First Date Anniversary: #35

Daryl and I have two anniversaries that we celebrate -- our wedding anniversary and the anniversary of our first date.   Yesterday was the 35th anniversary of our first date.  

This picture was probably taken sometime in the spring of 1977 after we had been dating for about 6 months.  We are the ones in the center of the picture with Daryl's brother and sisters on either side.  

We were all children!

Daryl and I first met at church on a Sunday night.  My family was an Air Force family and that Sunday morning had been the first in our new church in our new state of Alabama.  Daryl had been speaking in another congregation that morning so we hadn't met.  I remember another teenager telling me, "Oh, you need to meet Daryl!"  And someone else had told him that a new family was moving to town, "And they have THREE DAUGHTERS!"  

So, we met that Sunday in August of 1976.  It was the year Daryl graduated from high school -- and the month I began high school.  He was 17.  I was 14.  We both had birthdays coming up soon, but we were both so young.

The movie version of Gone With The Wind had been re-released that year and was showing in theaters.  It was one of Daryl's favorite books, he wanted to see the movie, so he called and asked me to go see it with him.  On a date.

My parents said "No."  I was only 14 and he was starting college.  There was nothing against Daryl personally, but I was just too young.  Besides, as the oldest child in my family, we hadn't dealt with dating issues, yet.  This was new territory for us.

Daryl and I talked on the telephone, saw each other at church and at youth group events, and sometimes sat together at church.  He had a birthday and turned 18, I had mine and turned 15.  The thrill of those days is still such a good memory to me.  

A church in Wetumpka was having an area-wide singing on Saturday night, October 16.  I guess Daryl thought that inviting me to a church event might go over better with my parents than the movie idea.  He called and asked if I could go with him.  I said I would let him know.  I asked Mom and Dad.  They said, "No, you can't go on a date.  But, he can give you a ride."

And what a fun, wild ride it has been!