Thursday, May 20, 2010

May 19th and its significance ...

I'm a day late posting this, but it's much too important to let it slip by unmentioned...

My parents would have been married 66 years yesterday, May 19, had Daddy lived that long. It's a date that is special to me, because it's the day my parents began their journey together as a couple in the post-World War II era.

Celebrations and thanksgiving aside, life didn't look all that bright just after the war ended. Times were tough, families were broken by heartache and the loss of loved ones, and scraping by with what you had was part of the post-war effort.

In spite of all this, it was a hopeful time for Johnny Keltie and Myrtle Denton, because they'd found one another and fallen in love. Actually, it was my Dad that discovered my Mom -- and at the most inopportune time!

Mom was visiting her brother Jesse and his wife Florence in their little home, and she was an overnight guest on their living room couch. Aunt Florence had a brother named Johnny who was in the army, and he showed up to visit on a 3-day service pass the same weekend Mom was there.

In fact, he dropped in the very night my Mom was lying there on the couch with rollers in her hair! She was horrified to know a young man was in the room, so she pretended to be asleep. My Dad told his sister that he thought Myrtle was "cute."

It wasn't long after that they spent time together when Dad could get a pass. A few months later, in May of 1944, Daddy was home on leave and convinced my Mom to marry him. Dad was 21, and Mom was only 19 at the time, but it was a marriage ordained to happen, and it worked out nicely. It also produced six children!

How wonderful to have grown up in a home where we knew we were loved. Thanks, Mom, for making our home a clean and comfy place to return each day after school. Thanks, Daddy, for being our protector and provider. I miss you, and I'm glad you married my mother.

May 19th will always hold a special place in my heart.

3 comments:

  1. A heart-filled post, Nan. I love every word...and I can feel the love you have for your parents as I read it. What a beautiful marriage they had. Thank you for each word you wrote about them. I feel as if I have just read a love story written in heaven.
    My Mama was 16 when she married Daddy. Daddy was 21...and had just gotten out of the Navy (post World War II, also.) Mama will be 79 this year, and Daddy will be 84. They have been happily married all these years...and like you, I feel very blessed to have been raised in a loving home. Thank you again for sharing....a beautiful tribute to their anniversary date.
    Love,
    Jackie

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  2. Thanks, Jackie. I believe it truly *was* a love story written in heaven... and I'm glad to hear your folks are still together after all these years!

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  3. Oh, Nan...I can't believe I missed this!! What a gem!!! You bring tears to my eyes reading of your love for your parents and they for each other! What a wonderful tribute to them...You have such a rich legacy...and you are making your own...you are such an inspiration! Love you, Janine XO

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