57th Anniversary

If Mom and Dad had lived, today would've been their 57th anniversary. They were married on September 25, 1965. Dad was almost eighteen and Mom was seventeen at the time.

They were so young that they had to have their parents sign for them to get married. Somebody interrupted my grandfather's dinner to tell him that Mom needed him to sign so she could get married. Papaw told that person to let him finish eating his hot dog and he would sign. Two years after getting married, Mom gave birth to my brother. Almost four years later, Mom gave birth to me in 1971.

Before dating Dad, Mom had another boyfriend. When he left the state, Mom assumed that it was over and she started dating Dad. But Mom's ex-boyfriend didn't know it was over. When he returned to Tennessee, he was shocked when he learned that Mom got married. When he spoke to Mom's best friend about Mom getting married, he asked her "Why didn't you stop her"?! That guy started telling people that he was going to beat up Dad, but no fight occurred.

As a coincidence, my brother and his wife also got married on September the 25th. They got married on our parents 45th anniversary, but they didn't do that deliberately. When they told the preacher that they wanted him to marry them, he said that the earliest he could marry them would be on September the 25th. My brother and his wife are celebrating their 12th anniversary today.

Mom and Dad both died before they reached their 50th anniversary. Mom and Dad are now in a much better place. They're in Heaven.