It was nearly 40 years ago when we met ... we think. It may have been 50 or more. When I was just a little kid, I used to sometimes attend a little country church located on Oak Grove Road just outside of Charleston with my Aunt Joyce. It was the church he had attended since he was a couple of weeks old.
Later when I was a teenager in college, I would sometimes attend church there again with another aunt, Aunt Sarah. The attendance became a little more regular. Then came “young people” outings and events.
Finally, there was the ask for a first date. Probably wouldn’t be that exciting for many, but our first date was to a revival in the Rosebloom community and then on to Grenada for a delicious McDonald’s dinner. That was in January of 1987.
A few short months later, in August 1987 (Aug. 1, to be exact) Clay McFerrin attended my great-grandmother Annie Lou Hollingsworth Smith’s funeral in the Teasdale community that morning. I suppose my family thought it a good idea to have a funeral and a wedding on the same day, since they would already be gathered.
That evening at 6 p.m, I would wear a simple wedding dress and meet Clay at the altar of that same little country church where we probably played together as kids and started dating as young adults.
Fast-forward 39 years later. We are blessed with two wonderful children, a good son-in-law and four precious grandchildren, whom we adore. We are blessed to still both be employed at the same job for all this time, and blessed with a wonderful community of friends.
We have had good times. wonderful times and very hard times. We have endured loss together — the loss of our grandparents, the loss of all of our parents, the loss of my sister, and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
We have experienced the scares of those dreaded C words — cancer and covid.
We have stood beside each other through it all, and I’m here to say that I would be lost without my partner in life.
We don’t always agree. Matter of fact, we are pretty opposite. People like to tease me about being “the boss.” I tell them quickly that when it comes to work, he is the boss. Now, at home, that might be a different story. After all, I did tell Bro. Ray Whitten, who married us, to leave the word “obey” out of the vows.
All in all, I don’t think I would change very much about the last 39+ years. It hasn’t been perfect, but it sure has been good.
Here is wishing us a happy anniversary, Clay, and wishing for 39+ more! I love you.
