Have you ever read those blips in the paper that give you the info about what happened on this day in history? I always find myself reading them. Occasionally I look at a calendar and have my own what happened on this day in my history moment. Here’s one.
Thirty-six years ago on this day I was getting ready for our wedding. Our engagement was short and most of it Herman was 3,000 miles away.
Not only was he away but there was only one way for me to get in touch with him. I had to write a letter. I had to send my news, views, and requests via United States Mail to a general delivery address. General delivery was exactly what it sounds like. The letter went to the Post Office where it went into a box that held all the general delivery letters. It would sit in the box until Herman went to the Post Office and asked if he had any mail. And 36 years ago mail was not exactly fast. Come to think of it, it was about as fast as it is today.
You might be thinking that I could have at least called him. That presented a problem too. It is true he did have a phone but he had no phone number. No kidding! His phone was the type that the phone company lineman used in their work. I don’t know where Herman acquired his phone but to use it he had to be quite resourceful and not be afraid of heights. To make a call he would climb up the holly hedge about 20 feet and pinch on the phone wires. He had to make collect calls or he would have gotten in trouble for stealing phone service. So I had to wait for him to call me since I couldn’t call him. And he didn’t really feel like climbing 20 feet up a tree every day to talk to me. I guess true love has its limits!
Now the fact that it was not easy to communicate while I was planning our wedding had its problems. The biggest one was the fact that the date and time were not completely settled when he left for Oregon. I could have conveyed all the necessary info when he called me but I wanted to be sure he had it. After all I didn’t want to be standing at the altar while he was landing in Pittsburgh.
I figured out a way to make sure he would know when his wedding was. I sent him an invitation. I mailed my groom an invitation to his own wedding. I saved him the trouble of carrying a pen and paper 20 feet up the holly tree to write the information down. All I had to worry about was that he would drive the 12 miles to pick up his “general delivered” mail.
Obviously, he did because we will soon celebrate 36 years of wedded bliss.