On Saturday November 22, 1947, I got up early to finalize my last minute packing for my wedding and trip to Arkansas. I did not get much sleep because I was very apprehensive about everything going smoothly and the white lie I would have to tell about my age. Mama got up with us and we were ready when Wayne came at the set time of 6:00 AM. Lila went with us, mostly for my support. I crawled into the middle of the front seat and Lila sat to my right of Wayne’s new 1947 Ford car. Mama saw us off. My dad thought we were going to Wayne's brother's home in Shawnee. We drove through a cold slow rain all of the way to Arkansas. I had to look through the front window that had two glass panes with the split right down the middle. The wipers whipped on both sides and left me looking through droplets of water and smudge all of the way. I was still worried about the lie I had to tell that day. We got to Fort Smith, Arkansas sometime after noon. We drove around town looking for the courthouse. While we were looking, we had driven into Van Buren, and found a courthouse there. Wayne asked me if it was OK with me and I agreed to get our marriage license there, We rented a room at The Twin Pines Motel close by. Lila and I dressed first, while Wayne talked to the proprietor. When we came back, I heard the lady tell Wayne how pretty I was, I was very flattered, After Wayne dressed, we went to the courthouse to get our marriage license. I was scared stiff and even the thought of calling the marriage off occurred to me at this time. I was sure when I walked up to the counter, the clerk would know I was not of age to marry without permission. I planned to say I was 18, but when the lady asked my birth year, I froze, I could not think quick enough to tell her the correct year for being 18 at that time. I stammered and she just chuckled, probably thinking I was just over excited. She and Wayne came up with 1929. After we got the license filled out, Wayne asked if I wanted to be married in a church. I said "No" then, he said "Don't you even want flowers?" Again, I answered "No" I wanted to get it over with. Little did I know then, that I would never ever receive any type of flowers from him. We went into the judge's chambers and the judge muttered some of the "stuff" about what a marriage was about. He read the vows and it was over quickly. Wayne grabbed me and laid a big kiss on me, knocking my hat off. Lila giggled, picked the hat up and placed it back on my head. After the brief ceremony, we left for down town to look for a jewelry store, so Wayne could buy the watch he had promised to buy me if I would marry him (What a laugh now!) He bought one we liked for $59.00. Afterwards, we walked downtown. We could not help but notice how everyone stared at us. I am sure we made a good looking group as no one was dressed up there at all except us. We went to a movie. I can only remember cowboys and Indians and a lot of noise. After the movie, we went to a cafe to eat supper. I sat down on one side by Lila. When Wayne was ready to sit down, he asked Lila if she would move to the other side so he could sit by his wife. I was shocked when he said "wife". I had not really thought of being called his wife, but I liked the sound of it. After we ate our supper, we went back to the Twin Pines Motel which was constructed of native rock, for our wedding night (Saturday). Lila had a big test coming up at school and spent the early part of the night studying in a small dressing room off of the bathroom. As I look back upon our marriage day, I still cannot believe Lila spent our first night with us. Added note; I received my first flowers from Wayne on our 60th wedding anniversary! Music playing is: "Wedding March" Any copyright remains with the artist. The music is provided for entertainment purposes only. There is no commercial use of it. Created September 21, 2016 Updated: 14 June, 2021 Webmaster ~ Ray Clark ~ rayclark07"at"gmail.com Return To Dating, Marriage & Farming Return To Home Page