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Abstract

n earth was she doing, getting into a stranger’s car? Leaving her beautiful 1954 Bel Air on the side of the road, abandoned. She pushed the feelings aside and tried to enjoy the thrill of the moment. She hadn’t had many adventures in her young life.Away they went, flying down Michigan Avenue. Don wasn’t one to observe speed limits, and the Wayne police had talked to him about that habit more than a few times. Jean wasn’t sure where they were going or what to expect. She listened as her friends told Don all about her — she was single, worked as a secretary, and played piano.“You play piano?” Don asked, turning to look at her.“Well, a little,” she replied, feeling her face flush.“I always said I’d marry a girl who played the piano!” he replied. Jean’s face flushed to a deeper shade of red.Don slowed the car and turned into a VFW parking lot.“Where are we going?” Jean asked.“Picking up my mom, like I said,” Don said, with a twinkle in his eye.He hopped out and returned moments later with a middle-aged woman. Don opened the passenger door to let the woman in. Jean scooched to her left in the ample vinyl seat, finding herself pressed against their host.<h1 id="a8ee">Love at first sight</h1>Expressing no surprise at seeing three strange young women in the car, the woman said, “Hello, girls. How are you today?”This was not the first time he’d shown up with a woman or women. Her Don, Verna thought quietly, was quite the ladies’ man. In fact, he’d recently won a bet against his older brother, who challenged Don to date a different woman every day for a month. It hadn’t been easy, but he did it and collected his brother’s money happily, offsetting a small percentage of what he’d spent on dinners and ice cream.Verna struck up a conversation with Jean, and Jean was immediately drawn to the warm, kind woman, who shared the same twinkle in her eye as her son. She spoke with a sweet Kentucky drawl — not the exaggerated sort that people often mocked; it was a genteel, musical drawl that brought down barriers and made you want to hear her wisdom.Jean forgot about the dashing young man to her left and grew absorbed in talking with his mother.As they pulled up to his house, Verna laid a hand on

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Jean’s arm. “It was very nice to meet you, Jean. I hope I’ll see you again,” she said.“I hope so, too,” Jean gushed, realizing she had almost added “Mom” to her statement, even though she’d just met the woman.<h1 id="0d93">Impetuous</h1>Don walked his mother into the house and returned to the car. As promised, he drove the women back to Jean’s car and asked Jean if she’d like to go driving with him. “Right now?” she asked.“Yes, right now,” he replied. “Your friends can take your car home.”Once you meet a man’s mother, she reasoned, it’s like you know him. She agreed, regretting that she hadn’t dressed up a little more for her errands. But she was wearing a skirt, sweater, and pearls. Dressy enough. Her friends laughed, wished her well, and waved as they took her car keys and drove off.They drove out of Wayne, into the farming communities west of town, talking and laughing. He could tell a story like no one else she’d ever met. In her limited dating experience, she’d never been out with someone so charming and worldly.As the sun began to set, Don pulled quietly to the end of a dark road and slipped the car into park. Jean panicked again. What a precarious position she’d put herself in. No one even knew where she was!Don sensed her fear and pulled back, giving her space to collect herself. He was not deterred by her shy manner; he was intrigued. After more conversation, he leaned forward, looked deep into her eyes, and said, through a crooked smile, “Will you marry me?”Jean laughed and blushed. And changed the subject quickly.He drove her home that night and took her out the next night. He continued to ask her to marry him on every date until one night…she agreed.My parents, Don and Jean, married just 13 weeks after their roadside meeting. And remained happily, faithfully married for 54 years, until my dad’s passing.My mother will tell you, to this day that, before she fell in love with my dad, she fell in love with Verna …in the front seat of his car.© Tina L. Smith, 2020About the author: Tina L. Smith is a Michigan writer who witnessed the long-term love and commitment of two crazy kids who found happiness in a very unusual way.</article></body>

TRUE STORY

Driven To Love

Never get into a car with a stranger, she’d heard

In the days of sock hops, poodle skirts, and big, curvy cars, many love stories began in high school. Some began in dance halls. And some began on the road.

On a cold winter Saturday in 1957, Jean and two friends were enjoying their freedom as single, working 23-year-old women. As they tooled down Michigan Avenue in downtown Wayne, Michigan, a small Ford factory-centric town still enjoying post-WWII boom times, a handsome young man pulled alongside them and indicated they should pull over.

Emboldened by her friends, Jean pulled the car over to the side of the road, giddy with laughter. The young man pulled behind them and climbed out of his car. Jean rolled down her window cautiously. The man leaned down and said, “Hi, I’m Don Smith.” Then, acknowledging the ubiquity of the surname, he offered his driver’s license as evidence. Jean glanced. Indeed, he was Don Smith.

