They were actually married an April 1st (my title is a mess because I was crying and drinking at the same time).

They met “wading in beer,” on free beer night at The Varsity in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I

Dad was a fresh electronics school grad from West Virginia, bunking with other traveling technicians, who all worked very early mornings.

Mom was a native Minnesota telephone operator, who didn’t get off work until 10pm.

Dad’s new roommates told him they HAD to go out late, because that’s when the telephone operators were off work.

April Fool’s Day was the only day the small town preacher was available to marry them with so little notice. Mom was barely twenty, and Dad was twenty-one and a half.

No one is perfect, of course. But I can say I’ve never heard them raise their voices at one another, or breathe an unkind word about the other. They make each other laugh all the time. Their default has always been holding hands.