ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 14, 1996 TAG: 9602140027
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA TUCKER-MAXWELL
DO YOU believe in love at first sight? How about love at first hearing, followed by love at first sight? No? Then let me tell you a true story.
It was Nov. 13, 1960. I was sitting in the operator's lounge of the C&P Telephone Co., listening to the radio, glumly wondering when, oh when, would I finally find the man of my dreams. ``This is WJLS, Beckley, West Virginia,'' intoned the announcer's mellifluous voice. I listened to this station all the time and had never heard that voice before, so I called and got some information on him: recently moved back to his home state from Arizona after a divorce - no attachments. That was all I needed to know - aside from his name, of course.
We had our first date on Nov. 18. The weather was nippy and he had the top down on his Ford Crown Victoria. I went back for a sweater and spoke to my mother, who was standing in the doorway, staring, a blank look on her face. The look changed to incredulity when I said, flinging the sweater about my shoulders like a movie queen, ``He's the man I'm going to marry.'' When I looked back at her, she was clutching the door frame, her mouth opening and shutting, but there was no sound issuing forth.
On the 19th, he asked me to marry him. You know the answer. On the 20th, he asked my father for my hand in marriage. To which Daddy replied: ``She can't cook. She hates to clean house. She'd rather read than wash clothes. Are you sure?'' Bob answered in the affirmative. The bedroom door flew open and my sister said, ``Thank goodness! I finally get my own room!''
On the 21st and 22nd, we bought rings, got our blood tests done and I met his relatives. On the 23rd, we celebrated our first Thanksgiving together. On the 24th, I went in search of a dress and hat (it was white feathers with tiny blue birds and a veil). On the 25th and 26th, we counseled with the parson and put an announcement in the newspaper. On the 27th, 28th and 29th, we picked up any loose ends, such as ordering flowers, making a lot of phone calls and making reservations in Charleston for a honeymoon weekend. (We never got out of Beckley - too much snow.)
On Nov. 30, 1960, we were married. Now, every Valentine's Day he brings me one perfect red rose. Romantic that he is, he always prefaces the presentation of that rose with these words: ``One perfect rose for one perfect love.''
Who could ask for more?
Sandra Tucker-Maxwell of Roanoke is a substitute teacher and tutor.
LENGTH: Short : 50 linesby CNB