August 6, 1967, was a warm Ohio Sunday. I was exhausted, having been up almost all of the night before, first with a rehearsal dinner and then doing all of the flowers for our wedding. It hardly seemed possible that our wedding day had arrived. There I was, combing my hair in my car’s outside rear view mirror out in Harold Fisher’s barnyard. Surely there could have been a more glamorous place to hide the getaway vehicle! Merely two years earlier, I had transferred from Texas A&M to Ohio State because of the strength of their floriculture program. I met Lynn at a chance situation where I took a chair at a Mother’s Day luncheon. My mom was unable to attend clear from College Station, and all I really wanted was a little nice conversation and a meal. But I pulled out a plum! We dated that fall of 1965 as I finished up my degree in floriculture and prepared to head out to Fort Collins, Colorado to begin graduate school. Colorado State University is a wonderful school, and had we not gotten engaged in summer 1966, I might still be out there. But I was really lonely, and so for a second time, I transferred to Ohio State to finish my second degree and to marry my first wife. Lynn grew up on a farm 30 miles south of Columbus (Ashville, Ohio). She was the essence of what I hoped to find in a long term and loving relationship – fun, dedicated, religious, maternal, giving, hard-working, and yes, pretty. We both taught in Ohio for several years after college, and then we moved to the Dallas area in 1970. Our children were born during the 70s, and our grandkids started arriving in the late 1990s. Lynn has been selected as both Volunteer of the Year and Citizen of the Year for our hometown of McKinney. When you ask her what she does for a living, with a nervous little giggle she’ll tell you, “I’m kind of a professional volunteer.” Seven grandkids will tell you that she’s the world’s greatest grandma. My greatest joy when I meet someone new from McKinney is to hear them say, “Oh, you’re Lynn’s husband?” Well, yes I AM Lynn’s husband, for 47 years as of 2 p.m. today. I am the most fortunate man alive. So, all of that said, Happy Anniversary to my love! (How will we celebrate? We’re taking Joseph to karate at 4, and we have a Serenity High board meeting at 6. Those are both great ways to celebrate a very special day. We’ll have dinner out sometime soon.)
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 15:27:06 +0000
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