Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family
history through old photographs.
This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt is a wedding. This photo of my mother in 1948 looks very
much like a wedding procession. However,
it is far from it.
 |
| Mary Eleanor Davis (Slade) Shenandoah College, Dayton, VA 1948 |
Momma was the Maid of Honor in the May Court at the 14th
annual May Day Festival at Shenandoah College.
A detailed account of this college tradition was the subject of an
earlier post which you can read HERE.
But that day held another memory for my mother beyond the
festivities culminating in the crowning of the Queen of the May. It was a marriage proposal.
Momma’s handsome escort was a student at Shenandoah
College, and quite popular, too. I
imagine most participants in such pageantry chit-chat about the weather, about
the reception food, about how everyone looks in their evening apparel. But this guy had other things on his mind. He proposed.
The proposal went something like this: “Will you marry me? Think about it, but be quick with your
answer. If you say no, I’m going back
home to Connecticut and ask this other girl.”
After those heart-felt words, Momma turned him down. It’s hard to believe, I know.
I propose you visit Sepia Saturday for more weddings and
celebrations.
©
2014, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
Good for your mom, Wendy. He obviously didn't deserve her. (But then, he probably didn't deserve the other girl, either!)
ReplyDeleteYeah, now I wonder who the other girl was and how all that turned out.
DeleteWhat a great story! I'm glad your mother got away from that guy. She looks beautiful in that picture!
ReplyDeleteShe did look beautiful -- always did.
DeleteI wonder, though - was there REALLY another girl, or was he a little desperate in his proposal to your mom thinking he had to force a response - hopefully, a positive one? If so, his tactic backfired. Either way, it does sound like your mom escaped a 'speeding bullet'.
ReplyDeleteGood point -- maybe he needed to get back to Connecticut to start looking.
DeleteGreat story, and I'm glad you're handing it on along. What an honor for your mom (NOT the proposal) to be on the court and involved in all that hoopla.
ReplyDeleteIf my daughters would pay attention to this blog once in a while, they might be highly entertained by such stories about their grandmother.
DeleteThat's so funny - I feel the same way about my daughters. How can someone NOT be interested in learning about their family? Great story!
DeleteI say the same thing about my daughters - how can people NOT want to learn more about their family? This is a great story!
DeleteI remember your previous story about your mom's being on the court. But this story takes the cake. Did your mom know the guy before he was her escort or did they just meet that day? That's the worst proposal I've ever heard. Not a real sentimental type of guy, was he?
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
Nancy
Ladies of the Grove
He was a student there, and it was a small school, so no doubt she knew him prior to that day.
DeleteA terrific story about the fish that got thrown back. Maybe we should start a new series about alternate universes when our ancestors could have made a different choice.
ReplyDeleteToo sci-fi for me. I can barely handle my real ancestors!
DeleteYour mother looks beautiful. Also very glad that she turned him down! I wonder whether the girl in Connecticut also turned him down?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there's someone out there blogging about their dad in the May Day court at Shenandoah College. Hmm ~
DeleteYAY Momma, had she said yes we wouldn't be as cute as we are. ;)
ReplyDeleteHA -- I don't know - we might have gotten better noses.
DeleteThat fellow must have thought your mother was desperate, whereas it sounds like he was the desperate one really! The May Day Festival looks like a very elaborate event. Do they still celebrate that tradition at the college?
ReplyDeleteShenandoah College that Momma attended moved from Dayton to Winchester and is now Shenandoah University. The college takes part in the city's Apple Blossom Festival which happens to be in May, but it's not the traditional "May Pole" kind of thing.
DeleteI’m pleased your mother turned him down; she looked quite a catch herself and not in need of such a desperate proposal.
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
DeleteI'm glad she was not as desperate as he appeared to be. Definitely a great escape - hers not his.
ReplyDeleteNo, she wasn't desperate. And he certainly didn't need to be.
DeleteLike everyone else, I'm happy your mother waited for a better opportunity. I bet she didn't have to think too hard before turning him down.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm glad too. I wouldn't be me -- and I'd hate to deprive the world of that!
DeleteSay what?!?! I guess marriage was included in what he considered "small talk." Astounding!
ReplyDeleteTruly astounding. I'm sure it was like a "Am I on Candid Camera?" moment (even though this predated CC).
DeleteWoW! You could have been doing genealogy on a whole different tree!
ReplyDeleteHappy Weekend!
Oh yeah -- that's true. A whole different set of challenges.
DeleteThat guy was a smooth talker. I wonder what the girl in Connecticut said!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many he asked.
DeleteAn interesting and humorous post. Good one! Your mother apparently was very wise and quick witted.
ReplyDeleteThat's the truth! She was wise and quick witted.
DeletePretty dress. Pretty hairdo. Pity about the pragmatic wife-seeker.. A male version of Charlotte Lucas in Pride and Prejudice.
ReplyDeleteYeah, what was his hurry?
Delete