First Date

Yesterday, July 2, 1972 was mine and Roger's first date.  It was a first date for both of us.  We got married 1 day, 1 month and 7 years later.

I remember it like it was really yesterday.

In our community, Concord Church had a big Independence Day celebration.  It started on July 2nd every year, where they began making stew in huge cast iron pots, over fire.  Back in those days, people did not worry about "unsafe" foods.  

To make the stew, they went around to all of the homes in the community and everyone donated something they had canned or frozen out of their gardens.  And several of the farmers donated chickens they had killed.

YUM.  You can't get chicken stew like that anymore............cooked for hours over a fire in a big on pot.

Anyway....back to the Independence Day Celebration....they put the chicken stew on July 2nd and began selling it by the bowl, quarts or gallons on the 3rd.  They also had pork shoulders laid out on the homemade barbecue pits, slowly smoking over the hickory wood, where many men sat up all night laughing and cooking.

Also.....you have to remember, this was a community celebration that lasted three days.  There were horseshoes, talking and just enjoying each other's company.  And folks came far and wide to get a cold glass of Mr. Taylor's homemade lemonade.

Early on the 4th, folks would begin to line up to get some of that fresh, delicious barbecue.  They sold it by the shoulders, by the pounds and by the sandwich.  By 10:00, usually the meat and stew was gone.

Great memories.

Back to 1972.  Roger had been over watching them cook the stew and decided to be brave enough to over to our house and "visit" me.  He stayed for several hours.  It was his first time to "visit" a girl and my first time to have a boy visit me.  He was 16 years old and I was 15.  I was not allowed to go anywhere with him until I turned 16.

In October, I turned 16 and was excited because I would be allowed to actually ride in the car with him.  BUT.....I soon discovered that it would still be very limited.  Our first months of dating was going to revivals..............................with my younger brother in the back seat.

SMILE.

My, my, my..................how times have changed.  Maybe if we went back to the "courting" type dating today....................marriages would last longer.

Thank you for letting me reminisce.............