A Love Story From the Funeral Home

The older I get the more it seems there are more visitations at the funeral home as many of my peers are losing their parents. Tonight I went to see one of my work friends who sadly lost his dad 13 months ago and his mom has just passed away. While visiting with John he told the most interesting story about his parents.

His father was a young single man living in New York and his mother was a beautiful single young woman living at home with her parents in Smyrna, Georgia. John's uncle, who was single at the time, found a job and went to work in NY and just happened to meet John's dad. They worked together. Being so far from home John's uncle was always showing off pictures of his family and John's mom was a gorgeous young single woman who wanted to be a model (of course her mom told her that would never be). Her picture caught the eye of John's dad and he asked for young Betty Jo's address and the two of them began corresponding. Before too long the story goes that he made 2 trips to Smyrna to meet this lovely young lady but on both occasions she was out of town. He was broken hearted. She traveled to New York with hopes of meeting up with him while there but he was out of town so they never met. Then oddly there was some reason that the both of them ended up having to go to Virginia. Even odder is the fact they were walking through the lobby of a hotel, and while they had never met, they had both seen plenty of pictures of each other and immediately recognized one another. It was love at first sight - the two were destined to be together.

Back in 1953, there used to be a television show called "Bride and Groom." It was a 15 minute program that followed "Love of Life" and basically anyone could write in to the show and share the story of how they met their sweet heart and the show would host your wedding. So Betty Jo sent in a letter with their story and they were selected to be married on the show! John's mom got to pick a most beautiful wedding gown and veil from the show's trunk for her special day. The television show staged the entire event and this young couple's wedding was featured on national television on this day - April 17, 1953!!! The show also gave the young couple many wedding gifts but the best part of the story is that back in 1953, not every family had a television set. The local Western Auto in Smyrna, Georgia hosted a wedding viewing and everyone in town met at the store and gathered around the television to watch their local beauty get married.

What a wonderful romance. God bless Betty Jo Davey.