On March 14, 1959, William Frank Holzendorf married Barbara Garrett in Lewisville, ID. They had only known each other for 5 months and he had only been a member of the Church for 3 weeks. Ill advised? Maybe. But the loved each other for another 43 years until her death on May 1, 2002. There may not be a party to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their wedding but I still felt like I wanted to honor them today.
Soon after their marriage, my parents moved to Connecticut and my dad was promptly shipped off. Mom set about making a home. Dad's trip took longer than originally planned and he heard the other sailors talking about how they were going to have to go back and fetch their young brides who had undoubtedly gone home to mother. That was dad's expectation too. Instead, he arrived to find his 19 year old bride had spent the time finding a job in a department store and moving to a better apartment.
Over the next 20 years dad sailed around the world while mom raised a family in various locations including Virginia, California, Guam, Hawaii, and Washington before they finally "settled down" here in the Tri-Cities. They were always very supportive of each other's endeavour. There were a lot of tough years raising teenagers and young adults and the were relieved when we all finally left the house and let them have some time alone together, something they had never had before.
They were excited to serve a mission together in North Carolina. Dad has been very proud of how close they grew during this time. He has told me several times that the mission president told them that the toughest part of his job was counseling with senior couples who weren't used to spending so much time together. He always loves to tell us that they got a long better than ever and that the love only grew.
I really hope this post didn't upset anyone. That's not my intention. I was just thinking about the great celebration we probably would have had tonight if things had been different and I still think the occasion is cause for celebration.
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That is so sweet and definitely celebration worthy!
ReplyDeleteYes, they were quite a couple. I agree with Brenda, definitely celebration worthy! It was nice of you to remember the day that was so special to them.
ReplyDeleteThat was so cool Keolani! It almost made me cry :) I can't wait to meet your mom. Maybe she'll sit down with me and tell me all the embarrassing things Courtney did as a child..... then maybe I'll tell her all the embarrassing things he did while she was busy in heaven :)
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