Just attended the 50th wedding anniversary party for friends, Faye and Earl “Country” Boykin.   Country Earl recalled asking Faye out for their first date.   Faye told him he’d have to meet her parents first.
Country was apprehensive.   But then remembered a kid who went to Earl’s church.   The church awarded “perfect attendance medals” if a youngster didn’t miss in  a year’s worth of Sunday School. This particular kid had nine years worth of pins, all attached vertically.   Country borrowed the pins and took off to Faye’s house.   He concluded, “…I think it sealed deal.”  And this from a friend who once advised me, “…the best thing about marriage is you don’t mind dying as much.”
Earl also commented on his higher education: “I went to college for three terms. Eisenhower’s, Kennedy’s, and Nixon’s.”