How Willie Mae met Perry and Bob met Joan"

         I’ve always loved hearing stories about how couples met. It’s one of my favorite parts about the movie “When Harry Met Sally”. My dad’s grandparents met when my grandmother moved to Atlanta with one of her friends from Lakeland. The governor at the time was from Lakeland and was very good friends with my great-grandmother. He offered my grandmother a position as a secretary at the Capital. My grandfather had graduated from Georgia Tech at the time with two licenses. He was a civil engineer and a surveyor. He had an office in the same building as my grandmother. Willie Mae had to type up his transcripts. One day she had enough and marched into his office when she knew he was in there and let him know that either he was going to spend more time on his penmanship or he could type up his own documents because she was tired of deciphering his chicken scratch. My grandfather had never met anyone like her and he never would again. He loved her “spirit” and her looks and intelligence did not hurt either.

          My mom’s parents met at a party on New Years. My grandfather was the escort of his friend’s sister. He was helping out his friend because the girl had been broken up with a few weeks previously and did not want to go without a date to the party. My grandfather Bob was very handsome and therefore she found him more than an adequate substitute. My grandmother thought my future grandfather was a jerk because he was coming on to her when he had a date. My grandfather was persistent and eventually after a few weeks and a lot of explaining took my grandmother out on a date. They dated for about six months and then got married. My grandfather would go outside the car to “check the tires” when he needed to pass gas. Joan thought he must have very bad tires… but after they were married he stopped and she thought he should go to the doctor because she never experienced something that smelled so awful in her life.