Well, everyone liked him, but she
had only been 16, (“Almost
was 17!” she still would say),
when he met both her parents first
and said, “Yes, I am 25,
but can I take your daughter out?”

They made him wait six months, and have
what then was called a double date,
and bring her back by ten. But when
she was in college and told them
it’s his ring on her finger, then
they almost made her stay at home.

He promised she would graduate,
and so they set their wedding date.
In spite of strong parental fears,
they have been married for ten years.

[For M and K, whose life has been
only somewhat like this.]

– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, April 23, 2015