Minnie and Charles Hendrickson celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in August 2009.
In 1951, I had just graduated from high school. Rather than wait to be drafted, I enlisted in the Air Force and was assigned to military police. The next eight years I spent much time in England, France and several bases in the United States, but didn't find the girl for me.
It was on a Sunday afternoon while home on leave, I decided to go roller skating at the local skating rink. After skating ended, I was driving through town and saw a girl that I had met skating, Micki, and her friend, Minnie (these are actually their real names). I asked Micki for a date that night, but she said she had already promised her friend to go roller skating in a nearby town. I was invited to go along if I wanted to, which I did.
I spent the whole evening teaching her friend to skate. When we left the skating rink, Micki asked me if she could drive my car. She drove straight to her home, got out of the car and went in the house. That left me to take Minnie home. By the end of the week, Minnie and I both knew that we were meant to be together.
That was January 1959, and that August of the same year, Minnie and I were married.
This past August we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. We have four children, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. We have traveled many roads. All the roads we traveled were beautiful but not all were paved. In fact, some were pretty rocky - but life goes on and we are still happily married.
Charles Hendrickson
Gardnerville