I've looked carefully back through all the posted memories here and am unable to find any mention of the account of how Marilyn and I met. So here it is. In print for the first time ever.
July 4th 1970 my maternal grandfather was buried. I was one of the pallbearers. Following the interment, we had just arrived home when a phone call came through requesting that I get ready to depart for the summer family camp in Alix Alberta. President George Leasor had committed the College Quartet of 69-70 to travel to Alix and then Arlington to represent the College.
Lane Eddy was our pianist as well as songbird, and had this fire engine red 69 Pontiac Grande Parisienne 2 dr hardtop. He was the chauffeur and transportation too for the trip. He drove to Killarney and picked me up; next stop, the Moose's Jaw. There we added Danny and Darla Cornish and Herb DeWitt. Then it was the long haul to Alix. We traded driving duties, and what I remember about my turn at the wheel was how they got me singing and then laughed at how much I exceeded the limit when my focus was on singing instead of the speed limit.
Some of the other details are a little foggy until we arrived at the Alix campgrounds just in time to get ready to sing. Lane found out who the camp pianist was and figured if he could trick her into accompanying us, he could just stand with the quartet and look pretty. Well, the pianist walked over toward us and she and Lane made the arrangements. Seems like everyone else in the group knew exactly who she was except me. I had never heard of her. Thought she was kinda cute tho'. Little and cute, well dressed, good appearance, etc, etc. The thought ran through my mind; "I Want One". Yellow coat, green dress(made it herself, including the white piping on it) black heels, all in all a pretty attractive picture. What I didn't find out til later was, she had pretty much the same response to meeting me.
Well, she took the song books from Lane and listened attentively to all he had to say, then took them back to the piano, laid them down, closed, and never looked at them again. She played them all from memory and kinda wowed everyone, particularly the guy that didn't know her.
Following the service, someone proposed we go to a local fast food outlet and gorge ourselves on fries and coke and what have you. Now, Lane had a plan in mind which wasn't immediately apparent to this quiet naive unsuspecting country boy. He had no designs on Marilyn himself, Danny and Darla were kinda busy, that left the wolf, oops, Herb, and Lane warnt lettin' him get near her. That left moi and after the conductor got his seating arrangements to his satisfaction, I found myself sharing a right front bucket seat with this aforementioned young piano lady. Now ifn you've ever been in the bucket seat of a 69 Pontiac, you know there is no extra room. So there we were, she kinda had to be on my lap,(before seatbelt laws) and I was very careful where my hands were on the whole trip.
Long and short of it was, the evening was considered successful and a good time was had by all, as the editors used to say. Next morning when she was in a near front row pew in the tabernacle, the lewd fellow of the basser sort(thankyou Herb) found his was to her and squeezed in beside her. She smiled and made room and came back from the piano every time to sit close. Now I wouldn't ever have called her "fast", but she warn't slow nuther.
Then in that long noon dinner lineup, I found her again and we had our first of a few thousand meals together. We were both willing and fortune smiled graciously on the union. Wellll, as things would have it, we did seem to enjoy each other's company quite a bit. We eventually said our good byes and the quartet was off to Arlington for another round.
I think she beat us over there. Earl Sandeen was the conference delegate to Arlington and since he was driving there, Marilyn asked pretty please if she might have a ride on account a becuz she wanted to go to camp. Wal, he said sure, and there they were.
Ennyhow, I recall being somewhat pleasantly surprised on finding her there, and was just about to ask if she was twins cuz I had just met someone in Alix who looked for all the world like her, and then I realized she was stalking me. Welll, she wore this sky blue sheath dress with a white lace overlay, kinda started at her neck and stopped somewhere about the knee, (they were cute knees too) and all of a sudden I discovered her sitting on my knee, cuz I guess there was a shortage of chairs, benches, etc. Neither one of us fought the feeling, and the remainder of our stay at Arlington Beach was sort of stuffed with pleasant sensations and memories.
Saying goodbye was a little harder this time, she was kinda gettin' under my skin a bit, figuratively speaking an' all.
Fast forward to first day of College '70. My brother drove me up to Moose Jaw and as we landed, the whole crew were assembled to head out to a weiner roast type picnic, and again a lot of people knew what I still didn't. I was no longer on the available list, I had been spoken for, I was somebody's property, and there she was to greet me, little blond twerp in white jeans and brown leather fringed jacket, kind of a tentative smile and apparently happy to see me and take responsibility for my actions for better, for worse, in sickness and in health. Some of you were there, some of you have heard the account, now you have a handy printed reference.
I'd have cheerfully traded everything I have in life to have spent more time with her. It was literally, "love at first sight".
