marks next to: "gifts received" with the words: returned or/did not want (as in, the giver told me to keep the gift.) But, one gift-giver stands out in my mind.
As I walked up to the house, to return the gift that person had given, I overheard the lady say to the person on the other end of the line: 'listen, honey,let me call you back, yes, it's Judy at the door. You know, David's fiance. Yeh, yeh, ......called it off.......don't know. Yeh, I'll call you back and let ya know what happened." (helloooooooooooo, I can hear you, lady!) First thing out of her mouth as I handed her the gift she'd given us; "Honey, what on earth happened." (okay, then, I'll tell ya quickly so you can get back on the phone.......)
And, so it went, kinda like that with every stinkin' gift! What a mess!
Needless to say, David was not speaking to me nor did he much like me. But my mother decided what a wonderful thing it would be to invite him and his whole family to our house for David's birthday (Oct.2)............(yes, ma'am, that sounds like a fun evening??????) IT WAS NOT A FUN EVENING! (And no, it was not a good idea, mother).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two months later..........
It's Christmas. David shows up at my house with a gift, something his cousin, Phyllis loved to wear: JUNGLE GARDENIA (omg is that a strong perfume or what???? and sticky too!!! ugggg!!!!!)
But, it was good to see him. And I guess you'd say, the perfume did the trick because on Jan. 23rd we got married in a simple little ceremony with his cousin Phyllis and her husband, Jerry standing in as our witnesses. No big wedding! Nothing but simplicity. Married on a Saturday, back to work on Monday.
Did I mention it's been 37 years? That's THIRTY SEVEN YEARS without wedding pictures or a fancy honeymoon. But it worked. I love him more today than on that day in January of 1971.
This is a true and factual account of "our story". Isn't it a hoot???? It's funny now but back then, not so funny to a few.......(as in David and my mother!)
We laugh about my indecisiveness......(still have trouble ordering food for fear it might not be as good as say something else on the menu!!) But, I'm doing better as I get older (finally some might say......)
But ya know, maybe if we had gotten married on that day in October, we might not be together today! I think I had to be away from him to know that I loved him. Sure it was a mess but it made me realize when I'd get angry at him for some reason or other......................'Judy, you had your chance and you went back to him! You went back a second time so think about it ole girl! Why did you go back?' And that's what rolled around in my head when we'd have an argument.
(...................or was it my mother's piercing eyes????????????????)
One final note: Remember the original date was October 10th? Know why I can never forget that date?????????????????????
We used every stinkin' napkin with:
Judy and David
October 10, 1970
GEE THANKS MOM, Because for years and years.......IT WAS NOT A JOY EATING AT YOUR TABLE!!!!!
The napkins are finally........g o n e !!!! Amen. :)
Little furniture for the little ones coming soon.
