From Chicken Soup for the Soul: True Love
By Sallie A. Rodman
When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
~Nora Ephron
I ran to the mailbox and opened the lid. There was a letter inside stamped Camp Pendleton, CA and addressed in a familiar scrawling script. I ripped it open and let out a yell.
"Mom, Paul is definitely coming home on leave next week!"
"Well, thank God!" she replied. "You two can work out all the wedding details."
We had been planning a huge wedding through the mail since Paul left for Marine boot camp in January. It was now mid-May and our nuptials were to take place in September. I hadn't seen him since he left; we couldn't talk on the phone, and even writing letters was hard for him. There is a saying in the services, "If the (insert branch of the service) wanted you to have family they would have issued you one." The Marine Corps owned Paul. He confessed that some nights, after writing me a letter by flashlight, he would sneak down the road in his boxers, and deposit it in the base mail slot. We called it "midnight mail." Dangerous at best.
~Nora Ephron
I ran to the mailbox and opened the lid. There was a letter inside stamped Camp Pendleton, CA and addressed in a familiar scrawling script. I ripped it open and let out a yell.
"Mom, Paul is definitely coming home on leave next week!"
"Well, thank God!" she replied. "You two can work out all the wedding details."
We had been planning a huge wedding through the mail since Paul left for Marine boot camp in January. It was now mid-May and our nuptials were to take place in September. I hadn't seen him since he left; we couldn't talk on the phone, and even writing letters was hard for him. There is a saying in the services, "If the (insert branch of the service) wanted you to have family they would have issued you one." The Marine Corps owned Paul. He confessed that some nights, after writing me a letter by flashlight, he would sneak down the road in his boxers, and deposit it in the base mail slot. We called it "midnight mail." Dangerous at best.
The weekend finally arrived and I was on cloud nine. Paul was taking me to dinner and the theater. I felt like a queen in my new black dress and pearls. He showed up with roses promptly at seven."Ready for the time of your life?" he asked after a long kiss hello. I didn't realize how prophetic that phrase was.
"Babe, I've waited for this day forever. Let's go," I replied and with that he whisked me to the car with my parents waving goodbye and smiling at the door.
Paul wouldn't tell me where we were going for dinner but I didn't care; just being with him was enough.
We pulled into the parking lot of General Lee's in Chinatown. Walking up Bamboo Way, I couldn't believe Paul was actually here. As we ate, we kept touching hands across the table reassuring each other that this wasn't a dream.
After the main course the waiter put two fortune cookies down on the table with two orange slices. Paul poured more tea for me while I read my fortune.
"Hmmm... my fortune says 'Don't do anything on the spur of the moment'," I mused. Wonder what that means? "What could we do on the spur of the moment?" I asked.
"We could elope," Paul suggested shyly.
"We can't do that... can we?" My mind raced. "My parents would kill us. My dad has already rented the country club, I have my dress, the bridesmaids have their dresses, the church..."
"You're probably right," Paul interrupted. "Still, it does sound daring."
"Oh, this is crazy," I said. But I knew I loved Paul madly and this was the most thrilling thing I could imagine.
"Where can we elope on a Saturday night?" I asked, still intrigued with this romantic notion of becoming man and wife immediately.
"Well, I read in the paper that if we go to Yuma, you can get a blood test and then slip back into California to a place called Winterhaven. They marry you right away. But you're right, it's a crazy idea," Paul stated.
"Yeah, crazy," I said, sitting there just staring at Paul.
"Can I get married if I'm only nineteen?" I asked, still intrigued.
"Sure, we'll stop by our houses and pick up our birth certificates on the way."
The more we talked the more exciting the idea sounded.
"Well, what are we going to do?" I asked. "Is it the theater or Yuma?"
Paul smiled and whispered, "Yuma."
And with that the idea was set in motion. After paying our tab, we practically ran to Paul's car. We were two love-crazed kids and we were going to be married.
"Babe, I've waited for this day forever. Let's go," I replied and with that he whisked me to the car with my parents waving goodbye and smiling at the door.
Paul wouldn't tell me where we were going for dinner but I didn't care; just being with him was enough.
We pulled into the parking lot of General Lee's in Chinatown. Walking up Bamboo Way, I couldn't believe Paul was actually here. As we ate, we kept touching hands across the table reassuring each other that this wasn't a dream.
After the main course the waiter put two fortune cookies down on the table with two orange slices. Paul poured more tea for me while I read my fortune.
"Hmmm... my fortune says 'Don't do anything on the spur of the moment'," I mused. Wonder what that means? "What could we do on the spur of the moment?" I asked.
"We could elope," Paul suggested shyly.
"We can't do that... can we?" My mind raced. "My parents would kill us. My dad has already rented the country club, I have my dress, the bridesmaids have their dresses, the church..."
"You're probably right," Paul interrupted. "Still, it does sound daring."
"Oh, this is crazy," I said. But I knew I loved Paul madly and this was the most thrilling thing I could imagine.
"Where can we elope on a Saturday night?" I asked, still intrigued with this romantic notion of becoming man and wife immediately.
"Well, I read in the paper that if we go to Yuma, you can get a blood test and then slip back into California to a place called Winterhaven. They marry you right away. But you're right, it's a crazy idea," Paul stated.
"Yeah, crazy," I said, sitting there just staring at Paul.
"Can I get married if I'm only nineteen?" I asked, still intrigued.
"Sure, we'll stop by our houses and pick up our birth certificates on the way."
The more we talked the more exciting the idea sounded.
"Well, what are we going to do?" I asked. "Is it the theater or Yuma?"
Paul smiled and whispered, "Yuma."
And with that the idea was set in motion. After paying our tab, we practically ran to Paul's car. We were two love-crazed kids and we were going to be married.
At my house I told my dad I had to have my birth certificate to get into a go-go club and he handed it over, no questions asked. I felt guilty about lying to him, but I was young and in love.
Paul stopped at his apartment and got his certificate, borrowed $50 from his roommate and we hit the road to Yuma. His roommate thought we were doing the most exciting thing in the world and wished us luck.
I was in heaven as we whizzed down the road at speeds approaching eighty. The balmy night air whipped through the open windows as we clung to each other in the front seat. Finally, it dawned on me.
"Paul, I have to let my parents know where I am. When morning comes and I'm not home, they'll be worried sick."
This was before cell phones and e-mail, so we stopped in Indio and sent telegrams to both our parents.
"Have eloped. STOP. Love you both. STOP Sallie and Paul. STOP."
Back on the road, we drove all night except to stop for gas. Paul's Plymouth Fury was guzzling gas like a fiend and our funds were getting low.
We finally pulled into Yuma around six on Sunday morning. We shared a breakfast at a small diner so that we would have enough money left for the blood tests. I was so excited I didn't need much food but my Marine was a hungry guy.
The clinic opened at eight and we were the first in line. We got our results and headed to the Lutes Gretna Wedding Chapel. There before the minister's wife and daughter we said, "I do" with stars in our eyes.
Now I'm not going to lie and say going home to face my parents was easy, but Dad understood, being a romantic at heart himself. He celebrated getting his deposit back from the country club by buying a new Thunderbird. I sold my dress to my best friend, and Paul went back to boot camp a tired, happy, and married Marine. I set up house in a little apartment until we could afford our first home.
It has been forty-five years and guess where we're going to dinner? Here's a clue, it's located on Bamboo Way and serves great fortune cookies.
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