49 years later and we are still married
Shortly after we were married (October 24, 1970) my father helped my husband join the Elk’s club in Pratt. My parents had belonged for several years and we had enjoyed going there with them to eat. The steaks were really good and you could have a mixed drink, which you couldn’t get very many places.
We stopped in there almost every Friday evening when we went back home for the weekend. We were there enough that the waitress knew when we came in the door what we wanted to drink and probably knew before we did what we were going to eat.
The year of our second anniversary we decided to go down to the supper club and celebrate our anniversary. We arrived around 6:30 and walked to our favorite table so that our favorite waitress could wait on us.
We had barely settled on our chairs when our favorite drinks were place in front of us. She asked us what we wanted to eat and we both told her the usual and off she went to place the order and to bring us our salads.
When she came back to the table she asked us why we were so dressed up and we informed her that we were celebrating our 2nd anniversary. She congratulated us and stood and talked to us for few minutes. She wanted to know if my parents were going to join us, and I told her that dad had to announce a football game in the small town they lived in, so it would just be us that evening.
Sitting at the next table was a couple of older men and one seemed very intent on our conversation. When she was ready to leave our table the larger of the two spoke to her and told her to put our drinks for the evening on his check as an anniversary gift.
We told him thank you and that we really appreciated the gesture. We only had one drink whenever we were there because we had another 60 miles to drive after supper.
During the meal my husband and I talked about growing up in our little town and the fact that my husband played pool while growing up at the old barber shop. But what we didn’t talk about was the fact that he had played during college and rarely lost a game.
I noticed several times that the larger man at the other table seemed to be listening to our conversation, but I tried to ignore him. When we were finished with our meal my husband asked for the check so we could leave.
The larger man at the next table came over and wished us a happy anniversary again and asked my husband if he would be interested in a game of pool. Well he never passed up the chance for a game, so we adjourned to the pool room.
The man asked him if he wanted to place a bet on the game and they decided on a dollar for the first game. My husband let him win this game by a small margin and the man was convinced he could beat him again.
So he asked my husband if he would bet the price of each others meals on the next game. My husband reluctantly agreed and gave me a little smile and a wink. I knew the man had no idea what he had just walked into, so I settled into a chair in the corner to watch.
The game began and it didn’t take very long for my husband to beat him but by just a little so the older man felt my husband had been lucky. The man called the waitress in and told her to put our meals on his ticket and to bring him a double of whatever he had been drinking.
Now he was really determined to beat my husband soundly. He asked my husband if he would bet $5.00 on the next game? My husband agreed. So they began again and this game lasted just 15 minutes and my husband was $5.00 richer.
How about another one for the same amount the man asked and he kept at my husband to play more games until he had lost $25.00 when he finally decided he had lost enough. When he told my husband he had to leave, he told him he thought he had been taken for a ride by a pro, but he paid the $25.00.
After he had grudgingly paid my husband he walked over to me as I sat on the chair in the corner and handed me his business card and as I glanced down at it I noticed he was an attorney.
He told me if I ever wanted a divorce I was to call him and it would be free. He pointed a finger at my husband and said we would take him to the cleaners. The look that he gave my husband as he left the pool room had probably made witnesses wither and cringe but it only made my husband chuckle, as he pocketed his winnings for the evening.
But now we have been married 51 years and the man didn’t get the chance to get even with my husband by giving me a free divorce. To contact Sandy: [email protected]
