Tuesday, September 4, 2012

She Had Nice Legs

She had nice legs.  That was the first thing that caught my eye.  Although, now that I think about it, I guess it was another part of her anatomy that first caught my eye that day as she was downward dog trying to reach something way up under the bottom shelf of the office supply store my first day on the job.

In a scene right out of a movie, she banged her head on the shelf above when I startled her by asking if I could help.  Of course, embarrassed at being caught is such a position, she quickly stood to face this not-so-gallant offer of help and it was then that I noticed her legs, and that she was cute too.

I was reminded of this little vignette while wandering the streets of Kingsland, Georgia and the Annual Labor Day Catfish Festival this weekend and I came upon this building.  It was the place where we got our blood test and marriage license before tying the knot in the Justice of the Peace's parlor around the corner.  Lying just across the border, Kingsland was a favorite marriage destination back then for Floridians who unexpectedly found themselves in a "family way" and who needed to avoid the legal mumbo jumbo and waiting periods attached to anyone under twenty-one getting married in Florida.  Once the decision was made, we really had no choice but to "run away" to Georgia for her father, a straight-laced, hard-ass military man, would most certainly have made it a for real shotgun wedding.  Twelve-gauge, five-round, pump-action, 00-buck!  

I suppose like most people in our situation, we considered the alternatives, including aborting the pregnancy.  Back in those days abortion was a dark, dirty thing uncovered by whispered inquiries to people who might know of such things and performed by witches in back alleys with coat hangers.  An era some would have us return to.

But for us, it was an idea far too ugly to take seriously and played no role in our decision because we were young and in love and the idea of setting up house fresh and exciting.  Besides, had we done it, we would have been robbed of my dearly beloved eldest daughter and I would not have been in Charlotte this past week to celebrate my twin granddaughters' fifth birthday.

15 comments:

  1. Your granddaughters are absolutely adorable. I hope you had a fantabulous visit with them.

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  2. Nice post. I also went the Justice of the Peace route, a little over 29 years ago. And we're still going strong. It wasn't because of a "family way" or anything. My future in-laws were a bunch of assholes (and the feeling was mutual) so we figured it would be quicker and less awkward to go to a Justice of the Peace. It was in Winnemucca, Nevada (Reno is such a cliche).

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  3. We did the justice of the peace and then we had the wedding to make everyone else happy.

    Good to see ya, friend.

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    1. Good to see you again too Susan. We too did a wedding after the actual marriage. It was pretty lame. The old ladies at the church being sure we were married properly although, but at x-months and showing it was more embarrassing than anything else.

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  4. I got married twice and skipped the church-and-white-dress thing twice. First time was in Denmark, to my exhusband, to skip out on all the paperwork required for a member of the U.S. Army and a German citizen to get married. Second time was in Las Vegas, to my husband, because we both dislike pomp and circumstance.

    Very cute granddaughters!

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    1. My second marriage was with a big ceremony and party and it failed also. Somehow I don't think the wedding has a whole lot to do with anything but spending money.

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  5. My wife was married before me so we had a "small wedding" back in 1993. It was then I decided that between weddings and funerals I think both are equally a pain in the ass. We had a total of 20 people at our wedding and all I could think was that if it was a big one I would have probably ran off screaming into the night.

    Totally awesome post! Your granddaughters will surely break some hearts when they get older.

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    1. Thanks BB. It seems it costs about the same to be born, married, or die... $8,000-$10,000.

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  6. I also have twin granddaughters! Mine are 14 though.

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    1. Your kids got started a lot earlier than mine. I guess mine didn't want to follow their parent's example.

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  7. This is just too awesome, thanks for sharing the memories. Beautiful photos!

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    1. Thanks Linc and thanks for coming by. Ya'll come back now, heah.

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  8. Honestly, if I had it all to do over again (married 23 years) I would have a small small wedding (no more than 20 people) and take the money we spent and go on an amazing honeymoon. I'm hoping my 4 daughters will see it that way... but they seem to already be all about "the dress". UGH.

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