Golden Weekend

Prolog: 1955

My brother and his wife celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary this weekend. It was a great family event! Their kids and grandkids came from all over the western half of the US. My part of the family was well-represented, and my sister’s was, too. You should have seen all the little cousins running around! You should have seen all the food! This weekend we had fun all month. This weekend we ate all month, too.

They had an open house reception Saturday afternoon—wow, they have a lot of friends! Some flew here from Big Cities all over the country. They asked my sister and me to make little speeches about their early years. Here’s an excerpt from my remarks.

“I attended Neal and Beverly’s wedding, but I don’t remember it very much. I had a horrible stomach ache that evening—so horrible that all I could do was curl up on the pew next to our mom, hold my stomach, sniffle and whimper. During their reception I was a combination server and bus boy, but every chance I got I sat down in a dark corner and held my stomach. I remember delivering little plates of cake and cups of punch to the guests—and then sitting down again as fast as I could. I also remember wishing that everybody would hurry up and go home.

So while I don’t have very good memories of their wedding, I do remember that era. Dwight Eisenhower was our President and young Richard Nixon was the Vice-President.

When Beverly mailed her wedding invitations the postage was 3 cents a stamp.

Immediately after the wedding, Neal and Beverly drove off for their honeymoon, but first filled their gas tank for just 23 cents a gallon. Not only that, but they probably received a free decorative drinking glass with their purchase. And on top of that, they got a fist full of S&H Green Stamps.

When they got back to Tempe and settled into their apartment, their first dozen eggs cost 61 cents; a full pound of coffee cost 93 cents and a half gallon of milk cost only 43 cents. They bought a two-pack of Ivory soap for just 29 cents. For Neal, a package of Oreo cookies rang up at 39 cents and a quart of ice cream was a quarter. Neal was so excited to be shopping with his new bride that he suggested they splurge on a sirloin steak for only 69 cents a pound. But because they were on such a strict budget, Beverly insisted on the much less expensive pot roast for just 49 cents a pound.

I spent a week with Neal and Beverly the following summer. One evening they took me to smorgasbord in Phoenix where we ate all we could hold for 99 cents a person. We could go back for free seconds, too! I remember thinking how generous it was of them to take me for such a treat.

Since then, I’ve discovered that one of the hallmarks of their marriage is their quiet generosity…”

Neal and Beverly are good folks. In my other blog is a story about their wedding day.

Epilog: 2005 I was rudely awakened at 2:00 Sunday morning with a horrible stomach ache. What is it about my brother’s wedding that gives me a stomach ache every fifty years?