Memory Monday

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” 
― Lao Tzu

    It is December...our wedding date is set for December 29, 1963.  We chose that date because then Dick could be home for Christmas as well as getting married!  I have asked my supervisor for time off to go home. He said he couldn't give me that time as it was right at their busiest season...Christmas!  So I just quit...I knew I could get another job when we got back. I worked up to the day we were leaving, Friday, December 20.
    On that Friday, when I got back to the rooming house where I had been staying, I discovered that Dagmar had somehow stepped on a piece of glass and had slashed one of her pads on a front paw.  My landlord who just adored her, had taken her to the vet and gotten stitches in her foot. So here she was all swaddled up with a huge bandage!  I wish I could remember his name; he was so nice!  He was the first gay person I had gotten to know and he set the standard for future encounters for me. He would not let me pay him back for the vet bill which was a real blessing as I was pretty low on funds!
   So the three of us, Dick, Dagmar, and I, take off for Missouri (Dick's home) and Illinois (my home) on Saturday, December 21. We have plans of driving straight through in my car as it was in better shape than Dick's!  As we travel East, we have several mountain ranges to cross.  It is getting towards late after noon and it has been snowing for awhile.  As we approach the Rockies, we stop to put on chains to start up into the heights.  We get part way up this one steep slope and the car won't go any farther so we stop at a little roadside motel to spend the night waiting for the snow plows to get through.

     Weeks before we left Reno, we had purchased our rings at the Post Exchange on Elmendorf AFB, shopping spot for military for anything  and everything you would ever want at a much cheaper cost!  We bought pretty simple but very elegant gold bands.  So when we stopped at the motel, I was embarrassed to get a room as a single person so I made Dick dig our rings out of our luggage and put them on before we could register! What a ninny I was!  Anyway, we got a small room, very rustic, with a gas heater.  I thought I could smell gas so I didn't sleep well all night!

     The next morning, we headed out, following the snowplow, and made it to our destination.  We stopped in Missouri first as it was the closest point going East. Night time is approaching and of course, this is winter and the days are noticeably shorter.  We stopped in Chillicothe, Mo. so Dick can call his parents to tell them we would be there very soon...only about 30 miles out. When he got back into the car, I asked him what he said, and he replied, "I told mom there was three of us."  I said, "oh, my gosh!  she is going to think we have a baby!"

      Looking back I think he probably did that on purpose because when we got there....they seemed to be very happy to allow Dagmar, my Huge German Shepherd with a bandaged up foot into their home....rather that than an out of wedlock baby!  They weren't the kind of people to have animals in their house, but they very nicely gave up their own bedroom to me and Dagmar.

      The next morning, I came out of the bedroom, having not showered in three days, greasy stringy hair, Dagmar walking in front of me first.   As we came down the hall and into the kitchen there sat Dick's Grandad Dodds who had been there for quite awhile and, as I was later told, had no intention of leaving until he got to meet Dickey Lee's bride!  (Dick's name to everyone in the family and community).

Gilbert Dodds

     And this sweet family welcomed me with open arms!  With all my baggage!!  That day, after we ate breakfast, we drove to Pittsfield, Illinois, to my home so Dick could met my dad! Dick spent the night and then went back home to spend Christmas with his family. He would be returning on Saturday, December 28, the day before our wedding.