www.whiteville.com
By ANN WORTHINGTON
Courting sure has changed since I was a young child. I used to watch my older sister, brothers and a few of their friends as they used to make goo-goo eyes at someone they thought to be especially good looking, and they would plot and plan how they would get a date with these people.
A lot of friendships were established when the farmers would hire each other’s children to help them put in tobacco, gather peanuts, hay, or do any kind of chore on a farm. An example of that was when harvesting tobacco, the young men would make eye contact with the pretty young ladies, give a wink, and then the girls would automatically know that the young man liked her. They would play and pick at one another during the day when they were working. On the weekends, the young man would walk to the ladiy’s house and hang around with her.
The couples mostly sat around in the living room, listening to the radio, playing a few popular tunes or listening to scary stories, like the “Squeaking Door” or some other similar story. The young men liked the scary stories because maybe the girl would be scared enough to let him hold her hand.
The young men had to walk to the girl’s house for their Saturday night date, no matter how far apart they lived. On very rainy nights, the date didn’t happen because neither cell phones nor any other kind of phone was to be had.
To have fun, the couple often would take a walk to the banks of the Waccamaw River, where they met with groups of other young couples. They would have a great old time taking a boat ride down the river and back.
No sleek cars with blaring radios that could be heard from a mile away were seen in those days because very few people owned cars.
Courting couples mostly walked wherever they went unless the parents would hire a driver to take them shopping for the monthly groceries, but families didn’t need many things because the farm produced mostly what was needed.
After a short time, and mostly at a young age, the boy and girl would make a trip to Conway, S.C. one day and the next day they would return. My parents said that the first trip was to register to get married, and the second one was to get married. They had to have two witnesses. Lots of times, the boy and girl would run away from their parents to get married. I thought that was sad because the thought of leaving my parents was more than I could stand.
Well, my friends, I am always amazed at the changes we have, but the good old days were not so bad. I still think they were the good old days, because it’s my belief that life is just what one makes of the many blessings we have been given. What we do with them is what makes us what we are today.
My reader friends, I need to join my dear husband for a shopping trip, so until next time, may all your blessings be in abundance, and your worries very few, if any. As always, may our loving God hold each of you in the palm of his hand.
