One of my favorite pics....

Almost 70 yrs ago my grandpa had a weekend pass from the hospital where he was staying while recovering from tuberculosis so he and my Nannie ran off and decided to elope. That night he went back to the hospital, my Nannie went back home and they wouldn’t tell anyone for approximately 6 weeks. The first person they told was his Grandma Strong (Susie Reber Strong) and then went to tell my Nannie’s parents (Garner and Helen Smith)

who wouldn’t let them in the house til they saw a marriage license. Since they eloped they didn’t have an official wedding picture and used this one.

Eugene Henry (Gene) Turner married Melva Norene Smith Aug 17, 1950 (Gene was the son of Dora F Strong Turner Greer and Clebert Turner)
*Note in everything you find it’s always Eugene Henry but in the family Bible it’s wrote Henry Eugene

One Sunday I convinced my papa to sit down and answer some questions I had. Just history type questions because I always loved his stories (especially the one’s involving his lifelong best friend and brother in-law Doyle Bradley). He was a little grumpy (while Nannie just sat smiling), but he sat down and talked. I asked about how he met Nannie and I thought we were ALL going to fall over laughing, including Nannie. He and a good friend of his saw Nannie and a friend of her’s and drew straws to see who got which one. I didn’t ask if papa was the ‘winner’ or the ‘loser’ but we all still talk about how the only reason we are all here now is because he picked the right straw!

I know he was a strict father, he wasn’t a patient husband all the time.....I can’t tell you the number of times I would her ‘Melva, I’m ready to go’ but Nannie would smile and say ‘Oh Gene, just a minute....’ but there was never a doubt how much he loved his grandkids, how much they BOTH loved their grandkids. (But, yes I truly was the favorite).

Some of the best memories—
 -Spending the night. I always loved spending the night with them.
 -Yahtzee
 -PING PONG and how the rules continually changed when you played with papa
 -Nannie’s crust on top of her macaroni and cheese—the best
-butter on our noses on our birthdays
-papa teaching me how to gamble
-Wyatt’s Cafeteria where we could order whatever we wanted as long as we ate all of it
-the half man, half beast story made to scare us so we wouldn’t want to go play in the camper after dark
-Nannie telling me what a wonderful host I was every time they came up
-UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

They died in a car wreck in 2011, a week after they had celebrated 61 yrs here on earth! Losing both at the same time was devastating ans extremely tough for us here, but ultimately for them I think it was easier knowing they went together!

#52ancestors52weeks #Favoritepicture #EugeneHenryTurner #MelvaSmith #SusieReber #HelenMorgan #GarnerSmith #Strong #Turner #Smith