Margie and Bud first met in the summer of 1953. She was 17, and dancing for Avery Production Company at Midwest summer county fairs. Bud was 21 and worked the night shift at the paper mill in Portage, Michigan, and attending college.
While at the fair in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Margie and two other dancers befriended a boy who drove them in his yellow convertible to his friend Bud's house. The five of them talked, drank milk with ice cubes, and listened to Stan Keton's "23 Degrees North and 83 Degrees West." Margie and Bud were smitten with each other.
At the end of the summer tour, Margie returned to Illinois to start her senior year in high school, and Bud continued to work and go to college. They talked on the phone, wrote letters, and Bud drove 160 miles each way to visit Margie on the weekends. In 1954, at age 18, my mom celebrated her high school graduation and her engagement to Bud at the same party.
But marriage was not meant to be for the two young lovebirds. My mom said she was immature and times were different back then. She wished she understood and could communicate her feelings better.
Her parents and church had ingrained in her that a woman doesn't live with, or sleep with a man until they're married. And once you're married, a woman gives up her career ambitions and supports her husband, their children, and home. My mom had just been offered a position managing a dance studio and her dream was to own it someday.
She gave back the ring and broke Bud's heart. They .
