October 3, 2017 (Tuesday)
This date will remain a special one for me because it would have been the anniversary date of Wanda and Charles’ wedding. We were married in pastor Howard Smith’s home in Dallas sixty-four years ago. We were together as husband and wife for 48 years.
People have asked me, “How did you and Wanda meet?” As I look back to that experience, I have come to the conclusion that we never formally met.
It happened like this. I was “Associate Pastor” of First Baptist Church of Groesbeck when I was a freshman at Baylor, where Wanda was also a student. I commuted on a shuttle bus 
(Central Texas Bus Line) from Waco. Wanda also commuted on the same bus on weekends to her parents’ home in Groesbeck. I knew the bus stopped in front of a residence and a girl boarded the bus every Monday morning when we both rode the bus back to Waco. This happened every weekend. I was shy and did not introduce myself or even talk with her on the bus. She was a Methodist, but on one Sunday she visited the Baptist church where I led the singing. I noticed her being there, and thought, “that’s the girl who rides the bus.” But we never met.
Later–a year and a half later–I became pastor of the Oletha Baptist Church, 15 miles southeast of Groesbeck. That was where Wanda was born and raised, and everyone–Baptist and Methodist–went to the church there. Wanda’s parents lived there, and had moved to Groesbeck temporarily so that Wanda could have access to transportation via bus to classes at Baylor.
One Sunday, Johnny Turner, Wanda’s uncle, was leading the singing and invited Wanda to play the piano for the song service. By that time, she knew who I was and I knew who she was, but as far as I can recall, we were never introduced. Needless to say, we got well acquainted and were married two years later. (Slide mouse over pictures to enlarge).
That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.