60th Wedding Anniversary
From 9-11-14
Today, September 11, 2014, Jan & I are celebrating the 60th anniversary of our wedding date!! (When we married as teenagers, many thought that we had too many obstacles for our union to be a success.) the main thing that we had going for us was that we loved each other--& wanted to be together! This is the story which we told before, but on this special day, we want to tell it again! It all started outside the Avondale theatre when I saw a 14 year old girl who had just moved in from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She immediately made my heart do flip-flops even though I had not met her yet. I soon found out she was everything I wasn't.
She was pretty, intelligent, and she lived in a lovely home in Avondale Estates. I had never won a beauty contest, academics were something to keep me eligible for ball, and I lived across the tracks in the mill town of Scottdale.I was so impressed with this little girl that I asked my momma to buy me some deodorant so I wouldn't smell. On our first date she let me walk her home from our last football game of our sophomore year. God must have wanted me to remember that special night as I got a cut on my hand in the game that left a permanent scar on it. Jan contributed more to my career and life than their is space here to cover it, but I'll try to tell about why a lot of people didn't think our marriage had a chance. Jan tried to attend most all of our games, but this was in the day when most people didn't have cars and walked everywhere they went. She did numerous things to make my athletic efforts special. I remember our senior year the Atlanta Journal had a contest to select the most popular baseball player in the Atlanta area, and their was no doubt in her mind who that was. She organized our students and her neighborhood so that they would collect the daily ballots on which to vote and she would personally send them in for the month long contest. She never has been able to accept defeat and to this day she thinks we got rooked. We finished second to a guy that played shortstop for the Cleveland Indians. Jan even gets credit for my foot speed. Late each night when I would leave Jan's house I would have to walk down the railroad tracks. You would be surprised how a noise in the dark can remind you to work on your running.Our senior year was fun as I received scholarship offers from several schools. Coach Butts wanted me to play football at UGA , but I thought that I wanted a professional baseball career, so I accepted a baseball-basketball offer to become a Bulldog. Jan graduated as an honor student, and her family wanted her to take advantage of her intellectual skills by getting a college degree. Jan firmly stated that the only degree that she wanted was a MRS degree.That fall she got a job in Decatur as I headed out to Athens to compete with and against some other highly motivated guys. This was to prove to be tough as the last 3 years I had seen my heartthrob on a daily basis. My first English class taught me if I was to ever get a diploma from UGA I would have to have Jan's help. The athletic department had a rule if an athlete got married, tthey would have to wait a year to live with their spouse in Athens and receive full financial support.That summer I wanted to show Jan's parents how dependable I could be, so I went out and got a job to impress them. I was a stock boy in the mill store and they were going to pay me 25 cents an hour which I hoped to save to buy rings for Jan. Prior to going back to school we met with her parents and I told them I wanted to marry their underaged daughter. I emphasized that we had been courting for 3 years and I loved her. After they gave their approval I explained the UGA rules to them. They looked a little shocked when I told them Jan would live with them for the next year, but whenever I could thumb a ride to Avondale, I would come to see her. Jan's dad got up and said, "their mind is made up, so I'm going to bed." I though I heard him laughing as he went up the stairs. I had saved a lot of money from my store job so we caught a bus to go downtown in search of wedding rings. When I explained our plans to the clerk at Kay Jewelers she said,"I've got just the rings," as she reached thru some spiderwebs to the bottom row and pulled out a box. She said this beautiful pair will only cost you $99. I knew I had the right gal when Jan said,"oh, we could never afford that." The lady said,"honey we'll get you these rings even if he has to hock the car. I said,"yeah it's her car." I don't know why so many people didn't think our marriage would last very long. In the spring of my junior year three other married couples would join us each evening on the putting green at Stegman hall. All the wives, including Jan were very pregnant, but I always thought it strange that no other students ever joined in the fun. Just prior to our senior year our precious daughter Brenda was born. Our son Brad joined us two years later. Four years later I told Jan we needed one more child to make our family complete. Later when we were getting ready to go to the hospital to get our new baby, Brenda said,"I want a little sister, don't bring me a mean ole brother." So Her mother brought back two little boys-Bob and Bill. Today, on our 60th wedding anniversary, we realize how much God has blessed us and thank Him on a daily basis!
Jan's letter to Ronald written several years ago
Ronald's letter to Jan 14 years ago
Article from 50th year of marriage
