Sherman was sitting on his back porch swing and he watches Mildred walking up and down the tree lines and he has a worried, sad look on his face and Walter, Sunshine and Max come walking up. And they see what he is looking at and they get concerned, each one of them sits in a lawn chair then Walter asks,
"What's going on with mom?"
Sherman looks at him, sighs then says,
"She's sad, today is November 20...the last time she was with her father"
Sunshine's face falls then she says,
"Oh no!"
Sherman shakes his head then says,
"Yes, she'll wind up down at the creek, that's the last place she was with her dad before he died"
Walter asks him,
"This was their house?"
Sherman then tells him,
"No, this house wasn't even here back in the 20's but this land was always here, it used to be a beautiful patch of prairie land. It looked like the sun had kissed this piece of land and the trees weren't quite as thick back then so it was easier to go down to the creek so we had our wedding and the reception on this land"
Sunshine asks him,
"Oh, please tell us about the wedding!"
Sherman smiles and says,
" Why not? It will add some sunshine to this cloudy day. Well, it really started several months earlier. I had just graduated college and I knew what I wanted to do, I wanted to be a doctor...I guess I always knew I wanted to be a doctor since I worked with my uncle in his vet's practice. And I wanted to be a surgeon, that I knew more than anything and I wanted Mildred Moore to be my wife.
Well, one day I was out in the back of the house, I was pretty much in a cold sweat , my heart was pounding like 15 horses in a race! I didn't know which end was up but then I looked up and I saw the prettiest little face this side of Dixie looking at me. It was Mildred and she took my hands, held them and asked,
"Is there something you want to tell me?"
She knew. So I took a deep breath and I got down on one knee and I asked her,
"Miss Mildred Moore, will you be my wife?"
She didn't even looked shocked or surprised, she just...tears just gathered in her eyes and she smiled and said,
"Yes"
I was so shocked that I nearly forgot to breathe then I let out something that was close to a Indian war cry and I picked her up by her tiny waist and swung her around and around until she made me stop and put her down. She then said,
"Let's go home and tell daddy and momma"
At the mention of that, sweat breaks out on me again like I was out in a downpour and I take a gulp and says,
"I suppose I should ask your dad for your hand in marriage"
She just smiles and gently touches my face and says,
"That would be nice"
She takes me by the hand and we slowly walk to her house and when we got there, her dad was walking in the garden looking over his budding plants and when we get closer, Mildred waves her arms and says,
"Daddy!"
Mister Moore comes over and hugs his daughter then she looks at me then she smiles and says,
"Daddy, Sherman wants to talk to you about something"
Mister Glenn Moore looks at me and I want to go under the grass below my feet and he says,
"Oh?"
She walks into the house and says,
"Yes Daddy and you need to listen carefully...he's having trouble forming words"
I didn't see his hidden smile and he looks at me then says,
"Let's go over here"
For some reason, my collar felt tight even tho I knew it wasn't. I followed him into the garden and he just started picking up the squash and he asks quite simply,
"What do you want to talk about?"
I look up at the sky and see the birds flying and I say,
"Well...I...um, what do you think of those birds up there?"
Mister Moore looks up and sees them then says,
"They sure are fine, but I'm sure you didn't want to talk about the birds Sherman, what is it you wanted?"
I watch him let the squash he has fall into the bucket then I just take a deep breath and say,
"Mister Moore, I have, well, I mean, I..."
Suddenly I realized that here I was, 26 years old, practically raised myself since I was 15, a veteran of a war, I was going to be a surgeon and here I was about to wet my pants like a 6 year old just talking to this man about his daughter! I was pathetic! But anyway, I finally got up the words to say,
"Mister Moore, I have come to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage"
It was then that I held my breath for what seemed a eternity but I was determined to stand there as a man with my head held high and my chest sticking out like a baboon but I thought I was standing like a man in war, I was looking just like a fool and he knew it. Mister Moore let the last of the squash go in the bucket then he looks at me and he says,
"All right"
That's all he said, just a simple 'All right' but it was so...unexpected. I let my chest lay down like a balloon and a slow smile crept on my face like the ants to a lunch and I let out a war cry again! I just started running and I found myself running through the pea patch, I hear him say,
"Hey!"
I then see what I'm doing and I hop out and I mouth 'I'm sorry' and I continue running around like a horse in a dance show! I ran out of the garden and I continue bumping into things.
Mister Moore scratches his head and his wife, Brenda comes out and she asks,
"What was that all about?"
He looks at her and says,
"Boy just asked for our daughter's hand in marriage"
She smiles and says,
"Oh?"
Then he says,
"Yeah, but now I'm thinking that when it comes to brains, he got the short end of the stick, look at him"
Just then I run into the garden rake and Mrs. Moore smiles and says,
"Oh, leave him be. It wasn't so very long ago that you did the very same thing...daddy had to buy a momma a new wash tub after you got though with it"
They put their arms around each other and hug while I make a new dang dancing act for them to watch!"
{
Back in November of 1965-
Walter, Sunshine and Max all but roll on the ground with laughter while Misty and Kim Lee run up to Mildred and take her by her tender hands and lead her down to the creek and Sherman smiles and he thinks on something then says,
"Well, after several months of making plans, being pinned and prodded for outfits and Mildred and her mom and sisters making secret plans and having meetings that was nothing short of a military meeting that I was not allowed to!
The wedding was planned to be on November 20, and I discovered that asking for Mildred's hand was a whole lot easier than than breathing that day. My friend Alvin was my best man and Mildred's sister Bertha and Rose stood up by her, then I'll never forget the best vision I ever saw...Mildred was coming down the aisle...her dress was this long cream colored dress with a square neckline with wide cream colored ribbons on each shoulder, sleeves, short and full and ribbons in the back and since we were outside, she had on a matching brim hat and she wore gloves.
She was a vision. And I'll never forget the words the preacher said,
"Do you Sherman Theodore Potter take Mildred Carolyn Moore to be your lawfully wedded wife in sickness and health,for richer, for poorer, to cherish her all the day of your life, forsaking all others until death do you part?"
I proudly smile then say,
"Yes, I do"
Mildred said her part then the next thing I knew the minister pronounced us man and wife, we kissed and started our lives together. We had a reception over there and she and I celebrated with friends and family and danced many a song but then as it was about time to leave, she said she just wanted one more dance with her daddy.
We had the band play 'Leave me with a smile' and I can honestly swear that the whole lot of us held our breaths in and watched a beautiful tender moment. Then when the song ended, they went down to the creek and just stayed there, the two of them for a hour, maybe more. Just being father and daughter. I had a strange feeling about it so I just let them.
Sherman sighs then says,
"We got a telegram two weeks later when we were about to leave St. Louis and come back home. Glenn Moore had passed away in his sleep...he had his final heart attack"
Back in 1965-
Everyone of them has tears in their eyes as Sherman says his final words then Mildred comes back up there with the two girls, the little girls go sit by Sherman and Mildred softly says,
"I'm going in the house and start supper"
Sherman shakes his head then asks,
"Would everybody mind after we eat, that we be alone?"
Sunshine says,
"Sure, we got the guest room ready. Max and Kim Lee can come over"
Misty then asks,
"Grandpa, can we read?"
He looks down at her and smiles and says,
"Sure"
Sunshine hands him the book off the table and he starts to read Misty the next chapter of 'Black Beauty'