Wednesday, January 7, 2015

How my grandparents met

My grandparents are the ones who raised me. They were Raymond and Allene Bigelow. This is an interesting story of how they met at the end of WWII.
   Allene was working at PX at what's now McDill Air Force base. She was a short order cook at the time. Raymond was beginning out process from what was to become the Air Force. His unit had served in North Africa and Italy and their mission was completed.
   One day he was in the PX and was getting something to eat. While he standing in line he noticed the girl at the grill. Her pants had fallen down and she'd kicked them out of the way and was continuing to work. Just like most men it drew his interest.
   For a few days he went to the PX and waited until she got off of work. He'd follow her on the bus to see where she went. Finally he got up the gumption to actually talk to her. Soon after the she was living with him in what we would think of as a shanty. The cupboards and furniture were fruit crates.
   One day he took her for a walk. He didn't tell her where they were going but it was to a church. They went inside and he asked the preacher to marry them. Note that he hadn't asked her yet. She decided to go ahead with it and two church deacons witnessed.

   The marriage lasted from 1945 to 1999. I think it was July 4th when he passed away. It was almost 55 years. Love can last a lifetime.