I'm glad I met you, you wonderful you!
My parents met in September of 1950, at Manchester College (now University) in North Manchester, Indiana. The story goes that they met on a Tuesday evening at a mixer in the gym. The big ice-breaker was that a line of boys walked from a door at the corner of the gym, and the girls walked from a door diagonal from the boys' door. (Sorry, I have trouble remembering to call college kids "men and women." Your indulgence is appreciated.) But, I digress.
The students of opposite gender would walk toward the middle of the gym floor, and whomever you met at the center would be the date for the evening. As the story goes, it was a square dance, as that allowed very little inter-gender touching. You know what The Bop, with all its shakin' and swingin', can lead to...
At any rate, Tom Swantner met Vera Winger center court, and you guessed it - love at first sight. They spent as much time together for the next 4 days as classes and other activities (like curfew) would allow. They met on a Tuesday, and by the following Saturday, Daddy had popped the question, and Mamacita accepted! Now, if you are wondering if they were ill-advised to jump into matrimony so quickly and at such a young age (Tom - 21; Vera - 23;), the trial period lasted almost 62 years. Until death parted them in 2012.
During that time, they had three babies, a girl born in 1954 (that would be me), a stillborn son in 1956, and another little girl in 1958. Later came 3 grandsons and 2 great-grandsons.
Oh, and as for the title - one of the first movies they saw as a married couple was "Summer Stock" with Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. Daddy and Mamacita loved the song "You Wonderful You," and incorporated it into their daily lives. When one was seeking the other in a store or in another room, rather than calling out a name - he or she would whistle the first phrase (I'm glad I met you), and the other - provided he or she heard - would respond with the rest of the phrase (you, wonderful you). And that lasted until the car accident that started Daddy's decline.
If you have 3 or so minutes, enjoy the song with Judy and Gene:
You Wonderful You
Postscript: My hubby and I met at the same school, some 22 years later!
The students of opposite gender would walk toward the middle of the gym floor, and whomever you met at the center would be the date for the evening. As the story goes, it was a square dance, as that allowed very little inter-gender touching. You know what The Bop, with all its shakin' and swingin', can lead to...
At any rate, Tom Swantner met Vera Winger center court, and you guessed it - love at first sight. They spent as much time together for the next 4 days as classes and other activities (like curfew) would allow. They met on a Tuesday, and by the following Saturday, Daddy had popped the question, and Mamacita accepted! Now, if you are wondering if they were ill-advised to jump into matrimony so quickly and at such a young age (Tom - 21; Vera - 23;), the trial period lasted almost 62 years. Until death parted them in 2012.
During that time, they had three babies, a girl born in 1954 (that would be me), a stillborn son in 1956, and another little girl in 1958. Later came 3 grandsons and 2 great-grandsons.Oh, and as for the title - one of the first movies they saw as a married couple was "Summer Stock" with Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. Daddy and Mamacita loved the song "You Wonderful You," and incorporated it into their daily lives. When one was seeking the other in a store or in another room, rather than calling out a name - he or she would whistle the first phrase (I'm glad I met you), and the other - provided he or she heard - would respond with the rest of the phrase (you, wonderful you). And that lasted until the car accident that started Daddy's decline.
If you have 3 or so minutes, enjoy the song with Judy and Gene:
You Wonderful You
Postscript: My hubby and I met at the same school, some 22 years later!
A very nice story/rememberance.
ReplyDeleteMy parents met at DePauw University (Greencastle, Indiana) in the fall of 1939. Dad (who was a pledge at the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity) was dragooned into joining the House Mother to play bridge with the House Mother at the Alpha Omicron PI house...where my mother had been dragooned to partner her. Apparently it was also a pretty instantaneous attraction; neither of them dates anyone else from that night forward.
Dad more-or-less intentionally flunked out of DePauw (long story); Mom graduated in 1940. They were married in June 1942, weeks before Dad headed off to basic training (in El Paso). After the War, Dad entered Butler on the GI Bill, completing essentially three years of college in 18 months. The first baby (my older brother) arrived in October 1946, the second (me) in February 1948), the third (who died within days (in June 1950), the fourth (my younger brother) in January 1953; and the last (my sister) in February 1954.
It was a long and happy marriage for Dick & LaVerne; both were, however, heavy smokers and Dad died in early 1991. Mom also succumbed to the after-effects of smoking in May 1997. The rest of us are still going & my younger brother is, in fact, still working for a living (at the NYTimes, as an editor)...
What a great and romantic story - not what Manchester is always known for. Thanks for sharing it!
ReplyDelete