Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Courtship of Jim & Elaine 2.2 - The Engagement


I calculate that overall we had 81 Saturday night dates. Somewhere about the 60th I think it was I started to get antsy. I had casually mentioned marriage, had tried out the name Elaine Woodruff to myself and thought it had a good ring to it, and on an impulse had bought a diamond ring in Joliet where I was living in a hotel. I had showed the ring to brother John to show that my intentions toward Elaine were honorable. Now how to get Elaine on board with the idea?

One Saturday night in the Fall of 1950 while saying good night I told her that I wanted to be more than her Saturday night date and since we didn't seem to be making any progress I wasn't coming back. Well that got her attention and it wasn't long before she was wearing my ring (and getting it appraised) and putting announcements in the St. Joe Herald-Press, the Benton Harbor News-Palladium and the Watervliet Record. I have already told you about our wedding.


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