Saturday, April 29, 2006

Mama gets married, and oh yeah, Rabbit Rabbit




Last July I posted this post about my Mama gettin' married. It's a true story. I'm too lazy to write nothin' new, so if you've read about my Mama gettin' married before, go away. Don't go away mad, just...go away.
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Daughter dddragon suggested that I post about my mother. Of course we never called her "mother." My three sisters and I called her Mama all of our lives. Mama was a hoot. She was a tiny little thing, claimed to be five foot one. More like five foot nothing. I was taller than she was by the time I was ten. Probably weighed more too. She weighed 88 pounds most of the time. Got all the way up to 114 before she died. What a tub of lard.

Once when I was visiting my sister Doris, we started talking about how much family information was being lost almost daily, because the older generation was dying off. I mentioned that a friend of mine had been hired by a rich guy in New York to interview his older relatives and to tape those conversations. Doris got the idea that I should go over and interview Mama using a tape recorder. Sounded good to me.

Doris thought that I should start out by asking about Mama and Daddy's getting married. She was particularly interested in the names of the couple who had gone with Mama and Daddy when they eloped. We'd both heard these names before, but neither of us remembered them.

So I took Doris' tape recorder and off I went to Mama's apartment. I'm guessing Mama was about 85 or so then, and time was awastin'.

Mama took to the idea of being interviewed just fine. She was tickled in fact. I started out by asking the names of the couple who took part in the elopement. She told me the names.

Darn tape recorder wasn't working right. Drat. I fool around with the recorder some. Take the batteries out. Put them back in. Like that. I'm amazing with machinery. Real genius. Start again. S**t. Thing is just not working right. I decide to take notes, and come back with the recorder later. You know, get a few things down, in case one of us dies overnight. I was betting it wouldn't be Mama.

Okay, we start again. Mama described the scene. This couple has a car, Daddy doesn't--he's a student at Memphis State College (now University), and he's home on some kind of semester break.

It's winter; they're all in winter coats. Why is this important, I'm wondering? Mama and Daddy are in the back seat. Okay, this seems like a lot of detail. I mean, we're just driving to the wedding chapel, right? They get to the preacher's house. Mama says that she believes that he's probably eating his dinner at the time. Gee, this is a LOT of detail. Get to the wedding.

I'm guessing they had maybe called ahead? This is 1930 -- they DID have phones. Anyway, the preacher comes out to the car, and leans into the opened window, and marries them. WAIT! WHAT?!?

"You didn’t get out of the car?! You sat in the car? You were MARRIED IN A CAR?" I could not believe it! "Mama, you and Daddy got married still in the $%#@ car? You never even left the car?"

Well, I have to say she got a little huffy. Pulled her little self right up straight. Looked a bit peeved. "It's perfectly legal," she said. "You want to see the marriage license? It's right in my bedroom."

Those guys. I have no idea what the names of the other couple were. Lost my train of thought completely.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

man--i lovelovelove this story every bit as much as the one below this post! you have a truly wonderful way with worms, dear TLP (but, i'm guessing you knew that... and, from what i know of your daughters, this gift runs in the family!)

i love that you're chronicling these stories, not just because they make for inspiring/entertaining reading, but because they need to be recorded for posterity's sake. have you ever thought of compiling a collection of your family's anecdotes? i'm thinking they'd make for a great book! seriously... you should consider it, even if you self publish and only have limited distribution. i know i'd buy a copy!

thank you for sharing such a lovely/quirky tale of your mom, she sounds like quite a little lady, one i'm sure is missed greatly! : )

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Love this story! I have never heard of a wedding in a car. THIS is truly a uniques happening. I hope you got that tape recorder working...I think it's such a wonderful idea to audio or video your memories and all your family's, too...I know you are the last one of your sisters still alive but I wondered if you ever got any of your family's rememberencers on tape or in written form. I hope so my dear Lucy.
And thanks so much for coming by...yes, there is a lot to this most recent oost...I LOVE that you have that quilt. That is such a precious PRECIOUS thing to have...Love to see a picture of it!

Logophile said...

OK, I love this, my husband is reasonably certain he was conceived in a car, but I haven't heard of anyone's parents being MARRIED in car, that is some classic stuff there.
What a great story.

Libby said...

TLP, i LOVE this story! i can just see your mama, drawing herself up to 5'1" & being all haughty & everything!!!

kenju said...

Well, "don't that beat all?" - in the vernacular, of course. I guess if you can have drive-in churches you can have drive-up weddings. That's a great story, Tan Lucy! You should write a book.

Kristie said...

my mom's best friend almost did the drive thru chapel thing in Vegas but opted intstead to go to the valley of fire instead. ;)

great story. I love the way you tell us the stories of your family. They are always so entertaining!

and btw, thanks for the words of support again on my site!

Lila said...

yeah, that's a great story alright

BarbaraFromCalifornia said...

ROTFL....First time I ever heard of a drive through wedding!
(Remember, I am from California!)

What a terrific story.

Anonymous said...

I did not hear that story before. It's great! Mama sounds like quite a character. (that must be hereditary, I'm guessing)!!

Fred said...

Good to read about Mama again. And, a Daddy story down there. This is my lucky Sunday!

LZ Blogger said...

You LAZY??? ~ Don't I have a copywrite on that or SOMETHING? ~ jb///

lime said...

LMAO! now i know where you get your spunk! great story!

Rachel said...

Wonderful story!! Your Mama sounds like she was a fiesty woman, all 88 lbs. of her!! LOL

Lila said...

Rabbit, rabbit!

Sar said...

Well let me be the first, at least by EST, to officially respond Rabbit Rabbit to you! ;)

Peter said...

Great story Lucy, love those old tales.

Doug The Una said...

Rabbit, Rabbit!

I was waiting for a coatsleeve to get caught in a fence. Like mama, like daughter!

Rachel said...

Rabbit, Rabbit

(for poke sallet, Mom always put bacon grease (seasoning she called it) but I just put in some boneless country style ribs that had the fat trimmed off). Goodddd!!

Minka said...

Ok...i am gonna go away. But I am gonna be back.
No, I am not mad! Just a little deprived:) Happy mai to you!

Kyahgirl said...

I tried to comment here the other day but blogger was not cooperating! I loved this story :-)

Jamie Dawn said...

I think I read this the first time you posted it, but I read it again anyway. Drive through wedding. What a riot!
Rabbit! Rabbit!

edina monsoon said...

I had my pc reformated and lost the link to your site. As you can see the problem has been rectified. You write so well you should write to sell. It's raining and I'm stuck at work. Reading your mama's wedding cheered me up no end. Thanks:)