‘In her soul- a woman never forgets a man who has occupied her heart so many years’                                                                                                                Author Unknown

I met him when I was a freshman at the University of Alabama. His date was beautiful, mine wasn’t exactly Prince Charming. I looked across the room and saw him, there was a knowing. I went back to my dorm and told my roommate and two other friends that I believed I had met the man I was going to marry.  It was a turbulent time, my cousin had died in Vietnam the previous summer just three days after his arrival;  yet on that beautiful Tuscaloosa campus there were protests against the Viet Nam war. And I had met a brown eyed handsome man, who was a gentleman, clean cut and the most decent person I had ever met. He still is. I felt calm when I was with him. I still do. Our first date was on Valentine’s Day, 1970. He loaded his old car with my friends and took us anywhere we wanted to go. He still prefers old cars to new ones, gets sentimental amount them. I appreciate this now that I’m an older model myself. He was athletic, had been All County in Football and Baseball, he was in a Tank Unit in the Alabama National Guard and went on to become a paratrooper Special Forces Green Beret. He was unpretentious, and even after a lifetime of achievements- he still is. His favorite TV Show was Andy Griffith, it still is. He liked Country and Classical, I liked Motown and Soul music. His Chet Atkins’ style guitar-playing won me over. I still love the songs he played back then- Silver Wings, Long Black Limousine, Miller’s Cave and Windy and Warm. When he finally got that Country Gentleman Gretsch™ Guitar, like Chet’s it sounded even better!

He made me laugh with his  dry sense of humor, like the time I asked him-

  • ‘Do these shoes look funny?’
  • ‘Well, they’re not hilarious.’

We married ten months after we met. I was a Christmas Bride.2014-12-11 16.50.53

We were told we would never have children, for eight years we didn’t. Then just 21 months apart, we had two delightful baby girls. This Christmas Bride found out we were expecting, not once but twice, just days before Christmas! We would never get over our miracle babies. We’ve enjoyed every minute of being their parents. Given the chance we would do it all over again. Our children are the joy of our lives. They have made us better people. During these many years, we have known-

  • better and worse,
  • richer and poorer,
  • sickness and health–
  • yet we have never forsaken each other.

Those vows I made as a Christmas Bride were easy to keep because of the man I married. He has made my life richer in so many ways and through so many folks we have known. Our life has been full of rich experiences. Everyday he still makes me laugh and every single day he brings music into our home. img_0512

I have embraced his deepest beliefs as my own- Don’t Mistreat People. Do What You Can to Help. Pay your respects. Never forget the folks who helped us. Be there. He’s better at it than I am-but I know this to be true:

We honor our vows when we honor those beliefs.

This man has occupied my heart for  many years; I became his Christmas Bride on the twelfth day of December. Dare I say it? Young Love is sweet but Old Love is best.

Take it away Chet! And Happy Anniversary Darlin’, Camellia

 

36 thoughts on “Christmas Bride…”

    1. Aww my sweet friend, thank you! it is beautiful and like all love stories- messy and crazy and goofy and quirky too! And it makes me sound sooo old- in the past few years I have taken to saying… ‘Well, you know it was an arranged marriage when I was 5’ haha

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  11. My condolences on the loss of your cousin. Happy 46th Anniversary, Brenda!! He IS handsome! what a beautiful couple you made! What a blessings to be a Christmas Bride, then to find out you’re going to be a mother, twice! near Christmas!! God is so good!

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  15. A very beautiful story, told from the heart. I too was a Christmas baby, born 12-12-1958 to parents who conceived me out of wedlock, but my mother kept me. She kept me at a time when she would have been ridiculed, whispered about and probably bullied to the extreme. My mother passed away ten years ago this year. She was my first love and my hero as I grew up. I believe that it was the magic of Christmas too. God bless you for sharing your story and touching the lives of folks that you have never met. Your husband is a heck of a guy!

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    1. Thank you for sharing this beautiful tribute to your precious Momma, she was a treasure for sure. God bless you my friend! I continue to be blessed by my husband’s character, his goodness and to me he is an example men and women would do well to follow! thanks for stopping by Camellia’s Cottage, Ralph!

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