Monday, December 3, 2012

Boy Meets Girl #T


 It was more than sixty years ago. Opal had friends. One of her friends had a friend who lived some fifteen hundred or so miles away. Opal was “eligible,” and the friend’s friend, whom we will call “Ed” because that was his name, was also single. Both were in their early twenties but neither had yet met the love of her, or his, life.

I do not know how the arrangements were made, but the mutual friend “hooked them up” by way of the US Mail. Opal and Ed started a correspondence. The letters were frequent and apparently, though I never read any of the letters, the level of sharing of intimacies increased with time. And time passed and a love-of-my-life feeling developed between the pen pals. A date was chosen and Opal began planning a wedding. Keep in mind that Ed and Opal had not yet seen each other, though I do believe that pictures were part of the mail packets.

My father, whose name was not Sam, was known among the younger set as “The Marrying Parson,” for many of the young people who had been his students asked him to officiate at their weddings when the time came. Opal and Ed asked Dad to perform their wedding ceremony. I had a small part, too, for my friend Wes and I were honored to be chosen to act as ushers.

The week of the wedding came. Tuesday afternoon the plane which brought Ed from California to Colorado arrived. That evening Opal and Ed met for the first time. This allowed them Wednesday, Thursday and a portion of Friday in which to date one another and for Ed to meet Opal’s friends and family. The rehearsal and associated festivities were scheduled for Friday evening, and the wedding was to be on Saturday afternoon.

But every story has a hitch, or a twist, or an unexpected turn of events. Or sometimes the story turns out just as one might have anticipated.

In any event, the festivities, the ceremony, and the departure of the couple for their new home in California all took place just as they had planned. I still hear from Ed and Opal periodically. They have been happily married now for sixty-two years, if my memory and my arithmetic are correct. They have raised good children, have enjoyed their grandchildren, and in general have had the sort of ideal life that all young people who plan weddings hope to have.

May God’s blessings continue to fill your lives, Ed and Opal!

I thought I had a wedding picture, didn't find it.  This is Ed and Opal thirty years after the marriage.  

10 comments:

Shelly said...

Now that is both heartwarming and amazing. They are a testament to perseverance and love.

Jim said...

I thought things like this happened only in fiction. Hooray for Ed and Opal!

Lin said...

Can you imagine if Opal was a real dog? Or Ed had armpit stains and bad breath? Or did that stuff just not matter back in the day? I dunno...I think that's awful risky marrying somebody you've never met in person.

That's quite the story!

Anonymous said...

Oh Lin is such a non-romantic. I love the story (but then I met my husband through a personals ad I placed...)

Jackie said...

This is a lovely beautiful love story. You are such a wonderful writer.

I don't usually stay on a page long enough to read a post this long but you keep me wanting to know more.

You should come over and add this to my Awwwww...Monday. Because if this story doesn't get everyone off to a good start for the week...nothing will.

I am just elated to have gotten back in touch with all of you. And now I know your daughter and she has inherited your gift for writing. I love to visit her too!

Happy day!
Jackie:-)

Secondary Roads said...

I could see a movie starting this way, but they would have to go through a crisis. If it were the kind of movie they made when we were young, they would win out in the end and it would be happy. A modern scenario, would take a different twist. Perhaps Opal would turn out to be a blog-posting murderer.

vanilla said...

Shelly, a case of good people finding each other and making the relationship work.

Jim, fiction would probably have had more twists and turns, but Opal anEd made it work.

Lin, well, this instance is real life and I don't have to imagine those scenarii (scenarios?). (Not to mention, it is risky to marry someone you have met in person, too; is it not?

Grace, glad you enjoyed the story; and you know truth is more fun than fiction!

Jackie, thank you. I enjoy having readers who enjoy the tales.

Thank you for the invitation. I did link!

I have to ask: Is your reference to "Very Verla"? I am proud of her, but she is my sister, not my daughter. :-)

chuck, you identified the old school and the modern, either of which would support a story that begins like this one. Fortunately, this one is a story in which love triumphs.



Vee said...

I remember this well and also that many of Opal's friends were very concerned that she was making a big mistake. So happy for their many happy years together!

Sharkbytes said...

Sometimes people are just honest enough with their writing to assure the recipient that the two were meant to be friends or even more. Nifty story.

vanilla said...

Vee, the lady certainly had all her acquaintances "atwitter," not to mention concerned.

Shark, thanks. In this instance, two people found each other who were "meant to be."