For six years after losing Lois I was a widower. On October 17 of 2009 my-sister-in-law, Mary Eriksson & I were married. I was age 91. My family who had always called her Aunt Mary now recognized her also as their stepmother. Bob decided to call her Aunty Mom.
We were first acquainted when I came for her sister on a date. Mary was eleven and embarrassed Lois by calling out, “are you going to marry George?” Little did we realize that both of them would eventually marry me.
While we were obviously acquainted for almost 70 years, neither of us had the slightest expectation of any greater relationship. One Thursday morning, while making an entry in my journal, a strange strong impression came to me. I even wrote it down. I felt that I should call Mary the next Saturday. For days it continued to weigh on my mind as I got up the courage to do so.
When Saturday came I made the call. I asked her if she was sitting down and said that if she wasn’t she had better do so. Then I suggested we consider the pros and cons of getting married. After she got over the shock she said she would think and pray about it. We had not seen each other since my 90th birthday party over a year before. After several days she concluded it was a strange—but good idea.
She was living in Cedar City and invited her son, Jeff, and his wife, Jocelyn to dinner to discuss something with them. At dinner Jeff asked her if she was considering moving back with them. Then she was astonished when Jocelyn shocked her by asking her if she was going to marry George. Such a possibility had never been given consideration. Mary asked her what had made her ask that, and she replied that she had had a feeling for over a year that it was going to happen.
Mary was only able to get rides down to St. George a couple of times, but we spent hours talking on the phone, sometimes up to five hours a day.
Our first two years of married life have been hectic with health problems and serious accidents but we have helped each other through those difficult times. Her cheerfulness and thoughtfulness have been a great blessing to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment