What Makes It Work? Working At It!

I well remember standing by the Ashley wood burning heater in their living room and asking my future father-in-law permission to marry his daughter. I was only 18 and he had to help me get through it by filling in a lot of the blanks and pauses, but he did, therefore, on December 18, 1964, we were married. It was a bitterly cold Friday night and we had sleet off and on. The ceremony was conducted in their home and we had a procession, a song, and the exchanging of vows as administered by a brand new 'preacher boy', her brother. If the lights had gone out we would have most likely been okay because my cheeks were glowing red. Rudolph would have been proud of me!

Some of my friends and the guys from their Church decided to really fix our car up good. In addition to all the cans tied onto the back bumper they used white shoe polish to scribble all kinds of messages including: ‘Watch Louisiana Grow”. (If today they could see our entire crew gathered together they would believe themselves to have been prophets.) These guys also stuffed some Limburger cheese up into our heating system and this proved to be very challenging as we attempted to make our way on our honeymoon trip. We eventually had to turn the heater on and roll down the window, and then turn it off until we were too cold and then repeat the process until we got to our destination.

They chased us and blew their horns for a few miles but finally we were on our own and headed for the big city of Alexandria, Louisiana. We had not been on the road for more than thirty minutes whenever we spotted a car on the side of the road. It was more or less out in the middle of nowhere and we saw people so we stopped to see if we could help. There we were with our car all decorated and with Limburger smell all over us, but the young couple did need help. We discovered the young lady had actually gone to school with my brand new wife so we carried them to the nearest store, woke the people up, and they were allowed to use their telephone and stay there until a wrecker came.

We finally made it to our hotel and the next day found someone to clean our car. That’s how it all began some forty-three years ago. We actually have a VHS of our wedding that was transferred from an original 8mm film. Every so often we put that tape on and our kids and grand kids howl with amusement. Yes, much has changed over these many years. The tape proves that we looked more like children playing dress up than adults ready for marriage. I’ll never forget the first time our eldest granddaughter saw that film. She must have been maybe six or seven and she just could not accept the fact that the people on that tape were her MiMi and Poppy. She became very agitated and kept saying over and over, “That's not my MiMi!” “That's not my MiMi!”

The journey has not always been smooth. The road we’ve traveled has had its fair share of potholes, detours, and slippery slopes. Therefore, we can only thank God for His grace and His provision in allowing us to arrive at this place so many years later. Somewhere along the way I came to realize the great treasure God had given to me. Since that time I have tried to make this understanding a reality in my life with her. All those in our family who have been with us for any length of time know I have co-opted Jackie Gleason’s famous line from the ‘Honeymooners TV Series’, when he summed up his good fortune in having his great wife by saying: ‘Baby, you’re the greatest!” And, that’s my thoughts exactly! Forty-three and counting! Amen. …More later.