Finding Love Part 2

Finding Love Part 2

In the fall of 1963 as I was recuperating from my accident, and I was first getting around on crutches and then I walked with a cane. My Dad had called me in August to see if Jim, my brother, could come live with me so he would finish High school. So I agreed and he came back in time to enroll in High school. We were attending church, and participating in the young peoples group who always would have sing ins for the shut ins of the community. At Christmas time we were out going to several homes singing Christmas carols. I was still using a cane to get around and really enjoyed being able to get out and be with other people. I noticed this girl that kind of flirted with me and I was amazed that she would do this to a crippled, widowed man. I talked to her, and she told me her name was Janet. A few days later after a church service I asked her and her friend if they would like to go for a snack and ride around for a while. They agreed and after some time of nervous conversation, it was time to take them back to their car for them to go home. New Years Eve was a few days away, so I thought I would ask her if she would go on a date with me. So I dropped the question, “would you like to go out on New Years Eve?” and there was this long silence. Then she said, “who are you talking to?” and I said “why you of course.” and to my surprise she said that she would go out with me. Later she told me why there was a long silence, because her friend was the one who was wanting to go out with me. Needless to say her friend gave her a ear full on their way home that night.

I couldn’t believe what had just happened, here was this beautiful girl who had just agreed to have a date with a widowed man. I had to pinch myself all the way home that night to make sure I was awake and it wasn’t a dream. So when the night finally arrived I drove to Downs to pick her up. I went to the door and knocked to see if she was ready. Her Dad came to the door and invited me in. He was busy installing a hardwood floor in the living room so I visited with him about his handy work and then Janet came down and we left. I had this old 49 Chevy and we proceeded to go out for this first date. I was still in shock that here was this gorgeous girl sitting beside me. The conversation was kind of short at first as I didn’t quite know what to talk to her about. She was a Senior in High School and here I had been married before.

On the way back to Downs I noticed that the gas gage was down to ¼ so I stopped for gas. The attendant came out and filled the tank and put in around a $1.75 worth of gas. As I drove away I noticed that the gas gauge had hardly moved up any so I figured that he didn’t get it full so I went to another station in Cawker City. This time the attendant said “that will be 25 cents.” We laughed as we drove away as now I realized that my gas gauge wasn’t working right.

We drove around till 12:00 to bring in the New Years Eve and then I took her home. As we sit in the car visiting I decided that I had better ask her if she knew what all I had been through and that I had been married before. She said that she knew all about it and that didn’t make any difference to her. I walked her to the door and give her a kiss good night and got back into the car and knew that this was the girl that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. People may say that there is no such thing as love at first sight but I would argue with them. This was the best thing that had ever happened to me up till then. Its hard to explain, I knew we were about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime.

The next morning her mother questioned her about who she had a date with the night before. When she told her who she was with her mother was upset and said “you can’t go out with him again.” Her dad interrupted and said “Oh yes she can if she wants to, he is a real gentleman and I really like him. ” So I guess that was the end of that and after I met her mother she changed her mind and really liked me also.

Around the middle of February I decided to ask her for her hand. This was kind of fast since we had only been dating for about six weeks, but it was right as we were falling into a deep love. I bought the ring and put it in the glove box to pop the question that night. So when the time came I asked her the big question and she didn’t act surprised. She did put on the ring and said she had to talk to her parents first. I thought Oh no I asked her too soon as she wasn’t ready for this. She wore the ring to school the next day to show it off to all her friends. I asked her on our next date why she wasn’t surprise and she said she had looked in the glove box and found the ring while I was in a store buying something. So she was already prepared for that big question. After talking to her parents they said she had to wait till she was 18 and it would be fine with them. Her birthday is in September so we started planning for that big day. I spent most of all my spare time with her and as she graduated from high school her parents agreed to let her marry me before she was 18. So we set a date of July 26 and was united in marriage on that day.