TV Repairman Stayed To Chat
Dear Readers: I’ve received a great many heartwarming “how-we-met” letters and wish I could print them all. Here are a few of my favorites:
Dear Ann: I was a 41-year-old widow and thought I could never love again. I refused to be fixed up with several eligible men and spent my evenings reading and watching TV. When the TV broke, I called in a repairman. He fixed the set and we talked for an hour. When I asked for the bill, he said, “No charge if you will agree to continue this conversation over dinner next week.” I agreed, and we were married six months later. - Jackson, Miss.
From Pinehurst, N.C.: I met Al in Greenland in November 1945. I was an Army nurse, and he was an Air Force captain. It was love at first sight. Al left Greenland on Valentine’s Day 1946, but we promised to stay in touch. When we met again in New York, we knew we were meant for each other and decided to take the plunge now and get to know each other later. It sounds reckless, but we were married the following day in the Little Church Around the Corner. Al and I will celebrate our 50th soon. Our four wonderful children are giving us a great big party.
Fort Worth, Texas: After a string of disastrous blind dates, I said, “Never again.” Then a woman I worked with announced that her brother was coming to town and asked if I would like to go to dinner with him. I said, “No, thanks.” When she took his picture out of her wallet and handed it to me, I quickly changed my mind. We’ve been married 26 years, and I’m still nuts about him.
Chicago: My twin sister and I went to the T.S. Martin department store in Sioux City, Iowa, to select wedding veils for our double wedding. I was engaged to marry a UCLA law student from Los Angeles. My sis was engaged to a fine young student at the University of Minnesota.
The newly arrived manager of the millinery department was a super salesman who had just been transferred to Sioux City from Grand Rapids. His name was Jules Lederer. He sold me not only the wedding veil but himself. The double wedding went off on schedule on July 2, 1939. My sis is still married to her Minneapolis sweetheart. Jules and I parted after 36 years. Most of those years were wonderful. - Ann Landers
Dear Ann Landers: Have many women complained to you that after being married 50 years or so, their husbands no longer seem interested in talking to them? I have often wondered if I am the only one.
Small talk between us is nonexistent. Whenever I initiate a conversation, my husband answers, “Yes” or “No,” or something else that only takes a one-syllable reply. This is not a man who is non-communicative, Ann. He thoroughly enjoys talking to the neighbors and makes engaging comments to waitresses, sales clerks, gas station attendants and strangers at sporting events. But I get the silent treatment.
I have become silent myself, noting that my efforts go for naught. Is there any solution, or should I be grateful for the peace and quiet? - Lonely in Leesburg, Fla.
Dear Leesburg: Your signature tells me more about your marriage than your letter. If you really want to improve the relationship between you and your husband (and it certainly sounds as if it could use improvement), I suggest that you see a counselor for guidance. There’s a serious glitch somewhere that needs exploration.
Laugh for the day: Receptionist to physician: “The patient is in the middle of a magazine article and will see you as soon as he is finished, Doctor.” - Earl Engleman, in Reader’s Digest