Fearless Females Prompt 5

March 5 — How did they meet?  You’ve documented marriages, now, go back a bit.  Do you know the story of how your parents met?  Your grandparents?

In my mother's wedding book, there is a place to write about how her parents and my dad's parents met. She titled it "No Love at First Sight!"  It seems neither set of grandparents hit it off at first.

My mother's mother and stepfather, Ruth Lillian (HOEKSTRA) VALK and Adrian DeVRIES:

June 27, 1947 - They were each invited to a picnic on a Sunday afternoon given by mutual friends: 2 married couples. It was a blind date!! He was shy and mostly played with the one couple's small boy and ignored Mom. When he did speak that evening, and after he saw Mom's house and me, he started criticizing the way she did things. She vowed never again with him or fall in love with him. (They were married October 3, 1947). [Miriam's note: They were married for nearly 54 years!]

My mother didn't write about how her biological father and mother met. I do know that my grandfather's sister Barbara was my grandmother's very good friend, so that is likely how they met.

My father's parents, Robert Lewis ROBBINS and Jeanne Marie HOLST:

She was in a drugstore Sunday morning in April before church. He came in after a night on the town and sat down--the minister's son was in between them. Dad asked him to introduce Mom. PK [preacher's kid] did and they had a date that night. They were married in October--Columbus Day, same year--1940.

P.S. She though he was awful cocky and secretly, was amused at him.

[Miriam's note: Somehow my grandfather discovered that the pretty girl he was trying to impress was the daughter of the farmer who grew cantaloupes, his favorite fruit...AND the owner of the farm where he'd been swiping the melons! Eventually, my grandfather won over my grandmother. She was still in high school; after 10th grade, she no longer attended--something fairly usual in those days. They were married the following fall; it was to last 63 years.]

My own parents met while both were camping at Silver Lake State Park in Western Michigan. You can read more about it here.

For more on the Fearless Females Blogging Prompts, visit The Accidental Genealogist.