Keystrokes By Kimberly
I LOVE IT! 50 years of LOVE and marriage.
On May 4, 2012 at the 110th Commencement for Northeastern University Colin L. Powell, USA, Ret. shared this sweet message as part of him speech “This is the first time I have ever been on the campus of Northeastern University, and a beautiful and creative and exciting campus it is. But I am not a stranger to this neighborhood. I have to tell you this story. Many years ago, I was a young infantry lieutenant stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, about an hour west of here. One day a fellow lieutenant asked me to join him on a double date with some young ladies who lived in the Back Bay section, about five minutes from here on Marlborough Street.
He was interested in one of the ladies, and he asked me to join him, to run interference with the other one. I had never been on a blind date, but he persuaded me to go. She was no more interested in a blind date than I was. I was a young Army lieutenant from Harlem and the South Bronx. She came from a prominent family of educators in Birmingham, Alabama. She was working on her master’s degree here in Boston at Emerson College, and she worked at the Boston Guild for the Hard of Hearing. She was definitely out of my league.
I walked in and was pleasantly surprised, as, apparently, was she. We ended up dating for a number of months, and then President Kennedy had an idea. Let’s send Powell to Vietnam, to help with the build-up of advisors to see if we can help the Vietnamese. I was to be part of that team. I was excited and eager to go. So I drove to Marlborough Street and shared the news with the young lady. I talked about the adventure that was ahead, and that this was what being a soldier was all about.
She listened patiently and then she quietly said, “What about us?” “No problem,” I said. “I’ll be back in a year!” Her eyes narrowed, and she raised one of those scary eyebrows that women sometimes raise. I knew I was in trouble.
We were married two weeks later in Birmingham. We had a one-day honeymoon, and then I moved in with her at 372 Marlborough Street for a few months, before I left for Vietnam. It was a wonderful little one-roomer—that was our first home. This August, Alma, the pretty girl from Marlborough Street, and I will celebrate our fiftieth wedding anniversary. So, thank you, Boston! Thank you, Marlborough Street!”
And on Saturday, August 25th the Powell’s did just that, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary to you…