finding my wife

Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed.  (Genesis 2:22-23)

It was April 6, 1969, Easter morning, when I came to the Sun Valley Church of Christ and found my wife.

We had seen each other three times before and the third time we just didn’t click. But I gave it one more chance.

I had gotten a job with the Telephone Company and moved to Houston, TX, and gotten an apartment. I moved on Friday since at that time the Telephone Company employees (as were most companies) were off on Good Friday. I hung around town on Saturday, and then decided to give her one more chance.

I was extremely early that Sunday, as I usually am and always have been. I sat around for an hour before anyone else showed up. Her family was the first.

She got out of the car and was wearing a delft blue dress (white with a soft blue pattern). I was wearing my usual church clothes: black pants, white shirt, tie and a black and white checked sport coat. Mr Cool.

She was surprised to see me. I am not sure she knew for sure that I really was planning to move there or if that was just a line.

That night, I picked her up to go with me to church. Before church, we went and got ice cream at Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors. She was wearing a pink dress with pearlescent hose. The dress was kind of short and rode up when she got out of the car. She was embarrassed. I looked.

We hit it off great. In fact, I had supper at her house that next Thursday night (I ended up eating there almost every night). And our first date was the next week – on a weeknight! – when we went to Piccadilly Cafeteria for supper. Her friends were astounded, her parents were perplexed. She had always been such a shy girl and now dates on a school night. Fortunately she was an honor student so her grades were no problem.

Our first real date was to the Jr-Sr Prom alternative the Houston area Churches of Christ had each year. It was a formal affair. I wore a white dinner jacket (like the one James Bond wore), she had a yellow formal with long white gloves.

One of my favorite pictures is me trying to pin her corsage to her dress. I had never done that and hadn’t a clue how. We finally made it.

It was an all night affair, a formal dinner at a fancy hotel ballroom to begin with followed by bowling and then with a movie – Funny Girl.

The night ended with breakfast at a church about 6 in the morning. I went to sleep driving on the way home and we almost crashed. We stopped at a Dot Coffee Shop for a break.

As many things do in life, it seems so short ago. But it was forty-three years ago this April.

Life goes so fast. We dated, I got drafted into the army, I came home and we got married and lived for six months in Germany, we came home. I worked a few jobs then went to seminary and started preaching. The children were born, grew up and got married themselves. My hair has turned gray, hers is going.

And I still look when her dress comes up.

The Lord God made her for me and when I saw her, I said “At last.”