In June of 1948 I went to London England for some R & R. On the Sat evening I went to a dance, & afterwards was invited to the National Hospital Residence for afternoon tea. It was a warm sunny day, and after the tea I asked one of the young ladies if she would go for a walk with me to nearby Hyde Park. At first she said no, adding that she would rather read a book. I suggested that I toss a coin, & if it came up heads she should come with me. She agreed & I tossed an English Penny. I won the toss, and we went for a walk, and thus began the kind of relationship that one dreams about. We had a wonderful afternoon, enjoying each others company. Her name was Maureen Cronin & she had a delightful Irish accent. Maureen agreed that I could call her Penny, and that has been her nick name since that time.
At the time I was in London I was serving in the Royal Air Force on a short 3 year contract, & was stationed in northern England at RAF Station Kirkham, a Base near Blackpool, so our communication to Penny was by telephone, post cards, or short week-end visits to London. On Nov 12 we travelled to Rochester Kent by bus to visit my cousin Jim Langford & his wife Joyce. At some distance before we arrived at our destination, I went down on my knees at the back of the bus and asked Penny to marry me. Penny said Yes, so we had lots to celebrate that weekend.
Penny passed away with congestive heart failure on July 30th, 2012 at age 84. She was an elegant lady with a kind and gentle soul. We did love, care, and support each other, and I will always remember with pride that first Romantic Moment when I found my lucky Penny, my Irish Rose.
We had a tremendous marriage that spanned 63 years. I think the strongest bond that held our marriage together was being of the same faith. Penny had a great faith and trust in Jesus, and to keep us on tract, if things went wrong in our marriage we tried to fix it. The good lord blessed us with five children that we love dearly and we stay in contact with them by means of Skype.
