Happy Anniversary!
Today would have been my parents' 51st wedding anniversary. They had been married 42 1/2 years when Mom died eight years ago. I'm not sure you'd have said they were a match made in heaven - they certainly had their ups and downs - but perhaps Fate (and Lady Fortune) had a hand in their meeting!
Nancy Jane Ledbetter grew up on a farm in North Georgia during the Depression. She was one of 13 children! Her mother died after giving birth to a stillborn child, number nine (I never heard whether the child had been a boy or a girl, much less what its name was). About a couple of years later, my grandfather remarried and went on to have five more children by his second wife.
My mother dreamed of becoming a nurse. When she graduated from high school, she left the family farm and moved in with an aunt who lived in town (Canton, GA), working at the chicken plant while she saved her money to come to Atlanta to go to business school so she could work in an office to make more money to save up to go to nursing school. But fate intervened - she made it to Atlanta and did go to business school, then she did get a job in an office, but she never got to nursing school.
When she was ready to come to Atlanta, she answered an ad in the newspaper offering free room and board for light housekeeping and babysitting for an eight-year-old boy. The family was well-to-do, and Mom found herself living in her own room in a beautiful old Victorian-style house. She and the lady of the house became such good friends that my brother and I claimed the couple as adopted grandparents!
Mrs. McKinley tried to set Mom up with several nice young gentlemen she knew. None of them caught Mom's attention, though. Finally, Mrs. McKinley visited a fortune-teller she frequented, bringing Mom along.
Ruth Moon, my grandmother, also frequented the fortune-teller and counted her as a family friend. Dad knew the fortune-teller as well. By this time, Dad was 30 years old and still single - which condition I gather greatly disturbed my grandmother! Dad worked as a traveling serviceman for Warren Refrigeration, and didn't stay in town very long at a time.
The fortune-teller arranged a blind date between my mother and Dad. Dad reported to me that Mrs. McKinley had told him she would leave the front porch light on so he'd recognize the house. She didn't realize that everyone on the street would have their porch lights on too, and Dad almost gave up trying to find the house!
Six months later, he and Mom were married. Dad told us they'd wanted a small, simple wedding in the pastor's study. Ha! Each time he called my mother, she told him "Bill, I've invited five more people." Everyone who knew either of them wanted to come! I think their wedding ended up being in the chapel, with about 100 guests.
So...happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!
Nancy Jane Ledbetter grew up on a farm in North Georgia during the Depression. She was one of 13 children! Her mother died after giving birth to a stillborn child, number nine (I never heard whether the child had been a boy or a girl, much less what its name was). About a couple of years later, my grandfather remarried and went on to have five more children by his second wife.
My mother dreamed of becoming a nurse. When she graduated from high school, she left the family farm and moved in with an aunt who lived in town (Canton, GA), working at the chicken plant while she saved her money to come to Atlanta to go to business school so she could work in an office to make more money to save up to go to nursing school. But fate intervened - she made it to Atlanta and did go to business school, then she did get a job in an office, but she never got to nursing school.
When she was ready to come to Atlanta, she answered an ad in the newspaper offering free room and board for light housekeeping and babysitting for an eight-year-old boy. The family was well-to-do, and Mom found herself living in her own room in a beautiful old Victorian-style house. She and the lady of the house became such good friends that my brother and I claimed the couple as adopted grandparents!
Mrs. McKinley tried to set Mom up with several nice young gentlemen she knew. None of them caught Mom's attention, though. Finally, Mrs. McKinley visited a fortune-teller she frequented, bringing Mom along.
Ruth Moon, my grandmother, also frequented the fortune-teller and counted her as a family friend. Dad knew the fortune-teller as well. By this time, Dad was 30 years old and still single - which condition I gather greatly disturbed my grandmother! Dad worked as a traveling serviceman for Warren Refrigeration, and didn't stay in town very long at a time.
The fortune-teller arranged a blind date between my mother and Dad. Dad reported to me that Mrs. McKinley had told him she would leave the front porch light on so he'd recognize the house. She didn't realize that everyone on the street would have their porch lights on too, and Dad almost gave up trying to find the house!
Six months later, he and Mom were married. Dad told us they'd wanted a small, simple wedding in the pastor's study. Ha! Each time he called my mother, she told him "Bill, I've invited five more people." Everyone who knew either of them wanted to come! I think their wedding ended up being in the chapel, with about 100 guests.
So...happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!
posted by Brenda King | 6:02 PM
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