Valentine

Lyman County, South Dakota's Genealogy

Valentine’s Day and romance in the air

There is talk of romance in the air these days what with Valentine’s Day just around the corner. The Register is searching for interesting, emotional, romantic, crazy, whatever, stories of love and marriage. During the discussion in the office I got to thinking about Mr. Speck and myself. Romance, to me, is what you make of it, what your needs are and how they are met.

For instance, hugs. Do you ever get a right-side hug and the left side of the head/face is screaming, “Me too, me too!” I just cannot do a one-sided hug.

Everyone who knew us during our courtship knows that it consisted of me running up and down Main Street in Chamberlain to catch “Mr. Tall Man” because a fortune teller at a street carnival in Kennebec told me (when I was 10 years old) that I would marry a tall man. Poor Ed … he was the first one I ran across and he never had a chance!

Being the grown-up 15 and 19-year-old people we were, we always acted our age in that every time we had a spat we went out with other people, only Honey Speck had a nasty habit of going out only with girls named Barbara. It always got the reaction he was aiming for and makes for wonderful stories in our old age. I, on the other hand, didn’t find any humor in his actions then really don’t find the humor in it to this day, but that’s another story.

In any event, I let him catch me (because the fortune teller told me to) and we rode off to the oilfields of New Mexico to make our fortune. Ah, the ignorance of youth. The romance was quite one-sided for the first five years then I decided to go ahead and “like” him a little … don’t put the heart out there too far.

We eloped … ran off to Pierre with Bill and Esther Morgan (Grandma Black) in the backseat. What I remember the most about the day is the chartreuse socks he was wearing. The sun visor being ripped from the car as a semi passed us was an interesting touch.

We did, however, attempt to elope the year before by running off to Mitchell. There we picked up my older and wiser cousin, Helen Schelle (18), and tried to convince the clerk of courts that she was my guardian. She, the clerk, wasn’t buying it for a minute. Oh well, you don’t know if you don’t try!

I asked him a few years ago why he married me. In all seriousness, he said, “Because somebody had to get you off the street.” He was probably telling the truth, that’s the kind of guy he is. I was living in a room above the Gambles Store (Missouri Valley Outlet now) and worked in the Silver Leaf Café across the street. All kids did not have cars in those days. Some of us just walked up and down Main Street envying those who had cars.

Why did I marry him? Because he was over six feet tall! Sad, but true. I think we
both got lucky

Having been together all these 40 years I believe it is because we “came from the old school”, if you will, and stuck together through hell and high water, oilfields, the atomic bomb tests site out in the Nevada desert, offshore drilling in the Pacific out of Seal Beach, Calif. and moving four times one year as we drilled shallow wells across Wyoming. Been lots of places, done lots of things and had good times along with bad times. The time we were on vacation and Ed left Sindi and me at a gas station in Colorado after we made a gas/pit stop. That one reminded me to check my hold card! The lesson learned during that experience was to ALWAYS take my purse if I leave the car.

More than anything, we are still friends and do stick together. I can’t speak for him, but I have been known to “male bash” as well as the best of ‘em, but I never forget to appreciate this guy who starts my vehicle on cold mornings, keeps the snow shoveled, takes the garbage out, keeps the appliances running with his “ How Things Work and What to do if They Don’t” book, and sometimes even manages to get in the way (when he is being the nice guy he is) when holding the door open for me.

This page last revised Sunday July 09, 2006 11:37 PM