On this day, May 23, 1970, in Reno, Nevada at the Chapel of Promises, Beverly and I recited our vows to love each other until death do us part.
Today we celebrate 42 years of marriage, something I never thought I would be able to say. It wasn't all easy, but we have a son and twin daughters and at least 10 grandchildren that we can count, ages 13 down to 4.
The road has had its bumps but together we have gotten through it, and even the biggest obstacle (my recent loss of left leg) has been easier to get around because of Beverly's love and caring for me.
Granted, I am not the easiest person to live with, but I think we are a good example of why opposites attract.
We live in the flatlands of Kansas in Wichita with one of our daughters and her husband, who just celebrated 20 years last week, and their two wonderful kids, our grand kids, Zach, 7, and Tymber, 4.
Just wanted to share this wonderful day with my extended family at UD and hope that the next 40 years are just as wonderful.
42 Years........and it seems like only yesterday!
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dvdjunkie
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42 Years........and it seems like only yesterday!
Last edited by dvdjunkie on Wed May 23, 2012 2:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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DarthPrime
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Disney Duster
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Yea congratulations! Wow, that's a wonderfully long time to be married! 
I really loved hearing about how marriage isn't easy but continuing love and caring saw you through it all. And I'm also interested to know opposites really do attract sometimes! So is she like one of those really sweet people and you're a grumpy, hard old man? lol.
I really loved hearing about how marriage isn't easy but continuing love and caring saw you through it all. And I'm also interested to know opposites really do attract sometimes! So is she like one of those really sweet people and you're a grumpy, hard old man? lol.
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ajmrowland
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dvdjunkie
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tsom wrote:
Thanks for all the nice words. Beverly has a way of keeping both my feet on the ground. I sometimes get wound up in a rant or something and it is Beverly who manages to calm me down and make me look at things a little differently.
As a husband, who loves his wife dearly, I have really spoiled Beverly. Probably the one reason I like going shopping with her is when she is looking at something and says "I wish I had that" under her breathe and the next payday she does. I never once forgot her birthday, our anniversary, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, or any of the other Holidays, but I did have my ways to make her think I had forgotten them, but was let off the hook when she received her gifts.
A hopeless romantic, that's me, and I am happy to say that if I had to do it all over again, I would!!
What a great memory you have. You are correct. We met at 10:30 in the evening on May 21 at a friend's house, and that was a Thursday night. Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. in Reno, Nevada we said our "I Do's".you and your spouse met and got hitched a few days later?
Thanks for all the nice words. Beverly has a way of keeping both my feet on the ground. I sometimes get wound up in a rant or something and it is Beverly who manages to calm me down and make me look at things a little differently.
As a husband, who loves his wife dearly, I have really spoiled Beverly. Probably the one reason I like going shopping with her is when she is looking at something and says "I wish I had that" under her breathe and the next payday she does. I never once forgot her birthday, our anniversary, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, or any of the other Holidays, but I did have my ways to make her think I had forgotten them, but was let off the hook when she received her gifts.
A hopeless romantic, that's me, and I am happy to say that if I had to do it all over again, I would!!
The only way to watch movies - Original Aspect Ratio!!!!
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dvdjunkie
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How did I know that Beverly was the right one after only a few hours? Well, let me clear this up a little bit.
I had just gotten out of drug rehab about one week before, and I may have been almost 30 years old at the time, but since they paid for the rehab I pretty much had t answer to them for everything I did at the time. They didn't want a relapse and neither did I.
My Dad got me a job at the local newspaper as a typesetter, which was my real vocation. It was a good job and I had only been on it for about three weeks when this whirlwind occurred.
I asked to borrow the car on this particular Thursday evening to go bowling. As usual, my Dad, the stricter of the two parental units, said if I went anywhere else I was to call home first and check in, no exceptions. He also set a curfew for me of 10 pm.
While at the bowling alley, I met a guy who was looking for an open lane, the place was pretty full, and I told him I was by myself and he was welcome to join me. After talking with him and bowling a couple more games, he asked if I was going near a certain trailer park in town, and I told him yes, I was going right by it. He asked if I could give him a lift home and I excused myself for a moment and went to the phone booth (no such thing as a cell phone at that time) and called home and basically told them the short story about meeting this guy. They extended my curfew to 10:30 and I went back and told Bobby that I could give him that ride.
