The Courtship of Henry & Mary Ann Melton

You really have to wonder about the timing of random events.  Coming up in a couple of weeks is my 50th wedding anniversary.  Time to reflect and think about all the trials and triumphs of getting from here to there.

So, it was a little bit opportune when I was cleaning my office, digging down deep into the archeologic digs that my office has become, and I discovered a strange little black book.

I opened it up, and there was my handwriting.  I had written the story of our courtship from Easter of 1968 to our wedding on June 4, 1971.  I must have begun the writing November 24, 1969, when I first told her that I loved her, and then filled in earlier events from memories at that time.  Somewhere in the process, I misplaced the logbook and rediscovered it after we’d been married seven years.  So, some events were written when they occurred, and some were mined from memories.  Certainly those memories were a lot fresher than what I have now.

Most of what I’ve read are still vivid memories, but I had forgotten details and the sequence of events.  

My first impulse, when I rediscovered this book, with forty pages of my handwriting that I sometimes have difficulty reading, was that I’d transcribe it all and share it with family and friends.

That is, until I scanned all the pages and read everything.

It’s a great story, of friends getting together, dealing with unfamiliar feelings that had to be worked through, and suffering the considerable trials that money (lack of) and family brought to the mix.

Sadly, I don’t think I can share it with you. I was a little too honest when I wrote it, and I really don’t think Mary Ann would be comfortable if I shared some intimate moments.

Still, it was a three year courtship, some of it separated by 500 miles and many difficulties.

So, I’ll seal the little notebook in a ziploc bag to keep the silverfish from eating any more of it and keep a PDF of the scanned pages on my computer.  Who knows, maybe it’ll resurface in another 25 years.