Bert was from a small southern town, where his family had been a presence since the late 1800s. He’d attended college for two years on a football scholarship, then enlisted in the Navy rather than be drafted.
Barbara was first-generation and her parents wanted her to have a better life than theirs. She went to a New York City college on a scholarship and made a promise to her parents she would not marry during the war.
The war ended, and Bert followed a job opportunity to New York City. Visiting a cousin at his office in a high rise, he met Barbara. She was a beautiful Yankee, and he was smitten. She’d never met a southern gentleman before, and she was quite taken. She gave him her phone number.
He called. She answered. They wasted no time.
He built a business. She raised a family of six children and worked alongside him. He fished. She ketched about cleaning his catch. She wanted to go to the opera. He wanted to take a nap. So different, how did it ever last? But when the goings got tough, they stayed tough together, until there was one, and then she was gone, too.
A wedding anniversary is my favorite celebration, and today we’ll be toasting my parents for showing us how it’s done.
Nostalgia at its best.
xx EllynAnne
Such a sweet sweet love story. Thank you for sharing. I will drink a toast to them tonight. Blessings my friend.
These few words speak volumes. Nice pictures. Nice memories. Thank you for the peek into their lives.
How very lovely! I stumbled across your blog whilst looking at your book on Amazon. I just wanted to say a few things ~ 1st: you know it isn’t very usual anymore to have parents that have managed to stay together. I was also blessed with such dedicated parents, as was my dear husband, & we have determined that we will do the same for our children. You can’t buy, sell or give away that kind of stable comfort & commitment to a child. 2nd: I absolutely LOVE your concepts of tying the apron back on. Oh thank you EllynAnne, for having an opinion on the beauty & joy of domesticity & being willing & able to share it! What a beautiful Godsend you are to so many women who have lost their way… literally in “no-man’s land” ~ where even men find it difficult. We women can & should be proud of our roles as mothers & wives, & the joy & stability that a mother at home, making a home, is. So many women have not had the opportunity to feel that comfort, that sweet “grandma hug” of love, or if they have, they have forgotten temporarily, because they think they have to get out there & race with the men. The reality is, however, that there is a sure & deep power to the woman who can run a home & be the stable love source to all those that come & go ~ through her kitchen or through her life. I don’t really know you, EllynAnne, but I think we may be kindred spirits. ;-D