This photograph of Mrs. RWP and me was made 51 years ago in November 1963. We had been married for six months. I think we look starry-eyed and deeply in love, but some people have told us over the years that we look glum and moody and solemn, and that our faraway looks seem to say, “What have I gotten myself into?”
That was certainly not our intention. The photographer had told us not to show our teeth “because people will get tired of looking at teeth over the years” and being the compliant type, we, er, complied.
President Kennedy’s assassination was but a week away. The birth of our first child was ten months away. We lived in Bellevue, Nebraska, where I was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base (Strategic Air Command Headquarters) and did not know that our future would include three children; six grandchildren; stays in Poughkeepsie, New York, and Boca Raton, Florida, and Marietta, Georgia; artificial knees (2007, her) and a heart attack (1996, me).
And except for the fact that ours isn’t finished yet, now you know (as Paul Harvey used to say) the rest of the story.
To see what we looked like on our wedding day and 47 years later, you only need click on this post from 2010.
It's an absolutely gorgeous picture Bob, filled with the hope and possibilities of a lovely couple just having committed to marriage and now facing the adventure of a new arrival. Ellie was (and still is)a very beautiful woman and radiates all that is within her.
ReplyDeleteLoved your sepia solemnity. And didn't interpret it as anything other than contentment.
ReplyDeleteAnd I loved your wedding photo and the more recent one too.
Thank you.
A lovely picture. I notice that in your potted biography you deliberately neglected to mention the secret mission to Sweden - rather close to Russian territory. Or were you in there? This omission merely adds weight to my CIA spying theory.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful photo. But I must say that "no one's going to want to look at teeth" comment is bizarre... A very handsome couple, then and now.
ReplyDeleteI love old photos - and that flattop is awesome! An Arkie's Musings
ReplyDeleteCongrats on 51 years of marriage. In this day and age, that's really something to be proud of.
ReplyDeleteA lovely photo where you look thoughtful but posed. You look so happy and natural on your wedding day.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that about Facebook, it sounds like a nice idea, and this photograph is a cracker. “because people will get tired of looking at teeth over the years”- that made me laugh, but in a way, it is nice that you both look so wistfully happy, no gnashers on show. And what hair you had! Mrs R's being lustrous and pretty, yours standing to attention and quite military in form. Where you in the military? ( Please don't be offended if you have already answered this because I do have brain drain issues and forget a great deal.) Having said that about teeth, the modern one of you both is a picture of two people who have had a happy life and it resonates out from your smiles I think. I love seeing a bit of people's history, a peek inside the door of who they were and/or are. *smiles.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all of you for your comments.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, we were not yet facing the adventure of a new arrival, not till about one month later.
Elephant's Child, ah, contentment! That describes us perfectly!
Yorky Poo, it was NOT a secret mission, it was a business trip for the Itty Bitty Machine Company (IBM). And the Baltic Sea separates Sweden from Russian territory. "Rather close" is in the eye of the beholder, I would say.
LightExpectations, I thought it was bizarre too. I've never heard another photographer say it. Thank you for calling us "a very handsome couple"!
Richie, and where does hair go when you really need it? Away, that's where. I wish I were half as awesome as my hair was.
La Nightingail, welcome to my blog! Mrs. RWP and I are very pleased to have made it to 51 years. I'm hoping for at least 65.
Sharon, welcome to my blog also! "Thoughtful but posed" pretty much nails the look. "Happy and natural" is a much better way to be.
All Consuming, I refer you to this sentence in the post: "I was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base (Strategic Air Command Headquarters)"... I spent 4 years and 9 months in Uncle Sam's Air Force between January 1961 and October 1965, over three years of it beneath the ground and not in the air. You made me laugh saying my hair was standing at attention, although I suppose it was! I never thought of it that way before. Flattops were all the rage in 1963.
I think Throwback Thursday is a great idea and I might borrow it . I need something to spur me on and give me a few blogging ideas. Lovely photo too !!
ReplyDeleteI'm rubbish aren't I? Hahahaha I find reading a bit of a challenge to be honest, at present, my brain won't take it all in, but I get the tune if not the lyrics if you get me hahaha. I'd love to see more pictures at some point.
ReplyDeleteA serious or thoughtful picture, even with directions from the photographer, leaves the same impression as the earliest photographs of people. For me that impression is that these faces should be remembered without the effort of looking happy...just the face itself. Sort of a mug shot, I guess. You have the advantage of knowing your faces and what that appearance indicates.
ReplyDeleteI never was very good at maths!
ReplyDeleteNot glum at all, just shows you were serious about each other. And now you have 51 years to prove it. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteOh! I've been away and nearly missed this one! What a GORGEOUS pic of you both! Mr. RWP - dreamy eyes of a young man who's found his forever love! Mrs. RWP - what a beautiful gal - LOVE your luscious hair and lovely dark eyes! On another note - THANK YOU so very much for your military sacrifices, Mr. RWP. It means so much to me that some, like you, sacrificed so much of your young lives to service for the good of the rest of us. Again, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks to the rest of you for your comments as well!
ReplyDeleteHelsie, maybe you could start Forget-me-not Friday.
All Consuming (Michelle), you most definitely are NOT rubbish.
B. Rogers in Black Mountain, welcome to my blog. "The effort of looking happy" seems sad, somehow.
Elizabeth, in your defense, nine calendar months is the same as ten lunar months.
Bob Scotney, welcome to my non-glum blog!
Hilltophomesteader,, no, thank YOU for all the nice things you said about us.
Even before I read it, I agreed with your interpretation of the photo.
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