Granny’s Wedding Rings
Granny and Pap had dated three months when they slipped off to get married. They went over to Blue Ridge, Georgia to get a marriage license. On the way back Pap talked Granny into stopping at a preacher’s house to get married before they went home.
The preacher wasn’t home, but that didn’t deter Pap. He told Granny he knew of another preacher they could stop by and see.
That preacher wasn’t home either.
With his options running out fast Pap said they’d stop at one more preacher’s house and if he wasn’t there they’d wait till another time to get married. He was there so when Granny returned to her mother and father’s house she was a married young woman.
Granny tells the story herself in this video. Her mother was very upset over the surprise marriage.
Prior to the trip to get the marriage license Pap had given Granny the engagement ring in the photo above. As you might imagine she just loved it.
On the day they got married Pap had the wedding band in his pocket which tells me he was hopeful they would be married before the day was out even though he hadn’t shared his intention with Granny.
I was about five years old when Pap built our house here in Wilson Holler. Things were different in those days. Building codes are among the many things that have changed over the years.
At that time the plumbing from the sinks went down through the basement out the wall and down over the bank in the backyard.
I can remember the area was always damp and swampy when we played in that part of the woods.
One day when Granny was washing the dishes she knocked her engagement ring off the windowsill and before she could stop it the ring was gone down the sink. Pap took the trap off but the ring was long gone.
Granny was so upset. She worried herself to death about losing the ring and felt like it was all her fault for being careless. As time passed she eventually accepted it was a mistake she couldn’t undo.
Several years later Pap was working on the drain pipe. I don’t recall if it was stopped up or if it was when he changed the way it emptied. As he dug in the muck he spied something shiny. He leaned over and picked up Granny’s engagement ring from where it had settled in the mud.
Right away Pap knew what he’d found. After all he’s the one who bought it in the first place.
He couldn’t wait to walk back up to the house and show Granny. Since it was Valentine’s Day he knew he had found the perfect gift for Granny. She was tickled to death to have the ring back.
I’ve always thought Pap getting to give the ring to Granny twice made for a very special story. The fact that he found the lost ring on Valentine’s Day is just icing on the cake.
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This is the BEST Valentines Day story EVER!!!
Can’t even imagine what Granny thought when Pap gave her back her ring.
That is so special.
Aw Tipper that was the best of the best.Loved that story . I could just see her face. I lost my rings for about 4 yrs. I.look and look. I just gave up. I had looked at this place more than once. I was so upset. But ome day it was like God told me to look at this place which I had before, but I did and there my rings were. I ran through the house screaming, crying. I was the happiest person on earth.
Beautiful Valentine story. Love is a many splendored thing!
What a wonderful story! Your parents are the perfect example of true love forever.
Back in those days, you’d go across border into Georgia. Even in South Georgia there was an office there where they’d take your blood test and marry you same day. Many came there. I suppose there was no waiting period, like other states surrounding Georgia.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you and Matt. Another true love story, still in the making. Thanks for sharing your lives with us.
What a sweet story especially for Valentine’s Day!
what an awesome thing to hear that he found the ring after all that time it was meant to happen that way for sure have a great week and stay safe all
That story should be made into a Hallmark Movie! The story plot line would be a beautiful young woman was given her grandmother’s treasured ring with it’s magical story. One day while walking her dog, she dropped the loosely fitting ring and was searching all over for it. A man walking his dog, stopped to help and when they sat on a bench together with him comforting her as she cried and explained the story of the ring. A downpour of rain began and she quickly left having without ever exchanging names. In the driving rain the man continued to look for then find the ring as it had rolled into a ditch and the water carried it further away. They found each other as they walked their dogs again months later. They were pulled together by their dogs at the same bench where they met. They fell in love and the story of great love is repeated.
Did Pap and Granny get married in Georgia? If they came back to Cherokee County to find a preacher they might not be legally married. North Carolina doesn’t recognize a Georgia license! You might have been born out of wedlock and Granny might have missed out on all them checks unwed mothers get from the government.
I’m kidding of course! Marriage is a pledge, before God, by a man and a woman to remain true to one another until one or both die. That is the tie that binds not a piece of paper issued by the state. Nowdays people get married then get tired of each other and go to the state seeking to dissolve that bond without a thought of asking God what he thinks.
Ed, I couldn’t agree with you more about marriage. Another thing you could add about marriage today is that now you date, shack up, maybe have children and then marry before getting a divorce in a few years after the new begins to wear off. To me Trust in one another is a big part of marriage. I never understood how you could trust anyone that you are dating while they are running around on their spouse. There was never a doubt about what my wife was doing or where she was at while I was working for many years in the evenings, nights and weekends on my job.
That is the sweetest story I think I have ever heard. I have seen Granny’s video and even though her mother was upset, it didn’t last long as she came to love her son-in-law. Today makes 50 years of celebrating Valentine’s Day with my best friend. Been married for 46 years and we feel so blessed. Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone and especially to Granny!!
That is an awesome story! Thanks for sharing it today.
