One of the things I remember most fondly is how much our parents loved each other. Daddy used to love to listen to Mom sing. He used to tell her how beautiful she was. She used to say how handsome he was. He used to praise her all the time for things they did together even when we knew he earned some of the praise. Mom used to laugh at some of the silliest jokes Daddy would tell. We all knew she did it to please him. Surely, it wasn't because she thought they were funny.

      Don't get me wrong. He was funny a lot of the time but sometimes…well, you just had to wonder what it was that made her laugh. I remember him always holding the door open for her wherever they went. He would pull the chair out for her at the dinner table and stand behind it waiting for her to sit while she did last minute things to get ready for dinner. She would finally sit and he would push her chair in and then kiss her on the cheek. It was then he would often say, "Have I told you lately that I love you?" He would say that to her so many times and it would always be followed by a kiss.

      After Mom sat down at the dinner table Daddy would choose one of us to get up if anything was needed while we were eating. He wanted her to be able to sit through the dinner without having to get up. It didn't always work out that way but we knew he tried his best to make that happen. Mom was done for the evening. After dinner Daddy wanted us to do the dishes to give her a break.

      Daddy and Mom were always holding hands, or hugging. The first thing Daddy would do when he came home from anywhere was take his hat off and then find Mom to give her a kiss. When he went anywhere he would do the opposite. He would give her a kiss and put his hat on. Then Mom would always stand in the window to wave goodbye until he was out of sight.

      I remember Mom often asking Daddy to get her something or do something for her right in the middle of a TV program he was watching. Without hesitation or complaining he would get up and do whatever she asked him to do and then return to his program. I only remember one argument between them in all my growing up years. It was very short lived and Daddy apologized and let Mom have her way. It was always very clear to me that making her happy made him happy.

      I was so amazed by their relationship that I interviewed them and wrote a report about it for my home relations class in high school. I remember asking Mom how they managed to never argue. She said they didn't always agree but it was understood that if they didn't, they would pray about it and in the end if they still didn't agree, whatever Daddy said was final. I guess Mom would silently honor his decisions even if she didn't agree. I was very surprised (many years later) to find out about things that they didn't agree on and we just never knew. To me they were proof that it takes two to make a good marriage and what a twosome they were.