Well, I realize that I'm two days late with this, but since tonight is the celebratory dinner, it's not entirely my fault for not thinking of this sooner.
Anyways, Happy Anniversary! to my Mom and Dad. They were married 32 years ago on December the 27th, 1972.
The story is that Dad came home for Christmas break from Embry Riddle (sp?) in Daytona, FL where he was majoring in surfing and had a minor in Aeronautics. (He wanted to be a pilot.) He and my Mom had been dating since they were Juniors in high school (or somewhere around there) and were already engaged. Well, they decided that they had waited long enough, so when he left home to go back to school, he took her with him.
They got married in the first town they were both old enough to get married in. Which turned out to be in North Carolina. At the time, NY State law said that a man had to be 21 to get married without parental consent, and a woman had to be 18. So, even thought my Dad was 20, and my Mom was 19, she was old enough to marry, and he wasn't. Technically, I believe that she could have been charged with kidnapping...
As a kid, my favorite part of the whole story was my parents getting their marriage license. They went into an old courthouse in this little town in North Carolina, and asked if they could get a marriage license, and how long before they could be married. They expected it to take a day and that they would have to get separate rooms for the night. (People were still proper about things like waiting for the wedding back then. At least in my family…)
They were quite pleasantly surprised when the clerk told them that if the town’s doctor was still in his office, they could get the blood test done and be back to get married in a couple of hours. So they went over to the doctor’s place and discovered one of the oldest medical practitioners they had ever seen. Everything went fine when he drew blood from my Mom, but my Dad had a little adventure.
The doctor tied the rubber hose around his arm and stuck the needle in, just like you’re supposed to, but when he pulled back on the plunger, all he got was bubbles. My Dad normally has no problems with needles, and wasn’t bothered by this. But when the doctor said “Whoops.” And shoved the bubbles back in, he fainted. My mother said that the doctor just calmly found another vein and drew the blood before reviving my father. The doctor said something about it being easier now that my Dad wasn’t so tense…
And about two hours later, they were married in a little courthouse in a small town in North Carolina. Someday, I'll have to find the place...
So, that’s the story of my parents eloping a little over 32 years ago. And they’re still going strong!
A little interesting side note, 5 months later, when they came home over Easter, they were re-married in a church wedding. Since by then, I was all ready on the way*, I used to use this fact to confuse people. Especially my young cousins. I would tell them that both my parents had re-married (everyone always assume, to someone else) and that I was then raised by my step-parents. That I was the son of my Dad’s first wife, and my Mom’s first husband. (It's confusing, but does make a sort of twisted sense.)
And fortunately for my Dad, Mom never insisted on celebrating both anniversaries. In fact, I don’t even think either one could tell you what the date was for the second one without a lot of thinking. I know I can’t. Although, now that I think about it, this could be considered their 63rd anniversary…
*And yes, everyone was counting the months when I was born (right about 10 months after they were married) to see if my parents had to get married. They didn’t. Because, people were still proper about things like waiting for the wedding back then. At least in my family.
Happy Belated Anniversary to GEBIV's parents!! 32 years in these days ... cool! Congrats!
Posted by: That 1 Guy at December 30, 2004 08:37 PM