transitions by Bonny Flesher
Just a reminder for those procrastinators: Valentineโs Day is sneaking up on you. Iโm hooked on watching the Hallmark Channel movies. The girl always gets the guy, and they live happily ever after. My favorite love story isnโt on the Hallmark channel.
Bill Flesher was 18 when he joined the Marines. He had never been away from home, much less flown on a plane. As the homesickness set in, a mutual friend gave him LaJean Poeโs address, and the pen palโs love story began. LaJean was in the middle of her senior year at Paulโs Valley High School. She had written her pen pal Marine and dated him when he came home on leave.
December 19th, 1955, Bill had come home for a 3-day leave. Lajean was supposed to be babysitting, but instead, they took another couple for witnesses and headed to Texas, where they eloped. My dad loaded up his new bride and headed back to California to finish his last few months with the Marines.
Years later, after they raised their family, Mom went back and got her GED. She didnโt even have a driverโs license until after marrying my dad. She only mentioned that once, and I didnโt ask who taught her to drive. Figured there was a test of patience in that story. She told me she didnโt know my dad when she married him.
I was the second of three children and the only girl. Yes, I was a daddyโs girl, and my brothers would probably tell me I was a bit spoiled. When I was born, Daddy was working on a rig an hour away. Cellphones werenโt a thing, and the hand that was supposed to deliver the news waited over an hour before he told my dad of my arrival. We moved 22 times following the oilfield. When my older brother started school, we settled in Hennessey. As for me, I really didnโt think school was necessary since I hung out with my dad, watching him clean cattle guards and check wells. When I did go to kindergarten, mom would let me out the car door, and Iโd try climbing in the back seat. Thatโs a different story for another time!
Back to the pen pal love story… Bill and LaJean Flesher were married for 49-plus years. I watched the love and respect my parents shared come full circle during the last 21 months of my dadโs life. My dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. I watched my mom stay by Dadโs side as they walked through his cancer journey. At one point, he told her to put him in the nursing home, and she didnโt miss a beat explaining he wouldnโt get biscuits and gravy at 3 in the morning there! During that time, Daddy told us many times life goes on. He just didnโt mention the hole that was left in our hearts. Five years after my dadโs death, I found myself standing by my mother, preparing for a valve replacement surgery. The last thing she told me was she would be ok either way. She went to heaven a few days later.
I know you think this was a sad ending, but in fact, I know their love lives on in our memories. Mom always said she would be singing alto in Godโs choir, and Daddy said he would be fishing. They left this earth loving each other, and I think they set the bar pretty high! Daddy would tell you to pinch someone for Valentineโs Day. Mom would tell you to give someone your smile! The gift they gave me and my brothers was the love they shared. It certainly manifested in this world!
Happy Valentineโs Day!
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