When we arrived at his home in the trailer park, he invited me in to meet his Mom and when we got inside there was this cute little blonde sitting on the couch whom I was introduced to. I forgot to tell you that it was pouring down rain outside, that's why Bobby needed the ride. Bobby's mom asked him to take Beverly home, and I jumped in and asked where she lived, and then told Bobby's mom that I live right by there and I could take her home. She thanked me, and I left with Beverly. When I got to her home, about five minutes away from my house, and about 10 away from the trailer park, she asked if I wanted to sit on the front porch and talk for a while. I told her about my curfew and she said I could use her phone and call my folks, which I did. I sat up with Beverly until almost 2 a.m. and having to get up at 5 am to get to work I excused myself and headed home. I got her phone number, and said I would call her.
I worked from 6 a.m. until 2:30 pm Monday through Friday, so it made for a nice day to ask Beverly out of lunch. Which I did. After taking her to lunch, and going home after setting a date for that evening, I knew there was something about Beverly that was different than any other girls I had met, and a whole lot different than my first wife, who I had been married to for just five years, and had been divorced from for just a little over three years.
While on our dinner date, a young lady named Susan came bursting in the restaurant and ran right up to Beverly and showed her the third finger of her left hand and said that "he asked me to marry him and we are going to Reno, do you want to come as a witness for me?" Beverly sort of honored her request but thought she owed me an apology for interrupting our date. To which, Susan said, "Oh, bring him along to, Larry needs someone to talk to on the trip."
Long story short, Reno is about two hours from Woodland, CA, and we left at about 8:30, on what should have been a quick trip. I had called my folks and told them what was up and after talking with Larry, who assured them that I would be home in about 6 to 8 hours, we were off to Reno.
Nothing but car problems ensued for the trip to Reno. First we had the alternator go out, and we all sat in the car while Larry hitched a ride back to Sacramento to get a new alternator. Then we traveled on up the hills of the Sierras which separated Sacramento and Nevada. Suddenly the car started acting up again, and a red light on the dash came on and Larry pulled the car over and after examination determined that it was the solenoid. Now we were really in a bind. Here it was almost midnight and we were stuck in the mountains with no phone, and for some unknown reason not a lot of traffic. We got out and pushed the car to the top of a hill and coasted down into a rest area, where there were restrooms and a telephone, but the phone was out of order. After we got the car running, Larry did something to jury-rig the thing and we headed on up the road toward Reno, the fan belt broke and we were again sidelined with car problems. I think someone was trying to tell us something.
After Larry hitched a ride up the road about 20 miles and hitching back to us, we got the fan belt on the car, but now were stuck with the dead battery that had come along with the deal of the fan belt. Soon a pickup truck came into the rest area where we were, and Larry went over and talked to the driver about helping us out. He said he didn't have any jumper cables, but Larry said that he had some, and the gentleman obliged us by getting the car started and we cheered as we headed on toward our destination. It was almost three a.m. when we got to the border of California and Nevada and about ten miles after crossing the border, we got a flat tire. Back on the side of I-80 in this poor little car that was nothing but trouble, we sat on the edge of the road trying to flag someone down because we didn't have a jack. We had a good spare tire, but no jack. Soon someone stopped to help us, and we finally got into Reno about 6:30 in the morning. We found the Chapel of Promises, and we went inside (they are open 24 hours), and they told us we had to get marriage licenses from City Hall which didn't open until 8 a.m..
We went across the street from the Chapel to a breakfast restaurant, where I found a telephone, and made the long dreaded phone call home. Larry was there for support, as I told my Dad about the problems. He was furious because they had called from the newspaper and needed two people to come in this Saturday morning, and Larry said that we would be home by about 11 a.m. That seemed to sooth my Dad, not much, but enough that he just said for us be safe and hurry home.
Then Larry and Susan put there little heads together and walked outside for a talk and when they returned, Larry said "Susan and I have decided that this had been a big problem for all of us, and we want to just finish breakfast and turn around and head home".
