My first marriage occurred right after I turned 17 and he was almost 10 years older than myself. I was living with my sister at the time with a 6 month old baby and I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do, I was desperate. Giving up my baby had never been an option in my mind and I’m sure it was very selfish on my part to keep him, he told me years later that he was glad I hadn’t given him away.

I tried to find a job, but couldn’t and I didn’t know about welfare so I was desperate. I met this man when my sister and I were at the local teenage drive-in hangout spot. I wasn’t attracted to him, but he was so very nice and he seemed to like my baby and I didn’t want my baby to grow up without a Father and be called a bastard so after a month he asked us to marry him.

He had been so nice during that month that I had convinced myself that it was the right thing to do, this was in 1970 and being that desperate of mind I convinced myself it was the right thing for my Eric. I thought this man would love and protect us from the world. I wasn’t experienced enough where men were concerned to look at the big picture and ask why a 27 year old man wanted a teenager with a baby.

I had to have someone sign for me even though we got married in Georgia and the age limit was lower there. The person I said was my guardian actually wasn’t, but they accepted his signature. I had met this older person when I was in an orphanage for 4 years and he was the study hall teacher and I had a lot of respect for him. He would make me learn a new word everyday and how to use it and would grill me daily on the usage.

I was in this orphanage for 4 years from 1964-1968 when I went to live with my brother and his wife in PA from Tennessee and I wish I had known how drastically my life would change. Doc was the nickname everyone called this older gentleman that basically became my mentor for those 4 years and even afterwards until his death. He apparently could read a mans character and I couldn’t and tried to talk me out of the marriage, but I was stubborn….To be continued.