When I took my grandfather to visit my grandmother today, I decided that instead of talking about people he didn't remember and things he had forgotten, we would talk about the one thing that means the most to him - my grandma. I asked them to tell me how they met, dated, and got married. This is their love story of 1959 - starring a pretty nursing school student named Myra, and an oh-so charming road design engineer named Charles.
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How did you and grandma meet?
Grandpa: I had a date with a girl named Nancy. I went to her house to pick her up, but she wasn't there. Her dad said that she had already left on a date with another guy! It made me hot, but I don't suppose I cared too much one way or another about it. So my buddy Edsel and I decided to head to Colonial Heights - to Lakeview where the swimming hole and dance pavilion was. When I got there, I saw a girl named Vicky that I went to high school with, so I started talking to her. There was a girl sitting on the bench next to her, and I said to her, "Hey, you're in my seat."
Grandma: And I looked at the bench and said, "I don't see your name on it."
Grandpa: We couldn't stand each other!
Grandma: I didn't care if I ever saw him again. I thought he was a big smartass.
Grandpa: That's funny, because that's what *I* thought! So anyway, then she went around town telling everyone how much she looooved me and....
Grandma: I did not! You had your friend, Edsel, call my roommate, Vicky, and harass her to bring "that girl" out again!
Grandpa: Well you came!
Why did you go if you didn't like him?!
Grandma: For the hell of it.
Grandpa: So then 3 months later, we got married.
What?! How did you go from not being able to stand each other - to getting married...in 3 months?!
Grandpa: There was just something about her!
Grandma: Yeah, you'd met your match.
Well, where did you get married?
Grandpa: My buddy, Edsel, drove us down to North Carolina to find a preacher.
Grandma: You had to be 21 in the state of Virginia to get married without parental consent. I was only 19 and he was 20. I knew my parents wouldn't give consent because I was in nursing school. So I put on a white dress and white heels and we rode to North Carolina.
Where did your parents think you were?
Grandma: We told them we were going to the zoo for the day.
Wait...so your mama thought you were going to the zoo in a white dress and heels?
Grandpa: Probably not - that's just how dumb we were.
Grandma: I wanted to be married in a church, so we drove until we saw a little Baptist church and stopped. It was a Saturday, but the secretary was there and she called the preacher. He was in the field picking butter beans, but he stopped, and drove up, and married us.
Then what did you do?
Grandpa: I had to pay a $5 fee!
Grandma: Then we went home. So broke we couldn't even afford a Pepsi or an order of fries on the way!
Grandpa: You had me! What'd you need food for?!
Did you tell anyone you got married?
Grandma: No, Edsel was the only one who knew. You had to live in the dormitory while you went to nursing school, no matter what; and you had to ask permission to get married. I asked after the fact and got permission, but I still had to drop out because I found out I was pregnant. At that time, you had to spend 6 months in Philadelphia for an affiliate program with the psych hospital there, and I knew I couldn't do that with a baby.
What about your parents? When did you tell them?
Grandpa: I don't remember when we told mine...
Grandma: I don't know when we told his parents, but I remember that Grandpa talked me into calling my mama and telling her about a month later.
What did you do after you left school?
Grandma: We lived with your Grandpa's parents for a few months and then rented a little apartment of our own. I had your Aunt Terri; and then a year later, had your daddy.
Grandpa: We ate a lot of pork-n-beans and potatoes, that's what!
But I know you were a nurse, so how did you get your LPN if you dropped out of school?
Grandma: I went to work for Dr. Cohen Sr. when your daddy was 6 months old and he encouraged me to to take advantage of a new state program that offered the LPN board testing if you had been in nursing school - even if you didn't finish. There was another girl in the office who was taking it, but she didn't want me to know about it, so she hadn't told me.
Why wouldn't she want you to know about it?!
Grandma: Probably because you had to get a 300 to pass and she got a 301...but then I got over a 700.
Go on, Grammy!
Grandma: I'm not bragging! I just borrowed books and studied for a few months.
So whatever happened to Nancy?
Grandpa: I have no clue.
Grandma: She sent some love letters to your Grandpa a few months after we got married and I called her house about it! Her daddy answered the phone and said she wasn't there. I told him to kindly ask his daughter to stop sending my husband love letters. He claimed his daughter would never do such a thing and I told him he was welcome to come 'round and read them! ...I had some hell in me when I was younger.
One last question...if you lived in the dorms at nursing school...and Grandpa lived at home...and you didn't tell anyone you were married...how do you explain Aunt Terri?!
Grandma: Well...........your Grandpa's parents went for long Sunday drives. And we didn't go with them.
Gotcha.
Grandma: This isn't going in the church newsletter or anything is it?
Nope. Just on the Internet.
Grandma: Oh, alright then.
♥M
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