Beverly dropped her fork, looked up at Larry and said, "Bill came along with us because he never been to Reno, and he has a curfew at home that he has broken more than once tonight. I am not holding you responsible for the car breaking down and not being able to make the trip without problems, but you guys are going to get married, if Bill and I have to get married with you." She gave me this little wink and then unexpectedly Larry popped up with "Cool, and I will pay for it!".
Needless to say, the four of us were married that morning, and everything has been 'hunky-dory' ever since, for Larry and Susan as well as Beverly and I.
Everyone says that there is a good idea for a television show or Television Movie from this story, but I am just glad that it is over and I never have to go through that again. It is a good story to tell our kids and grand kids about, which we have several times. People who we tell this story to usually shake their heads and say that they would have given up after the fan belt.
Hope this answers any and all questions you may have. Like I said that all happened 42 years ago, and it seems like only yesterday. And we have never been happier now that we are grandparents of 10 children and we all, with the exception of one family, live here in Wichita.
I had just gotten out of drug rehab about one week before, and I may have been almost 30 years old at the time, but since they paid for the rehab I pretty much had t answer to them for everything I did at the time. They didn't want a relapse and neither did I.
My Dad got me a job at the local newspaper as a typesetter, which was my real vocation. It was a good job and I had only been on it for about three weeks when this whirlwind occurred.
I asked to borrow the car on this particular Thursday evening to go bowling. As usual, my Dad, the stricter of the two parental units, said if I went anywhere else I was to call home first and check in, no exceptions. He also set a curfew for me of 10 pm.
While at the bowling alley, I met a guy who was looking for an open lane, the place was pretty full, and I told him I was by myself and he was welcome to join me. After talking with him and bowling a couple more games, he asked if I was going near a certain trailer park in town, and I told him yes, I was going right by it. He asked if I could give him a lift home and I excused myself for a moment and went to the phone booth (no such thing as a cell phone at that time) and called home and basically told them the short story about meeting this guy. They extended my curfew to 10:30 and I went back and told Bobby that I could give him that ride.
When we arrived at his home in the trailer park, he invited me in to meet his Mom and when we got inside there was this cute little blonde sitting on the couch whom I was introduced to. I forgot to tell you that it was pouring down rain outside, that's why Bobby needed the ride. Bobby's mom asked him to take Beverly home, and I jumped in and asked where she lived, and then told Bobby's mom that I live right by there and I could take her home. She thanked me, and I left with Beverly. When I got to her home, about five minutes away from my house, and about 10 away from the trailer park, she asked if I wanted to sit on the front porch and talk for a while. I told her about my curfew and she said I could use her phone and call my folks, which I did. I sat up with Beverly until almost 2 a.m. and having to get up at 5 am to get to work I excused myself and headed home. I got her phone number, and said I would call her.
I worked from 6 a.m. until 2:30 pm Monday through Friday, so it made for a nice day to ask Beverly out of lunch. Which I did. After taking her to lunch, and going home after setting a date for that evening, I knew there was something about Beverly that was different than any other girls I had met, and a whole lot different than my first wife, who I had been married to for just five years, and had been divorced from for just a little over three years.
While on our dinner date, a young lady named Susan came bursting in the restaurant and ran right up to Beverly and showed her the third finger of her left hand and said that "he asked me to marry him and we are going to Reno, do you want to come as a witness for me?" Beverly sort of honored her request but thought she owed me an apology for interrupting our date. To which, Susan said, "Oh, bring him along to, Larry needs someone to talk to on the trip."
Long story short, Reno is about two hours from Woodland, CA, and we left at about 8:30, on what should have been a quick trip. I had called my folks and told them what was up and after talking with Larry, who assured them that I would be home in about 6 to 8 hours, we were off to Reno.
