lot of love

This is our wedding photo at home on the secound of october 1967

Lot of love

This is a true story of love. The date was Wednesday July 26 1967 a round 1PM mountain daylight time, at 26^th and Washington Boulevard Ogden, Utah. Cliff and I were walking home from the auto parts store with the parts to get his 1952 Oldsmobile back on the road. As we approach the intersection, cliff spotted a girl friend of his coming across the intersection, Cliff called out to her. She was with another girl that cliff also knew. It was hot and Cliff and I want to talk to the girls about going to a movie or a date of some kind so we invited them to have a milkshake at Dick’s café about a half block away.  Cliff and Shana had not seen each other in a little over a year so they were catching up. I was with Ellie, Shana’s girl friend and roommate, she was a cute blond but a little shy, or maybe it was that I could not take my eyes off Shana. We drank our milkshakes and made a date for the coming Friday night, we got the girls address and phone number. The girls lived on 26^th just above Washington and Cliff and I were staying at my folks place. Cliff and I had some work to do to get his car running for Friday night so we had it to go to the movie with the girls. The girls left for home and Cliff and I headed to home to work on the car.

As Cliff and I walk home I ask a lot of questions about Shana trying not to let him know I was interested in her, which was hard.  It was quite obvious Cliff was excited about getting back with Shana and he was making plans. Being he was my best friend I tried to put my feeling some where else.  We worked on the car the rest of the day and got it running about ten that night. I was working the eleven to seven shift at the railroad roundhouse, so I had to go to work. Friday night came and we went to pickup the girls to go to the movie. When we got there my date Ellie had to work. I saw a sign from above there in the girl’s apartment, a rosary hanging on the wall. I ask who it belonged to. Shana said it was hers. But no more comments were made about it. Shana called around to find me a data, with no luck. So we decided to cruse the boulevard to see if we could find me a date. As we cruse the boulevard we got to talking about my horse Ebony, Cliff was driving. Shana wanted to see him so we drove out the pasture where I kept him.

ebony star my horse

Have you ever look for a black horse at midnight in a dark pastures?  Well it was not a real problem all I had to do was call him and he came running at a full gallop. That made Cliff and Shana get on the other side of the fence.  I saddled ebb, and let Shana ride him and Cliff went for a ride also. It was around two am so we took her home and made plans for the next Friday. Later that day I went out to work ebb and clean his stall, after giving ebb a work out I took him down to the river and gave him a bath and cool him out. I was a little tired after the late night and little sleep. So I decided to ride ebb back to the barn, I swung up on his bare back which was wet and slippery. Well I slid right on over his back hitting the ground head first with a out stretched arm to break my fall, and dislocated my elbow and shoulder.  I led ebb back to the barn and the people who I rented the pasture from called the ambulance. Now it is a week in the hospital in traction, and the girls move to a different apartment, and we lost contact with them.

