The vidette. (Iuka, Tishomingo County, Miss.) 1912-1967, 1923-01-18
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES!
! When twenty-five !
! and Twenty :
BY JUSTIN WENTWooD
,,,,,l,,,,I,Ill,I,,l,,,,l,.,il.liisiilIInlIlni


October the tenth-that's my reu'
letter day. That is the day in my Ire
that stands out prominently ABOVE
ali other days. My marriage daSf
Not exactly. It's the day knew
Wenda loved me, tie day we held
each other in our arms for the nrst
time and swore nothing in life should
part us.
Romantic fools? Oh, | suppose So
We were twenty-five and twenty then
and neither had been tempered In the
flame of life. But we did know, from
observation. that love doesn't last.
We considered the eases of all the
married people we knew, and there
wasn't one couple us happy as we
thought married folks ought TO bee
And so Wcnda and took vow I'M
der Farmer Beans greht oak tree.
smile when | recall it:
SO long as we lived, no matter what
happened to us, we'd meet once a
year, every October the tenth, under
Farmer Beans oak tree, and renew
our vows, and tell each other how
the year had treated us.
Good Lord, what fools we were
That was thirty years ago I'm hfty-
five now, and Wenda's fifty, and life
has been no picnic with either of us.
Some of these meetings have been
comparatively placid. The year had
done nothing much to us. Some have
been stormy. Wenda and both mar
ried in the same year, and ii was the
October tenth after that was the
hardest.
"Did she suspect that you were
coming to meet your sweetheartf
asked Wenda
Ibid he suspect" | countered.
We looked ut each other and burst
out laughing.
How do you like being married,
Harry?" Wenda asked. "Not an roses,
is it?"
aren't you happy?" l asked. We
had agreed never to use endearments !;
1t was just because we had vowed to
meet, we wanted to follow up each
,ther's lives.
Hes got temper" Wenda sighed.
Tin very fond Of her." / said, but
Oh, Wenda, that first evening-that
evening when we knew that we loved
each other"
We kissed each other and parted.
Then came year about three ami
versaries after Each of us had found
the yoke little CALLING, l remember.
you must humor him, Wenda."
"You must be kind to her"
ITS hard sometimes" said Wenda.
II did look forward to this meeting Of
ours. lit gives us strength for the
year, doesn't it !"
The years went by, and somehow
we always contrived to meet. 1t was
delicious secret that we shared. l
remember the day | first saw threads
of silver in Wenda's hair.
"We're getting on in years, Harry.
Don't you think we're too old for such
foolishness. You and /, with children
growing upf"
That hurt me. "Then we won't
meet again, Wenda," l answered. But
we were there the next October just
the same.
Three years ago Wenda became a
grandmother. We laughed over that.
Il was wondering, Harry" she said,
"how much this nonsense of ours has
helped us"
There was time" l confessed,
when | think l should have gone
away but for this meeting. Times
when life has seemed impossible"
II know all about that. But we've
always had each other to lean upon.
That's strengthened us. Do you real.
lie the time will come when there
will be only one of us to come here2"
That saddened both of us. Wenda's
pretty thickly threaded. Leet year l
said to Wenda:
I'm not going to meet you here
any more"
Vague alarm in her eyes. "WhyT
Because you're going to run away
with me-"
Harry! What do you meanr'
Here we are, two middle-aged per-
sons-and that only by courtesy. Your
children and mine have both grown
up and left us. Two old persons, with
a longing to be happy together Why
shouldn't we just-go off somewhere
for--well, for long time. To Eu-
rope orwell, Florida. Somewhere
where we can have honeymoon to-
gether and forget the cares of life.
VIII you meet me tomorrow night at
ten at the Union stati0nf"
Harry, you-do you mean thatT'
EVERY word of it, darlAg,"
She put her arms round my mack.
"Then, Harry, I'll come"
She met me at ten o'clock, carrying
only a suitcase. l was waisiaS for
her. took her to Florida, thsn we
spent three months in Cuba and am0ng
the islands. That was our zeal hoaay-
moon. At last we came klck.
Scandal? Not bit of 1t, You zoe,
that was the game we had aevtsnA to
keep ourselves young and In love.
Wenda and l have been MAJ ried Thirty
.,en,o ravt nataLor tho ~s<A