64 years later...
They got married on February 11th and I always wondered what was special about that date….was it a Saturday in 1956 (it was), was it the anniversary of the day they met (it wasn’t), or did it have some special meaning I never knew about…..turns out it didn’t. As I’ve cleaned out Daddy’s personal things over the last week, I’ve found so many things I never knew about….and the most magical piece was a stack of love letters between mama and daddy before they were married. They were living in Florida, she in Jacksonville, and he near Miami. They were both working and making strides towards spending the rest of their lives together, but money and times were hard. They had met in Jacksonville when they both worked for the same company and I don’t know what changed to make daddy move to Miami, but if I were to guess, it was work. The letters show two people in love in the days before instant communication, and technology designed to make distance irrelevant. They had planned days to call, mama calling on Wednesday, and Daddy calling on Saturday, cautious about the cost of a long distance call. Mama was not as sure of the future as daddy was and he spent a lot of time, words, paper, and ink convincing her of his love. She spent a lot of time, words, paper, and ink wondering if she was doing the right thing. In the early weeks of January, 1956, they were back together again, after she had come ‘home’ to Virginia to get a divorce, waiting on the paperwork that declared she was free and able to be wed again….this time to my daddy. I’m guessing his words and time convinced her. The last piece of history in that stack of old love letters was an envelope from an attorney, with a Virginia address. And inside, carefully folded and creased, raised seal proving its authenticity, was the decree of divorce. Dated February 10, 1956. And THAT’s why they got married on February 11, 1956. I LOVE this story and I will continue to think of them as so much in love that they couldn’t wait one more day to get married when they finally had the chance. I’ve heard the story of how they ‘ran away in the middle of the night’ and woke up a judge to marry them in his living room, his wife as the only witness. They didn’t need any fancy wedding or venue, expensive cake or reception. Nope, all they needed was permission. with Glitter & Grace, Sasha