Bob D - Texas

Bob and Myrt's lifelong love started quite literally from love notes.  Letters written across the country began a marriage and family that took them on unimagined adventures all over the world.  Here's how it all began.

~Claire

I got up to Camp Shiloh and I was sitting and here comes Myrt in with her nice, little old black Ford coupe. She gets out and she was beautiful. I said, "Mankind!! Myrthalene!!” So, that's kind of the way that started.

 

Myrt and I didn't know each other very well, but we had known of each other for three years at Abilene Christian. When we were there at Camp Shiloh, I watched her around camp with the young people. She was in charge of the older girls and she was really a big sister. She had a great love for them and they loved her so much. So I could tell she was just a great person. Of course, she was Miss ACU and she was a Favorite and a Homecoming Queen nominee. I was impressed.

I was the chief counselor for the boys there at Camp Shiloh. Myrt’s chief counselor was a lady named Dorothy from El Paso. We met together to work out the schedule because she was in charge of the women and I was in charge of the men counselors.

I said, "Dorothy, what day is Myrt going to be off?" She said, "Well, I've got her off Thursday." I said, "That's the day I'm taking off."

So then I went to Myrt and I said, "Myrt, what day are you going to be off this week?" She said, "Thursday." I said, "That's the day I'm off! Let's do something together!"

Our first day off we got into her little black Ford about 5:00 AM. We ate pancakes right before we got into New York City. I had never been into New York City. It was my first time. I drove that little old black Ford through the Lincoln Tunnel, we parked it, and we ate breakfast. Then we walked around and we went to see Yankees play the Boston Red Sox. Ted Williams was the star, and Mickey Mantle. Then we got through and ate a nice little lunch. And then we went to a Broadway play, The King and I, the story of the king of Thailand. I got in there and it was so relaxing, and the music was so good.

So, for eight straight days off we kind of did something together. I don't know if she got tired of me or not. But anyway I said, "Myrt, we need to do something together again."

At the end of the camp, I had to do two weddings in Texas. So, I asked Myrt, "Myrt, could I ride with you all the way to Muskogee?" She said, "Sure! I'd love to!" So we rode all the way to Muskogee.

In Muskogee, her mother cooked a fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and biscuit dinner that I'll never forget. Towards the end of the meal, I said, "Myrt, would you take me to Highway 69 south of Muskogee?" She said, "What for?" I said, "I'm going to hitchhike to Port Arthur." So, she and her little brother, Jimmy, took me to Highway 69. I shook her hand and said, "Well, have a great year at Abilene Christian." And I shook her hand; I didn't even kiss her or anything. I said, "It's been a great summer." I hitchhiked all the way to Dallas and spent the night with my aunt and then went on to Port Arthur.

Later, I caught a ride back up to Dallas and went up to New York City to go to Camp Shiloh again. Well, when I got up there I was single and the prospects for a Christian girl up there were pitiful. And so on the way up from Dallas I called Myrt and, I mean, it was so good for me to talk to her. I said to her, "If I write you, will you write me?" She says, "Yeah, I'll do it." So when I got to New York, I wrote her and she wrote me.

Finally, one day I said to myself, "I really would like to marry her. But how can I do it? I'm making $200 a month and I can't get to Abilene." I went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, a famous Catholic church in New York City, and I got down to the front of the left side with a bunch of those women that were using the beads and I got down on my knees and I prayed the longest prayer I've ever prayed in my life. I said, "Lord, I want to marry her but how in the world can I?"

Finally, I decided I'd write her a letter, a proposal. I went back up and I wrote that letter. I said, "Dear Myrt, I know this is unusual, but I want you to be my wife. Would you marry me?"

I signed that thing, I licked it. I was upstairs on the fifth floor, I took it downstairs, I put the letter in the postal box and I flicked it down and I thought, "What have I done? She's going to think it's an April Fool’s joke or something. No one proposes by mail."

The next week I was just miserable. I couldn't get my mind on because I was just thinking I could just see her going down the hall at McKinsey thinking, "This guy! He thinks he can marry me! Ask me to marry him by mail!" It got bigger and bigger in my mind.

One day, old Bob (he preached one Sunday and I preached the next), he said, "Bob! You got a long-distance call from Abilene, Texas!" My heart started racing and I thought," This is it. My whole future."

I go downstairs, two flights of stairs, and I had to hold the phone while I got my breath. I said, "Hello?" She said, "Hello." I said, "Is that you, Myrt?" She said, "Yeah." It was quiet. I said, "Did you get my letter??" She said, "Yeah." It was still quiet. I said, "What do you think??" She said, "I think it's a good idea! I want to marry you!"

That was one of the best moments of my life! Because here I was, she was just exactly what I wanted.

 

To be truthful, our love for each other when we got married, it couldn't be real strong because we didn't know each other well. But, our commitment was strong. And every year, every year our love for each other has grown until right now, 60 years. Our love is stronger than ever. You can't give up on love. I love her now more than I've ever loved her. That's just the way it is.