The month of august I spent healing and went on a date or two with another friend and some girl he set me up with. I could not get Shana out of my head and she was Cliff’s girl and we did not know where she had move to. Then on September 4 Labor Day Cliff and I ran into Ellie and Shana downtown at the city park just about where we met in July.  We went to Dick’s again and had a milkshake and we made a date for Friday. Cliff and I had an arrangement he would pay the way on Friday his payday and I would pay the next Friday my payday.  Cliff work from noon to eight, I was on day shift seven to three, when I got off work I went up to Shana’s and Ellie’s place. Shana and I played cards and listen to records till Cliff got off work. Then we waited for Ellie to get off at nine. Ellie called at nine and said she had to work over and would not be getting off till one AM. Shana called around and found me a date for the night her name was Susan we picked her up and we all went to the drive inn movie. Susan was alright but we did not click and we just watch the movie, one of the few times I watch the show. The next Friday we planed to go bowling and again Ellie was a no show and Shana and I played cards and listen to records till Cliff got there. Shana call her friend Gay and we went to pick her up but when we got there she had went with her boy friend Roy before we got there. Well we spent another night dragging the boulevard looking for me a date.  The next Friday a friend of Cliff and I, rick had got a case of beer and want us to go up to ant flats to spotlight rabbits and raise hell, so we loaded up our guns and stop to see if Shana and Ellie want to go rabbit hunting with us. Ellie was not around but Shana came along, we pick up Rick’s sister Barbara, who was my date. The next Friday was the 29 and my pay day, the movie Grand Prix with James Garner was play that night, and I want to see it.  I got off work and went home and cleaned up for the date that night. On my way to Shana’s and Ellie’s I bought a rose and chocolates for both girls. Cliff had got off at six; they had a breakdown at work and sent his shift home. I gave the rose and candy to Shana and Cliff told her that I needed a kiss for that. Wow there was more fire works going off than at Washington DC on the fourth and Times Square on new years. I did not want to stop, Cliff said that enough.  Shana told us the Ellie had move in with her boy friend, and she had set me up a date with her friend Janis. Well we head out two pick up Janis who lived on the way to the drive inn. The car broke down about a half mile from Janis’s house. Cliff and I pushed the car out of the street with Shana behind the wheel. Cliff was very piss off at the car and when we got it off the road he put his fist through the back window behind Shana. He cut up his hand pretty bad and scared Shana to boot. We decided to walk back into town and watch the movie at the walk-in. Cliff was still very upset and walk a head of Shana and I. Shana and I stop at a pay phone and called Janis and told her what had happen, and Cliff had stormed off a head of us.  It was a three mile walk back to the downtown area and the theater. As we walk in a group, Cliff had cooled down a bit; we pass a place call the Mecca, pool hall and beer joint. Cliff spotted a friend that owed Cliff some money in there playing pinball so Cliff went in to collect. Shana was only eighteen and could not go in so she and I waited out side on the street. Now everybody had been pick on my Stetson hat and it was in ruff shape, and we were standing next to the Cross western wear store, so I had Shana help me pick out a new hat while we waited for Cliff. Being I had a pocket full of dough I bought Shana a dark blue hat like mine also. We went back out to see if Cliff was ready to go, but he was playing pinball now and I told him Shana and I would go on down to the show and I would leave his ticket at the box office.

  Shana and I went to the show and watch it for the most part. I was in haven and hell my mine was on all that had happen and I wanted Shana for my own, but she was Cliff’s girl and he was my best friend. How could I tell her how I felt; what if she did not have any feeling for me and what would I tell Cliff?  The show was over and Shana just lived up the hill three block away. As we walk to her place it was sprinkling a light mist, we were holding hands as we walk and made small talk about the show. When we got the corner of her street and a hundred yards from her apartment, I stop her and face her and said “Shana if it were not for Cliff I would ask you to marry me. To hell with Cliff, will you marry me?”  She shouted YES before I could finish and we stood there kissing and hugging till the rain drove us inside her apartment, we were both soak to the skin. Shana made some coffee and got us a towels to dry off. We started to make plans to get married. We were both very excited. I got out my wallet and count what I had there was 97 dollars, I told her we could catch the train to Elko and get married, there was no waiting in Elko and no blood test to get. We had some coffee and tried to go to bed, the time was three thirty and the train left at five. So we decided to walk down to the china night restaurant a block from the train station, and had breakfast. We got on the train and Shana was excited as this was her first train ride and the first time she been out of Utah. As we rode the train we she told me she had the same feeling that first day we met and she was trying to find a way to dump Cliff and still see me. We got to Elko around noon. We took our picture at the Elko train station in one of them photo booths.

we were a little weathered from the rain

Then went to find out where we could get married. As we walk down the street we ran into some people we knew, but we did not know that we were both known by them, and they were the parents of a friend of both of us who was the Roy that Gay had the date with, two weeks earlier. Now this is the third Roy in this story he was the farther of the other Roy. He and his wife stood up for us as best man and bride’s maid.  Shana and I needed some clean clothes and we went to a store and bought matching western shirts.  Then got us a hotel room we registered as husband and wife. The next morning we went to the court house and got married, on October first 1967.

Growing up here in Utah it was hard to find a girl to date that was of my faith as my mother wished, so when I saw the rosary on Shana wall I took it as a sign that she was the girl my mother wanted me to marry. There are many more funny or strange happening to this story.  Shana and I had been in the same place at the same time and had never met many times before we met for the first time. She had been in a photo that was taken of me and some friends when I was about ten years old she had just skated into the picture at the local ice rink. We live less than a mile from each other, and knew many of the same people. Some of my friends became my nieces and nephews when Shana and I got married.

Shana died on the 24 of July but she lives on inside of me and we will be together some day. I hope it won’t be a long wait. He said what god has put together let no man put asunder. God did bless us with each other and his eternal love we share.

This is true as it happened to the best of my memory, there a few things I have left out, but nothing of this story is fiction or a fabrication.

Thank you for hearing our story of love. Your question and comments are welcome I will answer all if I can. I pray that you are blessed by god as I have. Thank you and god bless.