“Where are you beautiful girls going?” he asked. The young women tittered and blurted out various destinations.

“Well, I’m on my way to pick up my mom from bingo,” Don replied with a charming grin. “Why don’t you come with me?”

“In your car?” asked one friend.

“Yes. Don’t worry. My mom is a nice woman,” he countered, with a smirk. “I’ll bring you back here in a little while.”

The women giggled, and, in an uncharacteristically bold move, Jean said, “Sure!”

“He’s handsome,” they whispered to each other as they slipped out of the car on the curb side. “Yeah, but what a line! Picking up his mother?” Jean added, skeptically.

“Jean, you get in front!”

As they approached Don’s car, he opened the passenger door and the friends pushed Jean to the lead. She slid in, shyly, as her friends piled in the back seat.

Road Trip

Jean had a sudden sense of dread. What on earth was she doing, getting into a stranger’s car? Leaving her beautiful 1954 Bel Air on the side of the road, abandoned. She pushed the feelings aside and tried to enjoy the thrill of the moment. She hadn’t had many adventures in her young life.

Away they went, flying down Michigan Avenue. Don wasn’t one to observe speed limits, and the Wayne police had talked to him about that habit more than a few times. Jean wasn’t sure where they were going or what to expect. She listened as her friends told Don all about her — she was single, worked as a secretary, and played piano.

“You play piano?” Don asked, turning to look at her.

“Well, a little,” she replied, feeling her face flush.

“I always said I’d marry a girl who played the piano!” he replied. Jean’s face flushed to a deeper shade of red.

Don slowed the car and turned into a VFW parking lot.

“Where are we going?” Jean asked.

“Picking up my mom, like I said,” Don said, with a twinkle in his eye.

He hopped out and returned moments later with a middle-aged woman. Don opened the passenger door to let the woman in. Jean scooched to her left in the ample vinyl seat, finding herself pressed against their host.

Love at first sight

Expressing no surprise at seeing three strange young women in the car, the woman said, “Hello, girls. How are you today?”

This was not the first time he’d shown up with a woman or women. Her Don, Verna thought quietly, was quite the ladies’ man. In fact, he’d recently won a bet against his older brother, who challenged Don to date a different woman every day for a month. It hadn’t been easy, but he did it and collected his brother’s money happily, offsetting a small percentage of what he’d spent on dinners and ice cream.

Verna struck up a conversation with Jean, and Jean was immediately drawn to the warm, kind woman, who shared the same twinkle in her eye as her son. She spoke with a sweet Kentucky drawl — not the exaggerated sort that people often mocked; it was a genteel, musical drawl that brought down barriers and made you want to hear her wisdom.

Jean forgot about the dashing young man to her left and grew absorbed in talking with his mother.

As they pulled up to his house, Verna laid a hand on Jean’s arm. “It was very nice to meet you, Jean. I hope I’ll see you again,” she said.

“I hope so, too,” Jean gushed, realizing she had almost added “Mom” to her statement, even though she’d just met the woman.

Impetuous

Don walked his mother into the house and returned to the car. As promised, he drove the women back to Jean’s car and asked Jean if she’d like to go driving with him. “Right now?” she asked.

“Yes, right now,” he replied. “Your friends can take your car home.”

Once you meet a man’s mother, she reasoned, it’s like you know him. She agreed, regretting that she hadn’t dressed up a little more for her errands. But she was wearing a skirt, sweater, and pearls. Dressy enough. Her friends laughed, wished her well, and waved as they took her car keys and drove off.

They drove out of Wayne, into the farming communities west of town, talking and laughing. He could tell a story like no one else she’d ever met. In her limited dating experience, she’d never been out with someone so charming and worldly.

As the sun began to set, Don pulled quietly to the end of a dark road and slipped the car into park. Jean panicked again. What a precarious position she’d put herself in. No one even knew where she was!

Don sensed her fear and pulled back, giving her space to collect herself. He was not deterred by her shy manner; he was intrigued. After more conversation, he leaned forward, looked deep into her eyes, and said, through a crooked smile, “Will you marry me?”

Jean laughed and blushed. And changed the subject quickly.

He drove her home that night and took her out the next night. He continued to ask her to marry him on every date until one night…she agreed.

My parents, Don and Jean, married just 13 weeks after their roadside meeting. And remained happily, faithfully married for 54 years, until my dad’s passing.

My mother will tell you, to this day that, before she fell in love with my dad, she fell in love with Verna …in the front seat of his car.

About the author: Tina L. Smith is a Michigan writer who witnessed the long-term love and commitment of two crazy kids who found happiness in a very unusual way.