A bit of R&R this week.

Magicman

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60 years ago my wife and I began a journey....together.
IMG_3819.JPG

We spent three days in Ocean Springs, MS, but mostly we just goofed off and ate. Flounder, Shrimp, Gumbo, Crabs, and she is seen above with a dozen "Char Grilled" Oysters. Yup, she ate every one of them. It's interesting to note that our meal cost $60.99 + tip. When we got married 60 years ago in 1963, my weekly income was $60.50.

Below is a recollection of our "beginning" on March 29, 1963:



Just as a sorta introduction to my early life, I left home in July '61 at age 17 never to live at home again. There was not a problem except my folks could not afford to support me anymore so I had to learn to fend for myself. I went to work for Southern Bell Telephone Company in October, '62, but when your pay is only $60 per week, you have no money. This redneck was one broke dude, but I had a job. 



We met on the CB radio around the 1st of January, '63 and somehow found out that her birthday was January 13th. No way could I ask her out before her birthday because then I would have to buy her a birthday present. Did I mention that I had no money Anyway, I probably made myself a nuisance around her place. Heck, they had food, so sometimes I got invited for supper. 



We continued to see each other until toward the end of March when her Dad decided that he had seen enough of me. My instructions were to not come back. She called me at work Monday morning and we decided over the phone to get married that Friday, the 29th of March. That week we gathered birth certificates, blood tests, and whatever else that we thought we needed to prove our age and get married. Mississippi's marriage laws were too strict, so we decided to hop over to Alabama.



I picked her up from her work Friday morning and away we went in a 1959 Pink Edsel Convertible. I had been living in a rooming house and had no apartment, so my friend Frank, agreed to find us a place before we got back Saturday afternoon. Since my parents had never met her, we would go there Saturday morning for an introduction. Everything went off as planned. We got back to Jackson, found Frank who took us to our apartment, and the rest is kinda history. Ten months later we were parents. 

The first piece of mail that arrived after we got married came on Wednesday. It was a bounced $10 check from the city of Jackson for the water deposit.

Did I mention that I was broke and had no money??

337146350_241409891657562_7357685907883782981_n.jpg
 
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fried1765

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60 years ago my wife and I began a journey....together.
View attachment 99285
We spent three days in Ocean Springs, MS, but mostly we just goofed off and ate. Flounder, Shrimp, Gumbo, Crabs, and she is seen above with a dozen "Char Grilled" Oysters. Yup, she ate every one of them. It's interesting to note that our meal cost $60.99 + tip. When we got married 60 years ago in 1963, my weekly income was $60.50.

Below is a recollection of our "beginning" on March 29, 1963:



Just as a sorta introduction to my early life, I left home in July '61 at age 17 never to live at home again. There was not a problem except my folks could not afford to support me anymore so I had to learn to fend for myself. I went to work for Southern Bell Telephone Company in October, '62, but when your pay is only $60 per week, you have no money. This redneck was one broke dude, but I had a job. 



We met on the CB radio around the 1st of January, '63 and somehow found out that her birthday was January 13th. No way could I ask her out before her birthday because then I would have to buy her a birthday present. Did I mention that I had no money Anyway, I probably made myself a nuisance around her place. Heck, they had food, so sometimes I got invited for supper. 



We continued to see each other until toward the end of March when her Dad decided that he had seen enough of me. My instructions were to not come back. She called me at work Monday morning and we decided over the phone to get married that Friday, the 29th of March. That week we gathered birth certificates, blood tests, and whatever else that we thought we needed to prove our age and get married. Mississippi's marriage laws were too strict, so we decided to hop over to Alabama.



I picked her up from her work Friday morning and away we went in a 1959 Pink Edsel Convertible. I had been living in a rooming house and had no apartment, so my friend Frank, agreed to find us a place before we got back Saturday afternoon. Since my parents had never met her, we would go there Saturday morning for an introduction. Everything went off as planned. We got back to Jackson, found Frank who took us to our apartment, and the rest is kinda history. Ten months later we were parents. 

