A True Romance

My dad enjoys reading the "True Romance" stories in a column in the local newspaper, and the week before Christmas, on a whim, he submitted the following story to the column's editor:

I graduated from high school in 1951 in Caddo Mills, Texas.  That fall I registered for college at East Texas College in Commerce, Texas.  During that time, I met a girl in Greenville, Texas and we dated for a while.  At this time, the draft for the military was in place and...I enlisted in the Army of Engineers.

I returned to Caddo Mills after the first eight weeks of boot camp and continued to date the girl from Greenville.  I was transferred to Fort Leonardwood in Missouri.  My parents came to Fort Leonardwood and brought the girl I was dating.  From there I was transferred to Fort Belvoir, Virginia for additional training.  From there I was transferred to Germany.  While in Germany I received a "Dear John" letter from the girl I had been dating.  Evidently, she would not wait for me.

I was discharged from the Army in 1957 and returned to Caddo Mills.  I reentered college that year.  In one of the first classes I attended that first semester - an English class - I noticed two girls sitting in the front row.  Even then I was not too interested in dating, remembering my experience while in the Army.  I did remember that I thought one of the girls was cute.  The next semester, again in an English class, when I entered the class for the first time, I noticed one of those two young ladies - the cute one - sitting by herself.  I went and sat beside her and began to talk to her.  We talked many times after class during that semester.  We sat together in the library studying, went for coffee sometimes, and started to date.

She and her sister were living in a house off campus.  I proposed to her sitting in the porch swing on the front porch of that house one evening after we had returned from a date.  The next day, I drove back home to Caddo Mills and borrowed money from the bank and then drove to Dallas to purchase a ring.  I gave it to her just before we went into the Baptist Student Union for a Bible Study.

The study was at this point going along okay until one of the other girls in the class noticed the ring on my lady's hand.  Things got very out of hand then.  My lady's name is Eva Dean.  She goes by Dean.  She left school and returned to Sherman, Texas to work, while I finished my degree.  I drove to Sherman many weekends during that time.  I graduated on May 24th of 1959 and we were married on May 30th of that year, and have been married for 51 years.  We have two children, a girl and a boy, both married to wonderful mates.

(A sideline to this story - when my son was in junior high school, he came home one day and said there was a teacher in the school that I had dated in Caddo Mills.  When my wife and I went to the open house at the school, I met this teacher and she was the "Dear John" girl from Greenville that I had first dated in college!)

I do not know if my story will fit in your True Romance column, but I believe this lady was sent to me by God.  We have been through some tough times, but she looks as beautiful today as the day I married her.

Here is my parents' wedding picture.

Soon after my dad sent the letter, the columnist called him and spoke to both my parents and asked for a then and now picture.  I'll let you know if it gets printed up in the paper.  So what do you think?  Is this a true romance story or what?!


LoneStar

After Christmas mayhem

DH and I had a very nice Christmas visiting with our relatives up in the Dallas area. 

Once we got back home, we were both plagued with sinus problems.  Apparently, our sinuses did not like Dallas and they spent several days letting us know their displeasure.  Sinus drugs are wonderful, even if they turn you into major couch potatoes.

I've been stitching like a fiend on the beagle dog as I need to get it finished by late January.  He only has one eye right now, but I've started on the other one.  ;-)

During our Christmas in Dallas, my usually non-romantic dad surprised us all, especially my mother!  I'll share that story this weekend.

LoneStar

Merry Christmas

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Luke 2: 11, 14

WIPping along

I got a lot of stitching done on the beagle dog yesterday.  Here he is.  I think I need to stitch his eyes next.

LoneStar

Beagle WIP

I'm really enjoying stitching this beagle dog.  There aren't a lot of confetti stitches, just big blocks of color.  No quarter stitches or backstitching either.  I started it on Monday and here's what it looked like this morning.  (It's the dog's nose if you can't tell.)

LoneStar

A challenge for 2011

I tried to post several times this weekend, but Blogger wouldn't play nice with my photos. 

Many stitchers are planning on participating in a new stitching challenge for 2011.  The challenge is called something along the lines of "The Crazy 15 Challenge for 2011."  Each participant is to choose 15 brand-new projects and start one of the 15 on each of the first 15 days of January, thus giving her 15 WIPs which she is to work on and finish during 2011.

I am NOT participating in this challenge.  Having 15 WIPs would send me over the proverbial edge.  I can barely tolerate having two or three WIPs, much less 15.  And I recently acquired a UFO which is vexing me sorely.

As many of you know, I have a BAP that I am supposed to be stitching for a family member.  It recently became a UFO as it was driving me nuts.  As I am generally a one-at-a-time stitcher, I had planned to work on this BAP until I finished it.  Instead, I only managed to make myself thoroughly and completely sick of it and ended up chucking it into a corner.  I may work on it some in the future, but if I don't, I'm not gonna stress over it.  My hobby is supposed to bring me happiness and joy.  The BAP was causing me to avoid stitching, so clearly, a change was needed.  I highly recommend corner chucking for relieving stitching stress.  ;-)

I finished my oldest nephew's Christmas ornament.  I finally settled on making him a biscornu.  I found a small car motif in a Donna Kooler book and stitched it in four different colors on the front.  I stitched the word "zoom" on the back. 

Next I am stitching a beagle dog for a quilt.  The I35 Stitchers are making a quilt for a friend who is battling cancer.  Our buddy Georgia will be taking our stitched squares and making them into a real, live quilt. 

LoneStar

An ornament finish

I'm having a bad time with ornaments here lately.  I was about three-quarters done with my oldest nephew's Christmas ornament and just couldn't get it finished.  I didn't like anything about it.  I didn't like the fabric, or the stitching due to the fabric, or the design, or the finishing technique I was using.  So I chucked it in the trash and picked a new design to stitch.  

I found a train pattern for my youngest nephew that I liked better than the one I originally chose and it stitched up quickly.  I tried a new finishing technique (and I will not be using it again).  But in spite of that, I think it came out okay.  It will be handled by a two-and-a-half-year-old, and if anything, it is well glued.  ;-)

Next year, I am just going to stitch each boy an ornament of my choosing.  I'll pick Christmas designs that I like and stitch them.  I've learned that stitching something I don't like - even for someone I really like - is a real chore.  It isn't fun.  When your hobby becomes laborious, then it's time to make a change.

LoneStar