happy picture stop

Mom and Dad married in 1945. The war was on, times were tight, and they were a happy couple. Dad would later tell of falling for Mary Louise the moment he met her.

Very soon after they married, they began the long journey north to Boston where Dad would study for his doctorate. Their fully loaded, old car had trouble in North Carolina, and they didn't know what else to do but wire home for help. They got a motel room, and wired home to Apa, Dad's dad. Telegrams were charged by the word, so brevity was a virtue. Dad's telegram to his dad read, "Carburetor gone. Send $50."

The next day, Dad was perplexed when his father wired $100 in reply. The family was careful with money, and it was not like Apa to send $50 more than requested. With the $100, they were able to get the car fixed and be on their way to Boston. Some time passed before Dad had opportunity to ask his father about why he had sent $100 instead of the $50 requested.

As it turned out, the Western Union man in the little south Alabama town who received Dad's wire to his father knew Apa personally. Perhaps because the message seemed a bit urgent, the Western Union man decided to call Apa and read him the message over the phone ("Carburetor gone. Send $50."), before he delivered the message in person. Apa misunderstood the message over the phone and thought his newlywed son had wired, "Mary Louise gone. Send $50."

So Apa did what he could to help his son in a tight spot. Mom laughed later that Dad's friends who heard the story would jokingly say that Apa had sent the extra money for Dad to celebrate.

I thought about this story (and this other one about Uncle John and Aunt Nina) when I heard that Western Union quit delivering telegrams last week for the first time since 1856.

Pictured above

Happy picture of sweet couple at 1988 Philadelphia reunion stop