The Red Flannel Rag

motherhood. When I asked Mom how she became interested in Dad, she told me, “I

wanted to see a Laurel and Hardy movie and so I caught a ride to Harrisonburg with Jim

and Hazel. The movie cost ten cents, and I didn’t have it, so I asked Marshall

Kirkpatrick if he would take me to the movie. He grinned and said, ‘Sure, I’ll take you.’”

Mom said, “Then I got scared and didn’t want to go with him by myself, so I asked him i f

he would also take Hazel. He said, ‘No, I ain’t takin’ nobody else.’”

“I figured right then, Marshall would want to get paid for spending ten cents on

me, so I told him to forget it,” Mom said. “But I wanted to see the movie so I looked

around the restaurant for somebody else to ask and there set Norman Shifflett. He had

stopped in for lunch when his shift ended at the shoe factory. I walked over and asked

him if he would take me and Hazel to see Laurel and Hardy.” He answered right away,

“Yes, I’d be glad to take you all to see it.” Mom smiled and told me, “That was the

beginning of us gettin’ together.”

Their dates consisted of meeting in Harrisonburg on Saturdays, going to the

movies and stage shows. They saw many movies but the one that Mom remembers most

was “Gone with the Wind.” They saw Tex Ritter, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry on stage.

After the movie they would eat a hamburger or a hotdog at Layman’s Restaurant on

Liberty Street. After each date, Mom went home with Rob and Goldie, and Dad went

home with Uncle Lurty.

Once they were seen together more than once at Layman’s Restaurant by the

folks from Hopkins Gap, they were considered a couple, and speculation began about

the timing of an upcoming wedding. On Sunday afternoons Dad visited Mom when he

could get a ride to Aunt Goldie’s house where they were under the supervision of Uncle

49