The Girl in the Door … and a Half-century of Joy
Published in Marietta Daily Journal Aug. 16, 2015
Fifty years ago today – August 16,
1965 – I and several other guys strode across the grounds of a northern
Wisconsin youth camp to meet the girl counselors. The week of camp was a culmination of a
summer full of Vacation Bible Schools around the state. The youth from all the churches we college
kids had served in were arriving and unpacking.
As we approached the girls’ dorm, I
saw her standing in the doorway. My
heart raced. I lingered behind my
fellow male counselors as three words bombarded my brain: “There she is!”
I had been praying for her to cross
my path since I was 15. In many ways I
was old when I was young, overly serious about everything. So serious that even dating – or the dating
scene – seemed frivolous. Actually I
didn’t want to date and dated little. I
wanted and expected God to parachute a beautiful Christian girl into my life so
that we could get on with life.
It was now happening! Parachuted down into the beautiful woodlands
of Wisconsin, there she stood in the doorway of her dorm room amidst several
middle school girls. Why did I sense
that she was a country girl? How, even
before speaking, could I now know for certain that my yearning for the girl of
my dreams was over? And look at how
she’s greeting the guys even as she attends to a couple of her young campers. Look at her composure and her quiet
confidence.
Though a shy fellow, I wasn’t
worried about introducing myself. All
that mattered now was that there she stood and my heart was at rest.
I don’t recall our introductory
words. I do remember that after long
days of classes, hikes and recreation with campers, we counselors would gather
and talk long into the night. That’s how
I learned that Nancy Milligan was a Tennessee milkmaid. Raised on a farm near Murfreesboro, she was a
country girl extraordinaire. She was no
stranger to work or to excellence.
Milking cows and picking peas were simply a way of life. During college years, being a delegate to the
National 4-H Congress was a fitting conclusion to her farm upbringing.
At the end of the week I was one sad
21-year-old guy. Far from the Deep South,
I was homesick. But I didn’t want to
leave the camp or Green Bay where I had spent most of the summer. The girl in the door was the main reason, but
there were others.
The small church I attended sat
right beside Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. Packers coach Vince Lombardi ruled the world
and his raging fullback, Jim Taylor, attended the same church I attended. One
Sunday we sat beside each other. My head
would not have spun more had I been sitting beside the Pope (or the president
of the Southern Baptist Convention). The
thought of leaving Green Bay and the Packers intensified the sadness.
Another pull on my emotions was the
beauty of Wisconsin. If there was a
single piece of litter in America’s Dairyland, it escaped my eye. (My beloved Southland wasn’t and still isn’t
so litter-free.) Clean towns, barns and
immaculate fields punctuated the landscape.
On the last day of camp, I asked Nancy
for her Tennessee address. Countless
times on the Greyhound headed home I unfolded and stared at the tiny piece of
crumpled paper that bore her name and address.
So my wife wouldn’t be one of those beautiful Mississippi girls after
all. And I would meet her “up North!”
Living in two different states made
courting difficult. But I don’t like
dating, remember. I just want to get
married. We did, two years later almost
to the day. Our wedding was only our 10th
time to see each other, having courted primarily via U.S. Mail and long
distance Southern Bell telephone lines.
My Nancy got a degree in English
from Middle Tennessee and taught school for 2 and a half years before stopping
to raise our children. She could run the
world but chose to run a household.
Several years later she resumed teaching and spoke often of two of her
exceptionally delightful students, the Kendrick brothers, whose newest movie, “War
Room,” is being released this month.
Nancy’s
strength is drawn from her Christian faith and sturdy God-fearing parents. She is so … Tennessee and Wisconsin both, but
believes in blooming where she’s planted.
So now she loves Georgia too, and babies, cooking, reading, sewing,
entertaining guests, and life.
I’m not encouraging “love at first
sight.” But believe me, it does happen.
Roger
Hines
8/16/15
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