Dennis D - Texas

“It is proof of high culture to say the greatest matters in the simplest way.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dennis was a man of not too many words.  But when he spoke, it was with purpose and intent.  He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather, an intelligent man and a hard worker. 

Here is the story of how he and his wife, Mary, met and the story of their sweet - and kind of funny - wedding day.

~Claire 

My wife's name is Mary. I was in high school as a junior when she moved to our town as a sophomore in the middle of the school year. About three or four weeks later, we had our first date. We went by ourselves and saw a movie.
 

I guess what drew me to Mary, more than anything, was the love of Jesus that she had and how it was exhibited through her life. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. One of the things that excited me about her was just the attention that she would give to others. She was willing to share the spotlight. 
 

At the time I was very seriously contemplating asking her to marry me, I went and ended up asking her father. He was the "loose cannon" because I wasn't quite sure just what kind of remarks I would get back from him. I talked to both him and her mother, and both of them were overjoyed. They said "Yeah, no problem."
 

My parents were the first ones I told. That came up as a topic of conversation on the way to church one Sunday morning. I ended up raising the question to my folks, "What would you think if I asked Mary to be my wife?" Mom, of course, turned around with tears in her eyes and said, "That would be great!" 
 

After Mary graduated from nurse's training, we got married. I had figured I'd ask her to marry me on New Year's Eve. She knew that I was going to ask her to marry me; the only thing she didn't know was when. So when it got to be about that time, we ended up sitting on the couch, I pulled the ring for my shirt pocket and I asked her if she would be my wife. She said "Yes!" I expected her to say yes, but I didn't expect her to say yes so quickly.
 

We got married September 2, 1966. It was a Saturday night and the sun was going down. That day was bright and shiny. When Mary walked down the aisle, that was probably the biggest thrill in my life - to watch her being escorted by her father down the aisle. 
 

 

I didn't know it at the time, but we weren't going to have her father for very long. And that was sad. As I look back on it, he ended up not only enriching my life and Mary's life but also our children’s lives. He was one of those people that never had a whole lot to say but when he did say it, it meant volumes. He was quite a man. Without him, I don't know where Mary would stand or even where Mary would land as far as being comfortable.
 

We had the wedding ceremony and had the reception. Unfortunately, I think it was my cousin Delmer who took my 57 Ford and he took red lipstick and put it on this white hood. I want to say it was nothing more than a heart with an arrow through it. On a window it's nice, but on metal it's not. I think it was Paul who ended up clueing me in on what was on that hood. And so, after the wedding ceremony, we ended up going up to Mary's uncle and aunt who lived nearby because I didn't want to get the car any hotter than it needed to be. We drove to the spot that they had for a garage and I grabbed some wax and waxed the daylights outta that hood. It finally got rid of the lipstick. 

 

I admired Mary's composure on our wedding day. She was the one that ended up keeping me "under control" instead of going for a stick for Delmer.