Valentine’s Day was on a Friday in 1964. Eva and I had known each other since the third grade, but we did not have our first date until September 1963. At that time, I was dating other girls and not looking for a relationship with just one girl. My engagement with Emily had ended due to my failure and I thought by keeping my dating less serious, it would help me put that in the past.
I was working for Gulf Oil at that time and driving to Port Arthur on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, making those long workdays. I had stopped attending night classes at U of H a few months earlier because of my plans to move to California and did not sign up for classes in September. The period between September and November is a blur because I had a highly active social life, sometimes too active.
Several years ago, Eva and I were talking about the early days of our dating, and she reminded me that our actual first date was at a church event. I had forgotten because when I asked her out for our first date it was to go out to eat and a movie. She said she could not go that day, so we planned to go out on a different day. Then she told me she was helping with a party for the high school kids at church the night I had asked about. She then talked me into going with her to the event at church. I was a member of the church, but I had not been very active since my high school days. I was surprised that it was more fun than I expected. I got to see her interact with the kids and the adults at the church.
During our first dates, we talked a lot about different people we went to school with and different events through the years. Over a brief period, our relationship began to feel like we had been friends forever, even though we had not been close friends in all the years before. By late December, I had stopped dating other girls. Eva and I were dating more often and doing things multiple times a week.
We celebrated New Year’s together, and I remember not long after midnight, Eva said “It is 1964 and it is leap-year. I can ask you to marry me!” Thinking she was joking, I said, “Sure.” For the next couple of weeks, Eva would remind me that I had said “Yes”. I would laugh it off, but I began thinking about how it would be with her as my wife. I bought an engagement ring and made plans for Valentine’s Day. Then Eva told me she had bought tickets to the Valentine’s Day Party at church and asked if I would be her date. How could I say no, I have other plans for that day?
I took Eva to the party and as I sat and watched her with the other people there, I saw how beautiful she was, both on the outside and inside. I enjoyed the party and even when they poked fun at us as a couple. I knew that what I would be doing later that evening was right for us. I told her we would be going for a ride after the party.
I drove out to Lake Houston to the park where we could see the lake. I had a heart-shaped box of chocolates in the back seat, and I had put the engagement ring in the middle space of the candy. I had a Valentine’s card that I had written inside, “Will you marry me?” I gave her the box of candy with the card on top and told her she had to open the card first.
When she opened the card and read it, she screamed, “Yes” and kissed me. She did not seem interested in the candy and kept talking about us. I told her I wanted at least one piece of candy. When she opened the box and saw the ring, she knew it was real.
I think we both had assumed it would be several months before we could make all the arrangements for a wedding. We needed to save up some money to afford everything and a place to live. We had not picked a date when we would get married when I got the letter requiring me to show up for a physical for the draft. Eva was afraid that I would be drafted and would soon be sent to Vietnam. She wanted us to get married before I could be sent away.
I had my physical on Friday, and we got married the next day on March 21, 1964. Just 35 days after getting engaged on Valentine’s Day. We shared 21, 217 days (58 years, 1 month, 2 days) together in marriage. This is my first Valentine’s Day without her with me since 1964. I am not sure that those events have any meaning in Heaven, but I know every day for Eva is a good day now. I still have the memory of that day many years back, but I know she wants me to be happy until we see each other again one day.
