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