The course of true love never does run smooth. Sometimes one has to steal their sister’s date in order to make things happen. At least this was the case for one 15-year-old girl named Shirley.
Things seem to have worked out just fine for her. She and Harold got married three years after that fateful night. Her sister even got over it eventually. Shir and Harold Peasley would go on to have four kids of their own as well as one “unofficial” adopted son who grew up near the family. They recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
Shirley’s sister Kay was supposed to go out with Harold one night but that never ended up happening. “She should have been ready when he showed up,” Shirley mused. “She was taking too long getting ready.”
Kay’s delay gave Harold and Shirley time to get to know each other. Shirley was smitten with Harold from the start. “I thought he was handsome and I knew he was popular in school with sports and everything,” she recalled. “So of course I wanted to date him.”
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Harold seems to be a man of few words. “That was over 70 years ago. Who can remember?” he said. He does know their secret to a successful marriage. “We do everything together and enjoy every thing we do,” he explained. “I’m not good at words.”
Shirley is so thankful for Harold. “He waits on me hand and foot. If I tell him I’m gonna go get the clothes out of the dryer, he’s out there and got them out before I can do it,” Shirley gushed. “He takes good care of me.”
Daughter Kris Flanders says her parents gave her an ideal childhood. “Growing up, my life was like a fairy tale,” she gushed. “We were camping, we were boating. They were just amazing parents. I hang out with my parents now because they are so much fun.”
“I know my aunt was a little miffed at first, but she got over it. They're just so in love. It's crazy. I mean, I went to dinner with them the other night and I kept looking over and my dad would have his hand on her leg,” Kris went on to say. “It's really cool to watch them together.”
Many of Shirley and Harold’s extended family members found out about how they met during a cruise on which the happy couple was celebrating their 50th anniversary with family and friends. They took part in a “love and marriage” event where the host asked them how they met and the story came out. They also shared the most unusual place they had ever made love, which was a little too much for the grandkids.
“So as we’re watching my mother, dying in laughter, we find out that my dad used to take her to go ‘looking for bears,’ and they would go to this mountain top and call it bear hunting," Kris recalled. Here’s to 70 more years of wedded bliss to the happy bear hunters.
