Happy Anniverary


Happy 55th Anniversary

to

My parents


How they met

MOM:

Back in January of 1953 I was a member of a group of gals who went to the bases around the area and danced with the guys in the service. We would meet at the YMCA in downtown San Antonio and get on a bus. We were then driven to Lackland AFB NCO Club. We all had to sit at the same table and we could only drink soft drinks. The guys would come over and ask us to dance. A wonderful setup for gals who just loved to dance.


One night, this scrawny countrified looking guy came over and asked me to dance. We were not allowed to refuse to dance with anybody, so we danced and during the dance we talked and he was fascinated by my nickname “shy” because he was from Chicago and that was the nickname for the city, “SHYTOWN.” He asked me for my phone number and I gave it to him. We danced by a guy who was sitting at one of the tables and he gave my number to him to write down. I just thought he was a strange kid.


We got together later and our first date was to a concert in Breckenridge Park where we sat on a small hill above the orchestra because it didn’t cost anything and we could still enjoy the music. Your dad did not make a lot of money so we had many free dates. At the time I was working at the City Hall tax Dept and living with my sister Peggy and her husband, Floyd. We got along great so we went together until October. 54 Years ago we tied the knot at a justice of the peace because I was not catholic and dad was. One year later after taking instructions to become a Catholic we were married in the church and the rest is history.

DAD:

In December 1952 I was assigned to Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. I was 21 and a Sergeant in the Air Force. After two years in the Air Force this was my 6th duty assignment having gone from San Antonio, TX to Oakland, CA to Anchorage, AK to the Aleutian Islands, to Mobile, AL and then back to San Antonio, TX. My quarters were in a barracks next to two buildings which housed all the women stationed at Kelly. The side of the barracks that was parallel to the women's barracks had five to six men to a room. On the other side of the two story building the rooms were vacant. I chose a vacant room and did not spend my evenings looking out the window waiting for a WAF to leave the shades up while she changed cloths. After work during the week I would eat a early dinner at the mess hall and then sleep for two to three hours, get up, shower and then go out on the town. The sergeant who had the next room all to himself became a good friend and was the best man at my future wedding.

Some time in January he mentioned that the Non Commissioned Officers Club at Lackland AFB had a dance and that the USO brought women in to entertain the troops. He asked me if I could dance and I told him I had dancing lessons in grammar school. He couldn't dance but he said we could go as a team and that I could scope out the women, get their phone numbers, and then we could follow up on those we wanted to go out with. I would get the info and pass it to him, he would write the info down, and I could just keep on dancing. Sounded good. And that's how I met Shiela. She was a much better dancer than I was and had great rhythm. Shiela made the list and after the first date I was hooked. Most women don't like to go "dutch treat" but Shiela didn't seem to mind that I didn't have any money. Over the following months we went dancing at some of the local clubs in San Antonio. We got married in October and went dancing that night at the "Kit Kat Club". Fifty four years later, Shiela is my best friend and I tell people I am still on my honeymoon and madly in love with this women that I was lucky enough to have dance into my life.


Thank you mom and dad for being an inspiration to us.


Love you bunches

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing! What a sweet love story!

    Amy (in NY)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for sharing this story! It is so inspiring!

    Katy (Rich with kids)

    ReplyDelete

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