Mix Up Took Him Off The Sauce

Dear Ann Landers: A while back, you printed a letter from a reader named Bettye Hawley. She said that in the 1930s, she had taken a plane trip. Her glove slipped off and landed in the open zipper of the man seated next to her who’d had one too many drinks. Thinking the glove was his shirttail, he tucked it into his pants and zipped up. Bettye wrote, “I almost died.” You thought her story was hilarious.

Well, I am the man who was seated next to Bettye on that plane. Did my wife find the glove? The answer is “yes.” She did not believe my explanation of how a woman’s glove got inside my trousers. I was given a choice - divorce or separate bedrooms. I chose divorce.

I now live in Oklahoma, married again and have two sons. Ever since that incident, I’ve had nothing stronger to drink than Coca-Cola. - Happily Married in Oklahoma

Dear Oklahoma: Thanks for the follow-up. Some readers may be suspicious of your claim, but I believe you. The best part of your story is that it got you off the sauce. Congratulations.

Dear Ann Landers: I love reading the romantic stories in your column about how people met. I hope you will print my story because you are, in a small way, involved.

After my discharge from the Army in 1946, I started my own business. Soon after, a young woman, recently discharged from the Navy, asked for a part-time job. She was attending college on the G.I. bill. I hired her.

I was quite attracted to this young woman, but she was determined to get her college degree and had no interest in dating me, so I left her alone. After she had been working for me for several weeks, I gave her a ride to the local library because she needed some books and it was on my way home. I didn’t want to leave her there so late at night, so I waited and asked her to have dinner with me.

We talked a lot and I was impressed by her determination to earn a college degree. While waiting for our dinner, I surprised myself by blurting out that I thought she was remarkable and I would like to marry her. She was just as surprised as I was and replied, “I’m really quite an ordinary person. Why in the world would you want to marry me?” I answered, “Because you are different from all the women I’ve ever met and I have fallen in love with you.”

She warned me that I was taking quite a chance but said she was willing to take a chance, too. We were married soon after. She eventually earned that college degree, became a teacher and was much loved by her students and their parents. We were married for 48 wonderful years - until she died unexpectedly in 1995.

Last year, I noticed in your column you mentioned the Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C., which is being planned to honor women who served in the armed forces. I wrote to the foundation and asked to have my wife’s name, Edna Madeleine Head, included. I want to thank you, Ann, for making this tribute possible. If it hadn’t been for you, I would not have known about this memorial and would have missed the opportunity to honor the memory of a wonderful woman. - B.P. DuBois, Boca Raton, Fla.

Dear B.P.: What a heartwarming letter. It was thoughtful of you to register your wife’s name with the Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C. To register someone who served in the military, write to: The Women’s Memorial, Dept. 560, Washington, D.C. 20042-0560, or call 1-800-4-SALUTE.