Loose Diamond Engagement Article:
Thomas and Dell

  Having a local loose diamond jeweler or having a diamond engagement ring in the early 1900’s was unheard of. Dell’s parents, like most everyone at that time, were farmers, and there was rarely extra money. Her mother wore a gold wedding band that cost around $5.00. The story of Dell’s loose diamond engagement ring follows—a reminder of a more trying time, but a time when dreams were simpler and easier to achieve.

  The summer of ‘43 was hard on the Country and its women. All the men were gone—either overseas or gathered on the army bases. The Country had been at war since December 7, 1941, and any young man would have been embarrassed to have not enlisted and done his part. The sophisticated induction hearing test was highly accurate. Stick one finger in each ear and indicate which sounds you heard. Thomas loosely inserted his finger into his bad ear and managed to pass the hearing test. He joined the army in towards the end of 1942 and was stationed at camp in Gadsden, Alabama. He was twenty-six years old.

  Dell was in high school. She was a good student and had no intention of getting engaged before graduating in May of ’44. She knew her Country was going through a rough time. Some of the homeless and hungry would stop by her house and ask for food or work. Her mom sent them around to the back of the house and fed them a hot meal. She doesn’t remember anyone being turned away. With all the men either overseas or preoccupied with serving their county you would think the women would not be counting on marriage proposals. Big diamond engagement rings and big weddings were not on most people’s list of priorities. But Dell’s mom had made her a new dress that "fit in all the right places," and she intended on meeting a soldier.

  On July 9, 1943 Dell and her mom had been visiting relatives in Augusta, Georgia, and they were catching the bus back to Gadsden, Alabama and then to Albertville, Alabama, which was on Sand Mountain where she lived. She noticed a soldier and his friend apparently waiting to catch the same bus. When they boarded the bus Dell sat by herself, and the soldier parted from his friend and said, I’m going to sit with this young lady, if she’ll let me." She let him. They shared with each other their lives to that point and their hopes and dreams for the future. All of a sudden the bus ride was over. He was staying at his army base in Gadsden, and she was traveling on to Albertville and Sand Mountain. He asked if he could visit her, and she said yes. There were no phones—only letters and surprise visits.

  From July until September he visited every weekend. Then suddenly there was news of his company being shipped to Germany. She didn’t hear from him and had to assume that he was in New Orleans ready to leave for Germany along with his company. But couldn’t he write and let her know what was going on? Her tears prompted her mom to take her out for ice cream. And who was at the ice cream parlor but Thomas and another friend. After they stared at each other Thomas explained how he (and his friend) had been discharged from the Army. The hearing problem and an eye problem had finally caught up with him, and he would not be going to Germany with his company. He was on his way to her house to tell her the news. He guessed now he would go to Atlanta and go to work for Bell Aircraft. (His son, who was nothing but a gleam in his eye at that time, would work for the same company years later.) Dell was relieved. Thomas would be farther away in Atlanta, but that was better than Germany.

  Their weekend visits continued. Thomas worked the night shift and would catch the bus to Albertville to arrive Saturday morning. He would rent a hotel room, visit Dell on Saturday and Sunday, and leave for Atlanta on Monday morning to return to work for the night shift. Dell was happy. She was in her senior year at High School, and her soldier visited every weekend. Then came the snowy Christmas weekend of 1943—no phones and no time for a letter. Dell had to assume that the bus would not be making the trip up Sand Mountain to her house and that there would be no Christmas visit. She was shocked when she heard the knock at the door—her man had made it!!

  Not only had he made the trip, he had brought along a present for her--a small box with a diamond engagement ring inside. The ring probably cost less than $100.00, but Dell considered it a lavish expenditure. Many girls in 1943 barely got a wedding band before their boyfriends went overseas, but Dell went back to school after Christmas break wearing a diamond engagement ring. Her parents made it clear she was to graduate in May of 1944 before any wedding took place. Occasionally they were allowed to borrow the family car to go into town and see a movie. One of those months Thomas managed to visit every single night. Dell’s mom said that if her grades dropped she would be in trouble. The grades didn’t drop, and she graduated in May, as scheduled. After two more weeks Thomas said he was tired of waiting.

  On June 2, 1944 Dell wore a pale blue dress with a white hat and white shoes and purse for accessories. They were married at a minister’s house with her best friend and his cousin as witnesses. Dell’s sister served dinner at her house to the wedding party, and then Thomas and Dell went to Gadsden to catch the bus to Atlanta. On June 5, 1943 his army company shipped out to fight the Battle of the Bulge in Germany.

  The war ended in 1945, and Thomas was laid off from the Bell Aircraft Plant. He got a job making fifty cents an hour as a plumbing apprentice, and she got an office job making $90.00 per month. Not bad money when you could buy a week’s worth of groceries for $7.00.

  One day they turned around and they had been married for fifty years and had a small reception surrounded by their family and friends. It was the last social event Thomas attended before his death two years later giving them a total of 52 years of marriage. To date, they raised two sons, and had five grandchildren and four great-children. Great things can come from small beginnings.