LOWELL AND VIVIAN’S ENGAGEMENT STORY

Lowell + Vivian Hunt

A Christmas Eve Engagement, 1949 Detroit Lakes , MN

I met Vivian in a hardware store in the summer of 1946. She was 15 and I was 17. We went to high school in Canby, Minn.; she was a sophomore and I was a junior.

We had our first date in the fall of 1946 and started going steady, as we used to call it, in the summer of 1947.

Back then we went to the movies and an occasional dance, but spent a lot of time at school functions. Vivian participated in a lot of activities: band, choir, plays, etc. I was out for football, but being a farm boy, had a lot of chores on the farm.

We were both farm kids. Vivian was the oldest of four girls and I was the second oldest of my family of two boys and four girls. We had a great courtship; broke up a couple of times but love took over and we got back together in pretty short order both times.

Well, it was early in December of 1949 when I thought, “I want this young lady to be my wife.”

I went to our local jewelry store and picked out a diamond ring. We didn’t talk about carats, we talked about price and payment. I had a fine man for a jeweler. His name was E.B. Coil, and he set up a $5/week payment schedule, and I got the ring.

On Christmas Eve 1949, Vivian and I went to church in Gary, S.D., and were invited to Vivian’s grandparents’ farm home. When we left the church and got to the farm, everyone else was already there. So I parked the car, a 1932 four-door Chevorolet, and popped the question. And she said, “Yes!”

We went inside and I will never forget the kissing and hugging that went on. My future mother-in-law squeezed the breath out of me, and turned out to be the best mother-in-law anyone could ever have.

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I saw him out in the pasture trying to catch his horse and not having any success whatsoever. He tried to catch Klinger for about 15 minutes, and then threw down the halter in disgust. He stomped over to a ladder on the side of a grain bin, and climbed all the way to the top. I watched all of this and went over to the grain bin and called up to him, “Hey! What are you doing?” But he didn’t respond. I was very confused about what was happening, so I climbed up to the top of the bin and found Bryan sitting on the top, with arms folded and a scowl on his face.

We got married on April 2, 1950, which will be 70 years in 2020. We have seven children, one deceased, and 15 grandchildren, one deceased, and 24 healthy, happy greatgrandchildren.

I thank God every day for the life he has given Vivian and I, which all began in a hardware store in the summer of 1946. Submitted by Lowell.

I asked him, “Bryan, what is going on … And why did you decide to climb up to the top of your friend’s grain bin?” He looked up and held out a small box, and inside was an engagement ring! He slowly said, still scowling, “I know how much you love horses, and I wanted to take you for a ride on my horse, down by the creek, in the pasture, and give you this ring, but I couldn’t catch that stupid horse!” The two of us hugged and laughed, still on top of the grain bin. We climbed down, proceeded to tell all of our family and friends, and after 32 years of marriage, our anniversary being on December 19, we still laugh at our unusual but sweet and memorable engagement story. Submitted by Kristi.