She had her chance to Run..

My 37th Wedding Anniversary recently went by, so I got to thinking back about when Mary Pat and I decided to travel to Idaho in late February of 1978 to get hitched. We traveled from Havre, Montana to Hamilton, Montana where my folks had retired. We planned to stay the night at my folks house and then travel to somewhere in Idaho the next day to get hitched.

My bride-to-be had never met my folks and me being 26 and having been around them all my life of course I didn’t think to warn her about my Dad, God Love Him..

Mom, me, and Mary Pat 1978

We arrived in the late afternoon and after I’d introduced Mary Pat to my folks, my Dad stated:

My mom and I were used to this kind of dissertation so we didn’t blink an eye. I didn’t think about poor innocent girl meeting this man for the first time.

Mom, Dad, Mary Pat 1978

Later seemingly alone in the living room my Dad was reciting Shakespeare as he often did to no one in particular:

Mary Pat happened to be in earshot and again I’m sure she wondered what she was getting into. Dad was just in fine form that particular day, probably been cooped up all winter with not much of an audience.

Dad in fine form in 1978

Long story short, we took off the next morning and went to Salmon, Idaho to get hitched and found out the offices were closed that Monday account of a Holiday. We drove back to Hamilton and told my folks we would have to go to back to Idaho the next day. Dad repeated, “The Dastardly Deed needs to be Done.”

Fast forward 37 years and I’m sitting here reflecting, she should have known I’d turn into my father and run for her life. God Bless her she didn’t..