That was a precious story Granny told and I’m sure there were probably many more young people who slipped off and got married at that time. The same happened to my parents. My father got his older brother to go get the marriage license and my Mother and Father slipped off accompanied by a sister and brother to a preacher’s house and got married under a big oak tree in his yard. When they returned home Mother asked her sister to tell their Mother. Oh my goodness, their Mother had no idea and just busted out crying. At my age now, I can understand cause my Grandmother was still feeling the grief from the death of one of her twins and then her husband passing two years before this marriage and they were right in the depression era where she still had four young ones to raise. Like Granny’s story, my Grandmother absolutely loved my father and was so thankful Mother married him. Mother and Daddy celebrated 69 years of marriage before they passed.
Jerry finding the lost engagement ring was the icing on Granny’s beautiful story and don’t you know he was just as thrilled to take it in to show her on VALENTINE’S DAY.
I love the ring story of Granny and Pap!
I have a similar story with my class ring. I lost it down the bath room sink. It was gone forever I thought. My name was engraved on the inside of it.
Many years later a City worker knocked on the front door and wanted to know if Timmy Eldridge lived here. He had found my class ring in the “sewer”.
What a sweet story. I sometimes think in the old Appalachian way, and that is that sometimes we get a little help from our creator. He always helps me locate my keys with just the slightest prayer. That was nothing short of a miracle.
My late great aunt would have said, “How grand is that?”!
I agree. Pap was always the man of the hour. What a hero!
What a precious story! She is the sweetest thing, I love it when you have her on the videos!
Such a sweet story. Granny probably thought she’d never see her ring again.
Finding the lost ring on Valentine’s Day was meant to be. That was a beautiful love story!
Loved the sweet story! I wish your dad could have lived longer to be with his bride.
You definitely take the cake with this great family tale of truth and testament to real love! It happened on Valentine’s Day too which is NO coincidence. The older I get, I realize coincidences don’t just “happen.” I wish all a Happy Lover’s Day and also here’s a new one- Happy GALentines Day to all the ladies, gals, females out here! May your day be tops just like your pops! Oh, and above all Happy Valentine’s Day to your beloved mother who IS THE GENUINE ARTICLE!!! She’s worth her weight in gold she is!!!
That was nothing short of legendary. Wonderful!
And that, my dear, is a beautiful story about a wonderful family. God Bless
What a blessing to find something one has reconciled themselves to being gone forever, especially something of such significance. And in your story it is even better because the one who gave it found it again and on Valentine’s Day. Surely that is too much coincidence to be coincidence. Happy Valentine’s Day you all. I am glad to read so many testimonies of enduring love. We are coming up on our 49th anniversary in a few days ourselves.
It’s off the subject but, is the expression “Tuesday week” – or anyday + week – at all Appalachian or much more common, I wonder?
Ron-I heard someone recently say Friday week 🙂
Ron,
I grew up in the Appalachian mountains (NW NC) and my Aunt and Grandparents said Tuesday week, etc. They also defined daylight savings time as either slow time or fast time. All of these were a little confusing to me as a kid.
I grew up in East TN and never heard either grandparent’s wedding story growing up. I was researching records at the McClung Archives in Knoxville and found that my dad’s folks had slipped from Eastern KY to Knoxville to elope – and that my grandmother lied about being of age! The icing for me was being able to go downstairs and actually see the license.
That is a beautiful story.
I love this story! What a great way to begin Feb 14 🙂
A good “feel good” story for Valentines Day. My wife and I dated for 2 1/2 years -started in high school and were married for 47 years before she passed away. We also grew up in church together and knew each other all of our life. Our favorite place to go when dating was Bell Tower shopping center at Greenville, SC. There was a jewelry store there and we would look at the rings, there was one little engagement she loved and without her knowing it I bought it and hid it in an 8 track tape case in my car. When I picked up her one night, I told her to look in the case and get a tape, I will never forget her joy and happiness when she spotted the ring. Without ever actually proposing we just knew we would marry one day. While we dated I always talked about buying a Browning Sweet Sixteen, a 16ga. shotgun and would tease her and tell her not to make me sorry for buying her a ring instead of my Sweet Sixteen. She never did and I got my gun later on. In a little while, I intend to go to her grave, set there for awhile. Happy Valentines Day to everyone!
May the Lord meet you there and speak the peace that passes understanding.
I just can’t imagine finding the ring after all yhat time what an amazing beautiful thing.
What a sweet story! They got married twice, so to speak.
what a wonderful story. How romantic to receive your list engagement ring on valentines day.
What a wonderful story of how Pap and Granny got married. How he recovered the lost encouragement ring on Valentines Day makes it all a beautiful love story.
Omgosh what a story, love it!!!! happy anniversary to your folks!! This is my 42nd Valentine’s Day with my husband, I was a 14 yr old high school freshman when we started dating.
Oh how special this story is! Made me tear up thinking about all the feelings they must have had. What a wonderful gift to find Granny’s ring and give it to her again!
My husband and I courted 10 weeks and married. We met coon hunting. We will celebrate 39 years in October, Lord willing.
Sweet!
Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone here! That was a very special ring that gave your Mom immense joy twice! What a wonderful Valentine story!! I am glad you have written it down so that it can be shared in your family forever.
Donna. :
That is the sweetest story. My mom kept her original wedding ring set for many years (actually I have it now), although, it had worn thin and broken and you had to look hard to find the diamond. But she loved it. They were married 53 years when my mom passed. I’ve been married to my husband for 30 years and have had several upgrades in my wedding rings–But I know how special my mom’s were to her and I know Granny feels the same way. Happy Valentines Day!