Nothing but car problems ensued for the trip to Reno. First we had the alternator go out, and we all sat in the car while Larry hitched a ride back to Sacramento to get a new alternator. Then we traveled on up the hills of the Sierras which separated Sacramento and Nevada. Suddenly the car started acting up again, and a red light on the dash came on and Larry pulled the car over and after examination determined that it was the solenoid. Now we were really in a bind. Here it was almost midnight and we were stuck in the mountains with no phone, and for some unknown reason not a lot of traffic. We got out and pushed the car to the top of a hill and coasted down into a rest area, where there were restrooms and a telephone, but the phone was out of order. After we got the car running, Larry did something to jury-rig the thing and we headed on up the road toward Reno, the fan belt broke and we were again sidelined with car problems. I think someone was trying to tell us something.
After Larry hitched a ride up the road about 20 miles and hitching back to us, we got the fan belt on the car, but now were stuck with the dead battery that had come along with the deal of the fan belt. Soon a pickup truck came into the rest area where we were, and Larry went over and talked to the driver about helping us out. He said he didn't have any jumper cables, but Larry said that he had some, and the gentleman obliged us by getting the car started and we cheered as we headed on toward our destination. It was almost three a.m. when we got to the border of California and Nevada and about ten miles after crossing the border, we got a flat tire. Back on the side of I-80 in this poor little car that was nothing but trouble, we sat on the edge of the road trying to flag someone down because we didn't have a jack. We had a good spare tire, but no jack. Soon someone stopped to help us, and we finally got into Reno about 6:30 in the morning. We found the Chapel of Promises, and we went inside (they are open 24 hours), and they told us we had to get marriage licenses from City Hall which didn't open until 8 a.m..
We went across the street from the Chapel to a breakfast restaurant, where I found a telephone, and made the long dreaded phone call home. Larry was there for support, as I told my Dad about the problems. He was furious because they had called from the newspaper and needed two people to come in this Saturday morning, and Larry said that we would be home by about 11 a.m. That seemed to sooth my Dad, not much, but enough that he just said for us be safe and hurry home.
Then Larry and Susan put there little heads together and walked outside for a talk and when they returned, Larry said "Susan and I have decided that this had been a big problem for all of us, and we want to just finish breakfast and turn around and head home".
Beverly dropped her fork, looked up at Larry and said, "Bill came along with us because he never been to Reno, and he has a curfew at home that he has broken more than once tonight. I am not holding you responsible for the car breaking down and not being able to make the trip without problems, but you guys are going to get married, if Bill and I have to get married with you." She gave me this little wink and then unexpectedly Larry popped up with "Cool, and I will pay for it!".
Needless to say, the four of us were married that morning, and everything has been 'hunky-dory' ever since, for Larry and Susan as well as Beverly and I.
Everyone says that there is a good idea for a television show or Television Movie from this story, but I am just glad that it is over and I never have to go through that again. It is a good story to tell our kids and grand kids about, which we have several times. People who we tell this story to usually shake their heads and say that they would have given up after the fan belt.
Hope this answers any and all questions you may have. Like I said that all happened 42 years ago, and it seems like only yesterday. And we have never been happier now that we are grandparents of 10 children and we all, with the exception of one family, live here in Wichita.
The only way to watch movies - Original Aspect Ratio!!!!
I LOVE my Blu-Ray Disc Player!
I LOVE my Blu-Ray Disc Player!
Oh my goodness! What a story!!! Goodness gracious! All that bad stuff that happened would have been a sign from God saying that He didn't want that wedding to happen! Lol. Thank you so much for sharing! That would indeed make a great movie!!
So, when you returned home married, what did people say? Your parents? Friends? Did they think you guys were crazy?!?! And, thank God everything worked out well and you two didn't wake up the next morning thinking it was all a mistake!
Care to write a sequel about what happened when everyone found out, and their reactions? Were the first few days, weeks, and months of marrying this complete stranger difficult? Or was it always smooth sailing?
Sorry if I'm being so inquisitive and nosy, but I LOVE stories like yours! Gives me hope! Haha
So, when you returned home married, what did people say? Your parents? Friends? Did they think you guys were crazy?!?! And, thank God everything worked out well and you two didn't wake up the next morning thinking it was all a mistake!
Care to write a sequel about what happened when everyone found out, and their reactions? Were the first few days, weeks, and months of marrying this complete stranger difficult? Or was it always smooth sailing?
Sorry if I'm being so inquisitive and nosy, but I LOVE stories like yours! Gives me hope! Haha