Barbara J. Hamby

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Home Again Day After

My unpacking is unfinished, but I did do three loads of laundry today and one load of dishes. I did very little else besides taking the film in to be processed and it will be ready tomorrow.

I think my elderly relatives are as cute as any grandchildren might be. Their antics are humorous at times, and sometimes sad. On this latest trip, I heard the story of how my uncle, whom we shall call John Doe, and his wife of ten years happened to marry. He insisted that she tell the tale.

It seems they met about 22 years ago when he was becoming legally disengaged from a very short marriage. They moved in together while his divorce was still in process and decided that, if they got along, they’d get married in a couple of years. The years went by and he didn’t bring up the subject of marriage. She began to think he never would. She became upset when questions about her last name arose. After all, their generation was a little uptight about this sort of arrangement. About ten years ago, he was convalescing at home after being hospitalized, when a visiting nurse came to the door. She asked my aunt who she was. She had decided, with the help of her daughter, that she would identify herself as Mrs. Doe after an embarrassing incident at a neighborhood function. So she told the nurse she was Mrs. Doe. 

While the nurse was interviewing my uncle, she asked him who the lady was. He said, “Oh, we just live together.” My aunt was furious. She indicated she might have strangled him if there weren’t a witness. She fussed and fumed after the nurse was gone and then called her daughter. Her daughter said, “I’m going to fix this.” On her next visit the daughter told my uncle she had made arrangements for their wedding. To her and her mother’s surprise, he replied, “That’s fine with me.” The rest is history. By the way, this aunt and uncle are both age 92.

Tomorrow I should be rested enough to begin sharing the sightseeing we did on our jaunt. Having the pictures will help jog my memory.