VINCE AND MARLA
Vince and Marla were with Margaret and me on their first date when we went to the outdoor Starlight Theater on the Butler University campus in Indianapolis to see Yul Brynner in The King and I. It was almost ten-thirty before that awesome performer finally conceded that the rain was not going to stop. We were all four so wet that we would gladly have stayed to watch the show in the rain. Marla, having just broken up with a boyfriend, had gone reluctantly and only agreed, she said, because we would be there also. We got rain checks to see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which thereby became their second date. It was not their last, nor was it the last show we saw together or the last time we got wet.
We met them as college students on birthdays and occasional special anniversaries; eventually they married. At the tent show in Hagerstown, Indiana, we saw Carousel performed by a summer troupe from Ball State. We all knew the lines and lyrics from curtain to curtain. Vincent had been cast as Billy Bigelow and Marla as Julie Jordan, It rained, and the tent leaked. We did, however, get to see the entire show albeit we were all wet and the thunder was so loud they had to stop and wait twice.
Another time I received some complimentary tickets for Indiana Repertory Theater. We went to a fancy restaurant called the Brown Derby in Indy and had to change tables because it started raining and the roof leaked right over our table. We really didn’t “double date” enough to merit this much watering.
Eventually they ended up at Evansville University where Marla was one of the ten students chosen for consideration as the outstanding graduate. Vince, having served as President of the Purple Pride organization, received that honor. Here are some poems I wrote for them and about them during their high school days.
MARLA’S FAREWELL
My child, my child!
From whence will come my day’s delight
When you are gone?
Is there another smile
That can replace the look
I could anticipate
Whene’er we met?
And where you go–
How long before there will be those
Whose steps will lighten,
Whose pain seem less
Because this is a day
When you are near?
MESSAGE FOR A MEMORY BOOK
BOY
Nearly man
Thinking, dreaming, striving,
Brim full of kindness–
YOU
MAN
Not parent
Pushing for perfections,
Guiding, listening, loving you–
ME
FRIENDS
Two persons
Interacting with joy,
Respecting each other’s short-comings–
US
SEPARATION
Inevitable consequence,\\
Constructing meaningful lifetimes,
Retaining shared concerns
APART
AN ANSWERED PRAYER
"O God," I prayed, "make this year better than last!
Send me just one who wants to learn,
One with a capacity to accept love."
And He sent Vincent!
"God," I entreated, "give me one I can call protégé and friend,
And, though he may surpass me with his gifts,
Make him humble and sincere.
And, if it be possible, let him have radiance."
And God gave me Vince.
When I had come to know him–
When I had grown to love him,
When I had felt a union of spirit
And watched him grow from boy to man,
I prayed again.
"O God, I thank You for this year
And for success through efforts blended
Make me more grateful for these days
Than sad that they have ended.
Turn my gaze ahead!
"And if there be, in Thy great plan, such generosity,
Grant me the joy of one next year
Who, though he cannot take his place,
Will ease the pain I feel
Because he’s gone."
from a note to accompany Vincent’s graduation gift,
May, 1977
* * *
Before I leave off writing about Vince and Marla, I should touch upon speech class. Marla Lain was a cheerleader, the salutatorian and just a really lovely person. We were giving a set of demonstration speeches, and I always encouraged preparing food because it relaxed them as a group early in the toughest part of the semester. A very sweet, quiet girl brought an instant Jello pudding recipe and explained that a good dessert need not be complicated. She passed out plastic spoons and sent the bowl up the aisle with instructions that each person only dip in once.
The entire first row passed the bowl without anyone taking a taste. So did the second row. I was embarrassed for the girl. Vince sat in front of Marla in the middle of the third row, and before it got to them, I knew they would partake of the pudding. When the bowl reached Vince, still untouched, he picked up his spoon, the bowl, and turned around in his seat so that he and Marla sampled at the same time. Instantly people asked if it was good, and both attested to its fine flavor. Then people from the first two rows got up and put their spoons into the pudding, and what looked to me like a miserable experience for the young lady became almost triumphant. How much I appreciated and admired their kind leadership every day.
