Day 3828: Girl meets Boy, and Aunt Martha.

 

  

"Hope & Pain": photo, junk mail collage, acrylics, digital.

Want music?

Click here: Marvin Gaye, Mercy Me.

then click back on this blog tab or here to listen as you browse, or not?

 

 

 

2GN2S ...

She got the last seat on a flight next to a stranger, now married for 40 years

It was February 1982. Vickie was 22, a recent graduate from the University of Tennessee, en route to London to participate in a work study program. She was traveling with one of her best friends, Sandra.

The friends had standby tickets booked on a World Airways flight to London Heathrow Airport. They'd booked standby purely because it was the cheapest.

They ended up in seats next to each other. They hugged happily, each wiping away stray tears as they breathed a sigh of relief. And then Sandra introduced Vickie to the man who completed their row of three. "This is Graham," she said. "He's from England."

Graham grinned hello. Dressed in a green sweater with curly red hair, he exuded a friendly, relaxed confidence that instantly put Vickie at ease. The panic of the last few hours officially subsided. Graham was also 22, and hailed from Lancashire, in the north of England. He'd graduated the UK's University of Leeds the year before and had just spent several months traveling around the US while he waited to start law school. Graham liked Vickie and Sandra right away -- they were easy, fun company and their excitement was contagious. He regaled them with stories about England, and was keen to hear what life was like growing up in the American South.Vickie liked Graham too. Thanks to him, she enjoyed a great first transatlantic flight. 'Oh, we hate leaving him.' So I said, 'Well, we've got to get pictures,'" recalls Vickie.

Graham and Vickie grew close quickly spending the day touring London.

Fast forward...to read the entire story, here.

On July 4, 1982, Graham proposed. In December 1982, Vickie and Graham reunited in the US for their wedding day. The wedding took place in Bristol, Virginia. Vickie took Graham's name, becoming Vickie Kidner. Then the couple returned to the UK, where they lived for the next two years while Graham finished law school.

   

Vickie and Graham went on to have two children, and brought them up in the US with plenty of UK traditions thrown into the mix.

Here's Vickie and Graham with their two children on a family trip to London in the 1990s.

Vickie and Graham recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, recreating the photo taken on the day they met.Vickie and Graham recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, recreating the photo taken on the day they met.

Vickie and Graham recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, recreating the photo taken on the day they met.

Vickie and Graham recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, their neighbor Amanda Caldwell, who is a photographer, came to take a photograph of Vickie and Graham. She got the couple to recreate the photo they took the day they met, on Vickie's first day in London, arms around each other, smiling. "We met when we were 22 years old. We had both just turned 23 when we got married, and now we're 63.

As I said yesterday, I am eternally grateful to my Mother's two sisters who changed my life, almost everything came from their generosity and love. I mention this because I have an Aunt Martha story for you today, and there was an Aunt Vonda story yesterday, here. No doubt there will be more about both in future blogs.

Aunt Vonda & Aunt Martha

This is Aunt Martha, my Mothers sister, the second oldest of the five girls in a family that also originally had five boys.

Aunt Martha at 18.

Aunt Martha was a master teacher, with her bachelors and masters degree from Butler University. I do remember her working on her masters degree, she would go out and sit in her car to concentrate. This was before we had air conditioning. She worked so hard and suggested that I get my masters as soon as I graduated. And I did over the next two years of teaching. She really was inspiring.

She was kind and generous, as was her sister, my Aunt Vonda, together they changed my life. My gratitude is boundless. She was a wonderful artist, but maybe her most endearing trait was her great sense of humor. She loved to laugh and did so often. I loved and miss that sound.

 

Flashback Thursday ... 

Demura Sensei's Costa Mesa Dojo 

2002 - Jr. Holiday Tournament

 

 

A 2+minute video, Crazy biker, here.

 

Just because ...

 

 

Flameback Woodpecker

 

 

Smiles for Friday ...

 

 

  

 

  

 
 

 

 

                             Thanks for coming by today ...