A Christmas Love Story

Early on a Saturday morning, a long time ago, four young sailors took off from their base in south Texas and headed for a weekend of fun and excitement in Houston. Instead of winding up in the hubbub of the big city, their car broke down in the sleepy town of Victoria, Texas. Three of the sailors chose to hang out at the Ford garage and hopefully hurry things along. The fourth decided to try and kick up a little fun in the stores and shops along Main Street by teasing waitresses, flirting with clerks and generally having a splendid time (at their expense). In the dime store, however, a particular little blonde salesgirl really caught his attention, and the young man forgot all about Houston. As a matter of fact, when he asked if she would consent to a date the next time he was in town, she said yes. Sure enough, events conspired fairly quickly to bring the young sailor back to Victoria, and when that evening fell to a close, he asked to take her out again. This time he even agreed to come to supper at her house first. And again, she said yes. A little later on he asked her for a third date, this time agreeing to join her family for church services the next day. Her answer once again was yes.

Soon after, before being shipped overseas, the young sailor solemnly asked her if she would wait for him to come back. And you guessed right - she again said yes. The months flew by as their letters flew back and forth across the Pacific Ocean. When our hero returned, he could visit his true love only briefly before leaving for Oregon where he had enrolled in college. But by Thanksgiving of that year their correspondence had grown more intense and he finally “popped the question” – to which her answer was yes.

The young man made the long trek south from Oregon to his fiancée’s hometown of Victoria. They were married on the day after Christmas in a little church on Main Street during the happiest season of the year. The church was just down the street from the dime store where they first met. Their honeymoon – romantic as it was – was the trip back to the northwest.

The happy couple eventually moved east and settled in Catonsville not far from where our young husband had grown up. It wasn’t long before they had a “full house”; three of a kind and one pair (children that is). Before they knew it, twenty-five years had gone by and they returned to south Texas for a Christmas visit. While there, the husband convinced his wife to stop by the little church where they were married for a moment of romantic nostalgia. She was unaware that through her mother, special arrangements had been made. As they opened the church’s doors, they were greeted with the opening strains of “The Wedding March” and by almost all of the same guests who had been present twenty-five years earlier. The couple renewed their marriage vows before the minister, their family and friends, and celebrated in grand style afterwards.

Now, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren later, the husband has asked her again if she would consent to renewing their vows and reaffirming their love and commitment to each other. Of course, she answered “yes” – after all, it has been fifty years.

By: John Didier