Marilyn and My Daddy

There were a couple of special birthdays in The Life of Hazel Ilene this past week. Dale, my daddy, turned 86 on the 9th, and our close family friend, Marilyn, also turned 86 on the 13th.

Born 4 days apart, and just a couple miles down the road from each other, these two have been lifelong friends.

They both started out attending the little one-room schoolhouse in College Mound, Missouri, and their first-grade class had a singing group.

This little group also danced a waltz in a performance at the Macon School gymnasium. Here they are all gussied up for their performance:

Isn’t this the most darling photo ever?

There’s one more boy cut off on the left, and the group is, from L to R:

Mystery boy, Barbara White, Jimmy Powell, Marilyn Leathers, Dale Pagliai, and Frances Powell (Jimmy’s sister).

They’re in pairs, so Dale and Frances were partners, Marilyn and Jimmy, and Barbara and Mystery boy. However, it looks like Dale and Marilyn are holding hands, and it looks like Jimmy wants to steal Barbara away from Mystery boy — hilarious! I love this photo so so much!

How I would love to see that dance performance!!!

A couple years ago, I got the chance to take this photo of Daddy and Marilyn together. Since they were holding hands in their first photo, I made them hold hands for this one, too.

And just last week, Daddy went to visit Marilyn, and they took another photo, holding hands. And yes, Daddy is wearing the exact same outfit he was wearing in the photo from 2 years earlier, right down to the hat, the glasses, and the thing in his pocket! It’s his uniform. Haha! It brings to mind the line from the movie “Lonesome Dove”, when Gus says, “Deets ain’t one to quit on a garment jes’ cos it’s got a little age.” 

I hope they’re still taking these photos when they reach 100, and can still celebrate their birthdays together. And I’m sure Daddy will probably be wearing the same outfit, or one identical to it!

You can read more about Dale HERE.

Marilyn is mentioned several times throughout the diary, as is Marilyn’s sister, Loretta, who was also a good friend of Hazel’s. Marilyn has been in my life for as long as I can remember. Her nephew was a close friend of my brother’s, I went to school with more of her nephews and her niece, and her daughter was my best friend at the time my oldest daughter was born. 

One year ago, I helped Marilyn move into an apartment in a town closer to me, then I broke my foot, took a trip to California, and then Covid hit, so I haven’t been able to visit her as much as I had planned to. I hope that can change in the near future.