Some girlfriends and I were visiting and one shared the very charming story of how her parents met. And I thought, "I have no idea how my parents met!" So I decided to ask - and I took notes too! The above and below photos are of my dad with a girlfriend named Donna. Apparently they were good friends - and my dad and her mom wanted it to be more than friendship.
But Donna, in spite of her smiling demeanor, just saw my dad as a friend. My mom said that all the women in the ward liked Dad - and kind of doted on him. My mom said, "They all thought of him as this orphan who was so dutifully caring for his younger brothers." (he wasn't an orphan - his dad was alive) And they thought he'd be good husband material too.
My mom said she met my dad at a dance at the Arlington Ward - which met in the Wilshire Ebell Theater! She said they were in the same ward, so he knew who she was. He asked her to dance and apparently liked what he found, because he started asking her out. But it was kind of a gradual romance. They dated for a year or more - and then were engaged for about 9 months.
In fact, at first she was not impressed with him. And her dad thought he drove too fast. (He had a '33 Ford.) But his perseverance paid off - and there are those of us who are certainly glad it worked out the way it did!!
Funny story - when my youngest sister Donna was born, she was number 11. I guess my folks had run out of names, because my dad came home from the hospital and asked us for suggestions! My best friend Marguerite had an older sister named Donna Jean, and I thought she was very cool and sophisticated - so I suggested Donna Jean!
It's the name they chose, and sometimes my mom would assert that my dad had named her after his old girlfriend. But I always corrected her - I wanted credit for my choice!!
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