I am blessed to have been raised in a Christian home. I am blessed to still have both of my parents. Not only do I still have my parents, but they are still married… to each other! My parents celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary in December. 68th! That is not something you hear very often these days. The divorce rate is alarmingly high, and Christian homes are not immune to it.

I love and respect my parents and want to honor them. My entire life they provided for, cared for and protected me. They took me to church every time the doors were open, sent me to church camps and were actively involved themselves. My father served faithfully as a deacon.

After my second year in college, they drove with me to Florida and left me to intern with NASA for one year, not knowing that I would meet my future husband while there and never return to Tennessee to live. There are times that I regret not having lived closer to my parents and siblings but am blessed for the husband, children, church home and job that God has provided for me here.

I appreciate the life and opportunities that my parents provided me and as a tribute to them, I wanted to share with you their beautiful and inspiring story.

My parents met in high school, in the school library. My mom was sitting with friends when my dad and one of his friends came in, sat across the desk from her, and just randomly grabbed her paper! That story reminds me of the classic scenario of a boy pulling a girl’s ponytail on the playground when he likes her. 😊

Apparently, it worked! A couple of years later they were married at the tender young ages of 17 and 21. They lived in Tennessee at the time, but Tennessee required a blood test for marriage. They could not afford the test so they crossed over to Mississippi and were married there by a Justice of the Peace. My mom’s younger sister and her boyfriend went with them to be witnesses. That was a very popular thing to do that day; my mom remembers that there was a long line in front of them of people waiting to get married.

That story makes it sound like they eloped, but their parents knew they were getting married. When you couldn’t afford a fancy church wedding and the blood test, that was the reasonable alternative. At that time my dad was working 60 hours a week at a grocery store making $35/week. He didn’t own a car and walked a mile and a half to get to that job (uphill both ways! Just kidding, I added that part). They lived on cans of soup (my mom didn’t know how to cook). She told me the story of trying to make eggs and toast for breakfast one day. Not really knowing what she was doing, she broke the eggs and touched the hot pan as she added them, severely burning the tips of her fingers. She apparently learned a lot since then because she’s a great cook now!

Before they were married, dad decided to buy a car. He told the salesman that he had never driven a car before and the salesman followed him home to make sure he got there safely. That’s not the “Used Car Salesman” persona that you think of today. The car was a manual transmission. I guess there was a big learning curve there since my dad told me he stripped the reverse out of it. He couldn’t afford to get it fixed so when they went on their dates he had to be sure and always park so that he could get out going forward. Otherwise, they would be stuck as he wouldn’t be able to back up! My mother had never driven a car either. Dad taught her how after they were married.

The Korean war was going on at that time. Someone told my parents that if they reported their marriage, dad wouldn’t be drafted. On that advice, my dad went in and let them know that he was a married man. He was surprised to learn that their records showed he had already been drafted and sent off! Did the marriage prevent him from being drafted? Nope. Maybe if he hadn’t gone to them, they would not have caught their mistake. But as things turned out, in March, just three months after they were married, he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia for basic training.

One of dad’s earliest memories of basic training is the Drill Sargent telling them, “Boys, from now on I’m your Mama and your Papa!” After that, he was stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He then went to Aberdeen, Maryland for explosives training. He learned how to deploy explosives without blowing himself up. Half of his company was sent to Korea but he was still in the training and did not go.

Dad was a Corporal but was the acting Supply Sargent. He was “acting” and not promoted because promotions were frozen at that time. He served in the Army for two years and was offered that extra stripe to re-enlist but promptly told them, “I wouldn’t re-enlist if you made me a general!” He was pretty adamant about not re-enlisting!

Some of his other memories from serving in the military are:

• Being on guard duty carrying a rifle with no bullets. They were required to continually keep walking the entire shift without stopping.
• Serving as Supply Sergeant when one soldier went AWOL. They caught the runaway and brought him back but he ran away again. He was shot in the back for trying to desert and my dad, as Supply Sergeant, received the bloody clothes.
• One boy in his unit was from the country and had never seen indoor plumbing so he urinated in the sink (never having seen a commode before). Gross!
• Everyone showered together and slept in bunk beds. The Sargent would throw a coin on your bed and if it didn’t bounce, you’d be on KP duty the next day. The same punishment was given if the Sargent found a speck of dust or your footlocker was not arranged perfectly. Even if your fingernails were dirty, KP duty was assigned. 

My mom was with dad when he was stationed at Fort Bragg. There she became pregnant with their first child (my brother). When it was getting close to time for the baby to come, my dad dropped mom off at the hospital and went in to work. They were supposed to call him when the baby was ready to make his appearance but didn’t. Later when he called to check in on her, he discovered the baby was already born. My sister came along about five years later and I rounded out the family when my brother was 13.

Early in their marriage, my dad said something that my mother didn’t like and she let him know about it! Later she told him that she loved him and wouldn’t talk to anyone else like that; she only spoke her mind to him in that way because she loved him. Later on, something else came up and she let him know once again that she wasn’t happy about it. Dad promptly replied, “sometimes I wish you didn’t love me so much.” 😊 That gives you a glimpse of their sense of humor!

When it comes to marriage my dad’s advice is fairly straightforward and simple. He recommends to always say “yes,” put your mate first, and most importantly, to always forgive, no matter what the offense is.

My mom said that if she says “jump,” dad says, “how high?” He never argues and never gets mad. Just this past Christmas she told us how dad is the best person she has ever met. No matter how someone wrongs him, he easily forgives. He doesn’t worry about the wrong because of his deep-rooted faith in Jesus Christ. In his words, “They’ll have to answer to God for it.”

My parents never drank, never smoked and always went to church. They did a great job of raising the three of us. None of us (to my knowledge anyway) ever got into in real trouble. They raised us to be respectful, law-abiding citizens that love God. For that, I am very grateful. I couldn’t have asked for better parents than Loyd and Reva Keen!

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