Angela Wright, March 1, 2016
It was July 4th, 1964. I was invited to a friend’s house for a backyard cook-out. When I woke up that morning, it was pouring down rain. I was not very particular about going to the cook-out, so I thought the rain would be an excuse, but about eleven o’clock the rain stopped. My girlfriend called me to see if I was still coming. I said, “I think so.”
I was not in a hurry to get ready to go, yet she called me again. I told her I was on my way. Of course, I was not. I was still home. Since I answered the phone that means I was still home. There were no cell phones back in 1964.
Little did I know, she had told her cousin that she had this girlfriend that she wanted him to meet. All of her family was there, plus this cousin, including his parents, brothers and sisters.
Surprisingly, her cousin and I hit it off right away. That year, July 4th was on Saturday so while the adults were cooking the bar-b-que, six of us young adults got into a car and went to Willow Grove Park. We had a great time on the rides and afterwards, we returned to the house for hamburgers, hot dogs and bar-b-que ribs.
This young man wanted to know what I was doing the next day. Since it was Sunday, I told him I was going to church. He asked, “Do you mind if I come?” I gave him the church address. He wanted to know my address so he could pick me up but I did not give it to him. I did give him my phone number. When I was ready to leave the cook-out, I called a cab. The cousin offered to drive me home but I said, “No,”
When the cab came, I politely said “goodnight” to everyone. When I got into the cab, he got in with me. So much for not giving him my address! When I got home, I said “goodnight” to him. He did not get out of the cab. He just said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” The next day, he came to church. After church, he came to my house and met my aunt, the person I was living with at the time. To make a long story short, we started dating.
We met in July; got engaged in December. We planned a June wedding. He got drafted into the military in April.
We decided to wait until he returned home, which was two years later.
We will be celebrating our 49th anniversary on August 26th, 2016! It was the longest two years, but it was the best day ever.