The first piece of mail that arrived after we got married came on Wednesday. It was a bounced $10 check from the city of Jackson for the water deposit.

Did I mention that I was broke and had no money??

View attachment 99287
Wonderful bit of history!
Not all of us were so fortunate/lucky.
Thank you for sharing.
 
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RCW

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Congratulations, Magic!

Great story.
 

Magicman

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I made a Google search and found out that only 5% of married couples reach the 50th year anniversary and only 1% reaches the 60th.
 
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fried1765

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I made a Google search and found out that only 5% of married couples reach the 50th year anniversary and only 1% reaches the 60th.
Sadly I only made it to 34th.
Considering what I learned at the end, it is unfortunate for me that it lasted as long as it did.
 
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58Ford

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Thanks for sharing! What a great love story. You guys sound like you had it tough initially but stuck together through it all. Thick and thin - bet it wasn’t always easy either. Congratulations to you both.
 
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ehenry

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Congratulations, MagicMan.....Shes a beautiful lady.

My bride and I will scratch off 42 years June 26th.

I pray she and I are blessed with 60 years.

My folks made 68 years before we lost Mama.
 
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58Ford

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I made a Google search and found out that only 5% of married couples reach the 50th year anniversary and only 1% reaches the 60th.
Just a thought…. Some people have first marriages late in life so there’s zero chance of some couples making it to 50+ years because they’re dead! Sometimes that bums me out a little because it is relevant in my case.
 

bearbait

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Congrats Magicman, great story. Like you I was lucky to find a good one...46 years April 9TH coming. Every once in a while I joke with her telling her I should have married a mean- miserable one so my life wouldn't be going by so quickly.
 
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NCL4701

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Congratulations, MagicMan. Beautiful story. You’re one of the blessed that got it right the first time. I think I did too, but we’re only 33 years in so we’ve got a long way to go to catch up with y’all.
 

DustyRusty

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Congratulations. She must be a saint to have put up with you all those years! LOL. That is what everyone tells my wife about me.
 

ctfjr

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My wife says she deserves a medal for putting up with me for almost 53 years. I say there were at least 2 good years in there :)
I dunno why but she doesn't seem to appreciate my humor.
 
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NorthwoodsLife

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What a great story! Thank you for sharing! My hat's off to you and your wife.

I'm on marriage number 3. It is my last foray into such things although my intention from the very first one was to be married forever.


(A tip to the rest of us. Put up, shut up, Love her like a princess and Love her forever, regardless. Sometimes that is all it takes. Sometimes it's just hopeless if you really get a bad one. My situation was different, but I wish I'd known the beauty of forgiveness. I didn't forgive, and I paid for it. Supporting 2 homes and eventually two families for decades. If I'd kept wife number one I might be miserable, but probably not. It's all in the mind.. But I'd be a multi- millionaire. But most importantly my children would probably all still love me as "Daddy".)
 
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Outnumbered

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Congratulations and well done for hanging in there. My wife and I will hit the 40 year milestone in June. There were a few bumps early on but am sure glad we stuck it out and made it work. As you know it can definitely get better as the years click by. I hope you get another 20 years with your beautiful bride!!
 

DustyRusty

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My wife says she deserves a medal for putting up with me for almost 53 years. I say there were at least 2 good years in there :)
I dunno why but she doesn't seem to appreciate my humor.
It has more to do with female genes than anything else. For the last 40+ years, men have been bashed in advertising and the media. Take some of the advertising where women play the decision-making role, and everything is OK, but reverse that and have the man in the decision-making process, and he is a self-centered egotistical pig. Take any situation and just reverse the roles where the male becomes the female and the female becomes the male, and see the reaction of the woman. It has become an unfair world there where the man is now seen as the villain, especially in a divorce, and the female judges almost always side with the woman, no matter what.