Tuesday, July 3, 2012

June...moon...spoon...honeymoon?

June is the traditional time for many weddings, and we recall 2 weddings that took place years ago ... without Mary K. and me, but making our existence possible.  I'm referring, of course, to June 4, 1922 (when Bill Grimes Sr. and Jewell Pyle were joined in matrimony) and June 4, 1926 (when Whitfield Jackson and Gladys Carmack tied the knot)!  We think Mom and Dad Grimes were married in the Wallace, IN, area and honeymooned in an unknown (to us) location, while Mom and Dad Jackson were "hitched" near Newport, IN, and had a short honeymoon at the old Lahr Hotel in Lafayette, IN (we are sure of that because we "copied" their getaway when we were married in 1949).  The Grimes's
set up housekeeping in due time in Danville, IL, where Dad worked for the Webster Grocer Company.  (I was born on
Kimball St. in Danville in 1925.)  Then, Mom and Dad Jackson returned to his and her family farms near Newport and they lived with and cared for Gladys' mother, Grandma Carmack, who suffered with crippling arthritis. (Mom/Mary K. was born there in 1928.)  Dad Jackson worked both farms (a few miles apart) until World War II and we sure admire his faithful, hard work through those  Depression years.  As the war came on they were forced to give up the farms, to make way for the goverenment ordinance plant moving in.  After having built a new home there they then, after much hardship, found a farm near Wallace.  Meantime, my folks moved to Wallace in 1935 and that ultimately brought Mom/Mary K. and me together after WWII.  So, although these 2 couples were married on the same date in different places, it was a different year.  Only once did we afterwards get them together for a joint anniversary celebration, at the Grimes home in Wallace!  We know that their lives together were not problem free, but they stuck together in love for many years and provided a great example for us, our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren!  As Song of Solomon 8:7 expresses it, "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it...!"