STO RY LOV E G E O R G E TO W N
RON AND F BARBARA GARLAND
As Crazy About Georgetown as they are Each Other by Ann Marie Kennon photos courtesy Barbara Garland
SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT DOING THE DISHES
or anyone who knows Ron and Barbara Garland, it is no surprise that they actually met through their respective community ministrations. Forty years later, they are still in love, and they have been blessing Georgetown with their service and example since 2009.
IN THE BEGINNING In 1982, Barbara was working for United Blood Services in Lubbock. One spring evening, she went to a bar with some friends and a nice looking man in a suit sat down with the group. Barbara recalls, "When they introduced us, the first thing I said was, 'I'm mad at you.'" Ron, the region's Boy Scout leader, had turned down the Blood Bank's request to have a blood drive with the Scouts. Ron explains, "I told her it wouldn't work while Scouts are on summer break and I didn't want us both to use resources for what might be a potentially low turnout."
© Ad Meskens / Wikimedia Commons
The word February comes from the Roman festival of purification called Februalia, during which people were ritually washed. They even named a god after it... Februus.
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Explanations aside, Barbara decided to be bold and invited him to enjoy the night air on the rooftop to get to know each other (and, she winks, to keep another woman from putting the moves on him). They discovered they both lived in orphanages as children. "We lived with our parents," Barbara says. "They worked in school campuses in different orphanages. My father was dean of boys and Ron's was general manager." So, while they were pleased to find they had a great deal in common, Ron laughs, "I just like to tell people she picked me up in a bar."
Making a good effort to impress Barbara on their first date, Ron invited her to his Leadership Lubbock banquet, during which Governor Clements presented him with a certificate. Soon after, when he went to her home for dinner, Ron washed his own dishes. Barbara says, "I knew then he was the man for me. I told him I would turn over the blood work to another person if we were to commit to a relationship. I had never made a decision like that before but we spent time together, I helped out at Scout events, and things got serious. We were married by the end of the year." The ceremony took place on New Year's Eve in a driving snowstorm. Midway through the reception, the guests began leaving to avoid being stranded. Too late, the newlyweds realized they had no one left to help clean up so they wound up in the kitchen, washing the dishes together.
SHARING THE MISSIONS Ron's work with the Scouts afforded them many moves around the country, which both say helped them learn how to adjust to new places and people. He says, "Integrating into new communities required that we both listen and communicate well. We learned about different lifestyles and cultures everywhere we went. East Tennessee is not like Las Vegas, which is not like Texas, and so on. Watching how others worked helped drive our willingness to know how to serve and reach out in each new place."
