I met my husband in 1969, but didn’t know his name. I was pledging a sorority at the time, and I tripped going into class. Now to hear him tell you he had nothing to do with my near fall. As I remember he was stretched out in his seat and he remembers balloons tied to my ankles. I said I was pledging to a sorority.
Early in January 1970 this same young man took me and a friend to lunch. She assumed I knew his name. I was still trying to figure out who he was, but without luck.
Then came January 31st 1970; he called and asked me out. I said yes. Now I grew up in a strict household and my mother approved all my dates. Well, maybe she didn’t really; but it felt that way to me.
When I told her about the call and the fact that I agreed without checking with her first I expected her to be upset. Instead she thought we should “frost” my hair. This was even a bigger surprise to me. So Michael came to pick me up and Mom and I were watching him arrive at the front door from a back room window. I told her yes, this is the guy that I had gone to lunch with a few days earlier.
Michael knocked on the door and either my Dad or one of my brothers answered the door. Needless to say he was rather surprised by the blonde he was picking up that night. I had been a brunette the prior day, and now I was a blonde. I found our later he was not thrilled.
I asked him where we were going, he told me out for pizza. That seemed a safe date. So we went to a pizza parlor away from the noise of town. Afterwards, we ended up on a dark rarely traveled road. Now I have to admit I had a sheltered life when it came to dating. However, I knew enough that this could mean trouble. So I was ready to defend myself if needed.
I asked him what we were doing at the location. He said “I want to show you the stars.” I’m thinking, “I bet you want to show me the stars.” I was surprised when he got out of the car, and told me to do the same. Remember this is January, and January in Wheeling WV is not conducive to be being outside on a cold night.
Nevertheless I got out of the car. He immediately started pointing out the various constellations in the sky. I have to admit that I was somewhat surprised, but also relieved.
When we got back to my home, we said good night and I went inside. Sure enough, there was Mom waiting for me. “Well, what did you do tonight?” she asked. I told her we went for pizza and then out to look at the stars. Mom being silly said, “So, that is what you call it now.” I explained that he truly did show me the stars. Of course, as a mother she wanted to know exactly what we did while star gazing. So I asked her to step out on the back porch. I showed her the same stars that Michael had shown me. Mom thought it was hilarious. However, to this day I can spot Orion’s belt with no trouble.
Now, here we are years later; and on January 13th we will celebrate 39 years of marriage. I guess you could say our destiny was written in the stars.
