Sam
smiled a huge smile and kissed Amanda on the cheek. “Great, give me your phone
number and I will call you next week.”
The
two of them were together almost every day during that summer. Even though they
both had jobs; Sam was the dishwasher at the local diner and Amanda worked at
the local hotel doing odd jobs, they worked their schedules out around each
other. Emily had taken a turn for the
worse and had lost all concept of reality. Amanda was worried, but did not have
the mental, emotional or physical capabilities to handle it. She watched in
silence as her mother slipped away.
In
September, the beginning of their senior year, Sam had decided he no longer
wanted to play football; he did not want to waste his time when he would rather
have been with Amanda. Amanda felt the
same way and by the middle of their senior year he asked her to marry him.
Amanda
was scared and exuberant at the same time. She was almost seventeen and really
had no idea about life or her future. On the other hand she was in love with
Sam and could not imagine her life without him.
She wasn’t sure if her mother was aware enough to handle this change;
but she knew she had to do it.
On
March 1, 1965 Sam Patterson and Amanda Stevens went to the Florida city hall
and got married by the justice of the peace.
They decided not to tell anyone at school as they were graduating in
three months.
Sam
moved into Amanda’s house; Emily did not even seem to notice. Between their two
after school jobs they managed to put enough together to keep the rent paid and
food on the table, but just barely.
In
July, Emily passed away in her sleep. Amanda did not know what to think or
feel; her mother had not been a large presence in her life for quite a
while. She wasn’t even sure if her
father was still alive and had no idea where to find Riley or if he was alive.
They
arranged a simple burial; there was no one to attend a funeral, and filed the
proper paperwork with the county. Now
the two orphans needed each other more than ever.
Awww, what a sad beginning for them. But, at least they do have each other!
ReplyDeleteI have often seen it happen that when someone is departing our lives God sends someone new to continue our life story. This was sad, not the kind of romantic beginning one would wish for, I am hoping their lives will see an upturn from here.
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