Sewing It Up

In mid September 1975, Yvonne invited me to go home with her for the weekend ... this was not a 'meet the parents' thing .. just an offer to get away from the routine of carousing all the time ... so off we went 2 hours to Yvonne's home turf ... well actually a relative's place who was celebrating an anniversary .. of course I didn't know anybody so I just sat by the front door .. but I had strategically located a case of beer out there .. and Yvonne's brother just kept quietly and surreptitiously passing me one ... I got hammered ...

The next morning we were off to her parents place about 25 minutes away from the old homestead ... they had an apartment over one of the Pizza Delights they owned .. it was closer and made more sense for management and operation of the enterprise .. I was as hungover as you can be and still function .. during the full dinner I had to excuse myself a couple of times because I thought I was to vomit ... but professional partier I am .. I managed to hold it together ...

One thing I didn't anticipate was that I was a very visible minority in Yvonne's hometown ... the town is about 95% Catholic if not more .. I was a protestant and that stuck out like a 10 foot pole ... in fact Yvonne's mother mentioned at one point in private to Yvonne ... Connor ... that's not a Catholic name is it ... Catholics are Conners or O'Connor ... I am not sure how she dealt with that ... but Yvonne's parents were always a class act ... I think it was her mother's way and bringing an obvious issue up ... and then maybe in that way indicating it wasn't really a big deal ... if the tables had been turned and that had been my mother .. well ... get out the jock strap ... 

We continued to date off and on during the fall but pretty soon we were constant companions ... either as a couple .. or with Bill and RC and the rest of the crowd ... somehow ... I don't remember .. I figured out Yvonne was a sewer ... meaning made her own outfits and accessories ... the Xmas dance was coming up where we worked ... she didn't have a gown but she could make one .. I purchased a sewing machine for her as an early Xmas present .. and she made the outfit she wore to the dance ... yes .. I continued to gift major appliances ... I hadn't learned a thing ... 

That Xmas 1975 ... was the first Xmas I spent ostensibly alone .. Yvonne had gone home ... I was supposed to go to work on the night shift on Xmas eve ... I dropped in to Bill's and one thing lead to another .. I phoned in .. the shift said they didn't need me .. I stayed with Bill that night ... and that was the night that I made up my mind that I would ask Yvonne to marry me  .. if she would ... she was the perfect match for me ... and nothing was the same if she was not there ... 


Phil (17 January 2021 - San Patricio de Melaque - 8:38 PM)


Krome Koan - 'She who dies with the most fabric wins'




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