Sentimental Sunday: Plenty of Girls in Alexandria

I've been fortunate to be able to spend some time visiting with my mother during my lunch hour, and have been sharing my research discoveries and asking her questions about her memories of the family.  After begging her to 'write it all down', I finally realized that I would have to write it down myself.  Now I pack my lunch and a tablet of paper to try to record the stories as she remembers them before they are gone forever.

Today's post on Sentimental Sunday is dedicated to my grandparents, William Lee and Bonnie Mae (LAMBERTSON) WRIGHT.  Married June 7, 1941 in Madison County, Indiana, it wasn't too long before World War II came and grandpa joined the Army Air Corps.

 

Apparently, my great-grandmother, Edna Muriel "Peach" (PIERCE) WRIGHT, was quite a character and possibly fit the stereotype of a meddling mother-in-law.  I asked my mother to retell a tale that she was told about her parents and this time I was sure to write it down.

What was the story you told me about how great-grandma interfered with your dad & mom's relationship?

Grandma "Peach" kept telling dad that he didn't have to go to Elwood to find a girl; that there were plenty of girls in Alexandria.  She had one picked out for him who lived in Summitville, believe her name was Evelyn.

Dad enlisted in the Army Air Corps with uncle Bob Walsh.

Mom went up to the base at Duluth, Minnesota to be with dad.  While she was there, dad received a letter from Grandma "Peach" stating that mom was running around on him.

Did that cause a rift in the relationship between your dad and Grandma Peach?

They [mom & dad] just laughed about it.

Not sure what to make of this story, related to my mother by her mother, but it would appear that Grandma Peach may not have been happy with my grandfather's choice of a wife.  I wonder what the reaction truly was when my grandfather received that letter from his mother, telling him that his wife was out running around while he was in the service - and knowing that she was with him there on the base?

Mom wasn't sure how grandma and grandpa met, but Elwood and Alexandria are small communities with 10 miles of each other.  Apparently, however, Grandma Peach had her own ideas about who her son should marry.