"We Have Been in Love for 60 Years"

As I reported earlier, we went to the surprisingly beautiful city of Tulsa, Oklahoma over the weekend to visit the hubby's great uncle and his partner of 60 years.  The picture is of a wildlife sculpture in Riverside Park.  The Great Uncles are a wonderful couple, still very much in love.  They live in a terrific house that I would describe as Brady-esque, if Mike Brady had come out and had impeccable taste.  Uncle is 85 and In-law is 91, but they both look and act 20 years younger.  We loved talking to them about how they navigated the past 60 years together.  I particularly love the story of how they met.  I'll call them "Uncle" and "In-law" since I didn't ask for permission to write about them, but I can't resist telling this story.

Both Uncle and In-law served with distinction in World War II.  In fact, Uncle earned a bronze star for valor in combat in northern Italy.  In-law served in north Africa.  They are both truly part of The Greatest Generation. 

After the war, In-law stayed in the reserves, thinking he would never be called up.  He was wrong.  He was called up for Korea in 1950.  Instead of being sent overseas this time, he was sent to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, near the small town of Fort Smith.  One night, he was having a beer in a bar when he was approached by a man who offered to buy him another.  In-law was tall and Germanic with broad shoulders.  Very handsome.  I imagine he was approached at bars a lot.  He said no, he didn't want another beer and the man said "what about a mixed drink?"  He was about to go to a party with an open bar.  In-law said he liked mixed drinks and agreed to go.  They arrived at the party in a private home and the first thing In-law noticed was two male soldiers from his unit kissing.  He now knew what kind of party this was.  When the host saw them, he flew into a rage and stormed back into his bedroom.  In-law's "date" followed.  It turns out this guy was the hosts' lover and had picked up In-law just to make him jealous.  Never think that we invented gay life or gay drama.  This was 1950 in a small town in Arkansas!

In-law's date came out and said they needed to leave together, but by then In-law had spotted a very cute guy with a tight, muscular body.  That was Uncle and In-law said he wasn't going anywhere.  His date stormed off and In-law introduced himself to Uncle.  They became an item that night.  In-law said they consummated the relationship after 3 or 4 weeks.  Uncle said "you mean 3 or 4 hours."

There was one rather large hitch.  In-law was married.  With young children.  It was 1950 after all.  She found out and things got ugly fast so Uncle and In-law ran off together to California.  They lived in LaJolla, in a cottage on Cove Beach for a few years.  Eventually, things calmed down with In-law's wife and he hated being away from his sons, so they returned to Oklahoma.  Things got a bit complicated after that until the sons (one of whom is gay) finished high school, but Uncle and In-law managed to keep the love alive through the decades, or as In-law put it, "We have been in love for 60 years."