The older I get the more it seems there are more visitations at the funeral home as many of my peers are losing their parents. Tonight I went to see one of my work friends who sadly lost his dad 13 months ago and his mom has just passed away. While visiting with John he told the most interesting story about his parents.
His father was a young single man living in New York and his mother was a beautiful single young woman living at home with her parents in Smyrna, Georgia. John's uncle, who was single at the time, found a job and went to work in NY and just happened to meet John's dad. They worked together. Being so far from home John's uncle was always showing off pictures of his family and John's mom was a gorgeous young single woman who wanted to be a model (of course her mom told her that would never be). Her picture caught the eye of John's dad and he asked for young Betty Jo's address and the two of them began corresponding. Before too long the story goes that he made 2 trips to Smyrna to meet this lovely young lady but on both occasions she was out of town. He was broken hearted. She traveled to New York with hopes of meeting up with him while there but he was out of town so they never met. Then oddly there was some reason that the both of them ended up having to go to Virginia. Even odder is the fact they were walking through the lobby of a hotel, and while they had never met, they had both seen plenty of pictures of each other and immediately recognized one another. It was love at first sight - the two were destined to be together.
Back in 1953, there used to be a television show called "Bride and Groom." It was a 15 minute program that followed "Love of Life" and basically anyone could write in to the show and share the story of how they met their sweet heart and the show would host your wedding. So Betty Jo sent in a letter with their story and they were selected to be married on the show! John's mom got to pick a most beautiful wedding gown and veil from the show's trunk for her special day. The television show staged the entire event and this young couple's wedding was featured on national television
on this day - April 17, 1953!!! The show also gave the young couple many wedding gifts but the best part of the story is that back in 1953, not every family had a television set. The local Western Auto in Smyrna, Georgia hosted a wedding viewing and everyone in town met at the store and gathered around the television to watch their local beauty get married.
What a wonderful romance. God bless Betty Jo Davey.
On Sunday I volunteered for a charity event that was hosted by someone that lives in a home with a name. It may be commonplace in Europe for even small cottages to have a name and in fact, my husband and I stayed with friends in their tiny cottage called White Horse Cottage but it just isn't common to know many homes in my area with a name. Growing up in middle Georgia most of the surrounding farms had names (my favorite was One Horse Farm owned by the Crenshaws) but as far as I know the only names were applied to our subdivisions and streets.
The name of the home where the event was held was Villa di Luci. I should have done a bit of research about the homeowner before the day of the event because it might have helped me better understand and prepare for some of the peculiarities of the volunteer experience. It was quite interesting to assist with set up as the owner directed the placement of most every item being mindful of the rules of feng shui and being careful not to interrupt the flow of chi. It was a big deal just to set up the ticket tables. Even an outdoor tent had to be rearranged during the event because of the shifting of the sunlight!!! It was a fun event and I met some very nice people but it was an"experience" to say the least.
Please notice that one of the pillows by the pool was not perfect (bad chi I think)...oh well...it makes me chuckle to myself. Hope you enjoy the photos!
