We had kept in touch occasionally after I graduated in 1949 and I had visited her a few times when she was working in the Admission Office of Penn State, and sharing an apartment with several friends. Her hope for years was to own a fur coat, and she saved enough to buy this one.
In late 1952, I started visiting her on a more regular basis. At that time I was working for Ragnar Benson, Inc. on a construction project for Wheeling-Pittsburg Steel.
She says that I had insisted on writing to her Dad, not her. Her recollection is that I thought I should let them know we were getting married, and she said, “I’m over 21 and don’t need my Father’s permission , but if you want to let them know, it’s ok with me.” This is the first time that we have ever disagreed on some past event or detail!
I didn't know much about engagement rings so I asked her to find one she liked, which she did. I don't remember this, but this is what she told me when I was writing this. We decided to get married at State College at the Stevenson house at 727 W. College Avenue where I had stayed, and where we had first met.
I found a house to rent in Charleroi, Pa on North 7th Street. It was a narrow, two-story house with a basement, within walking distance down to the business district, but a a steep hill coming back. We arranged to move Margeet’s furniture from State College, which also included a number of glass-doored bookcases and many books she was minding for her parents. She and my Mother went to pick out a bedroom set for us. This let us use her bedroom furniture for a guest room.
We were married on June 21, 1953 which turned out to be a humid day in the mid-nineties. Early that morning, Frank Stevenson, my brother Tony and I went out to the old Stevenson farm to cut mountain laurel blossoms to decorate the fireplace, living room and stairs Margeet would walk down for the ceremony.The day was so hot that Betty Stevenson sprayed the top of the metal awning over the front porch several times before the ceremony.
Tony was my best man and Joanne Bender Thompson was matron of honor. John and Erma Stevenson stood in for her parents, and John escorted Margeet to the fireplace for the ceremony. For our honeymoon of one week, we took a tour of various places in Ontario, Canada, visiting many of my favorite spots from the summer I worked there and around the Great Lakes. On our way home, we stopped at Presque Isle in Erie for a day on the beach.
Three days after returning to work, I stepped on a nail in the ball of my foot, had to get tetanus shots, and missed several days of work. I remember that I received a lot of teasing when I returned to the job, and was accused of trying to extend the honeymoon.
One day after we had been living there for a few months, Margeet asked me if I noticed anything different about our bedroom. We went there, and after looking it over, I saw a new sewing machine. She hesitated, and then told me that she had purchased it about three weeks ago and it had been there all that time!
Marguerite and I had known each other since 1945 when she was 14 and living with the Stevensons in State College and at State College High School. Her Dad had returned to Pittsburgh with her Mother after the war.
We were starting to get serious about our relationship and got engaged in the spring of 1953. Margeet was a stickler for doing everything properly, so she asked me to write to her Dad in Iran to get his blessings for our marriage, which I did. When she proof-read this account in 2000, Margeet said I had it all backwards.
