trying to help you,” Mamma said.  She sounded like she was hurt, and turned away.  Then Don said, “But I can’t afford it either.  We would be just as happy with a small affair.  Isn’t that alright?”  Then Mamma turned to us and said, “Alright then, there just won’t be any wedding.”  We felt bad but try as we would she would not change her mind.  The wedding had to wait.  Even when we told her she could go ahead with her plans for a big wedding she had made up her mind and that was that.  We would have to wait.  From that time on we started making our own plans but we told no one what those plans were.

We set our new date for Feb. 27, 1942, the earliest date we could get married without my parents consent.

School started in the fall and I entered my senior year.  I set my mind on doing the best I could in school but my mind was often distracted as I thought of that special date in Feb. when I would become Don’s wife.  When I had a free moment I would write my future name – Mrs. Donald G. Dick or Bertha May Dick.

 I was placed in an Honor Study where there was no teacher to supervise us.  It was there that I met my dear friend who was to be one of our witnesses at our wedding.  She listened as I told her of our broken wedding plans the summer before.  She told me that her father was a minister and if we wanted her to she could help us plan a very simple wedding and that she was sure her father would marry us if we would like to do that.  Of course we were interested.  So after talking it over with Don he agreed and we started making our plans.  It was still a secret as far as my family and friends were concerned.  I made a calendar and each day I crossed off the days that were passed.  The time seemed to go faster that way.  Before we knew it it was February.  The 27^th was on Friday so our plans were to go downtown the Saturday before that to get our marriage license.  Don had told his mother about our plans and she agreed to be our witness to get the license.  That Saturday morning Don came over to our house and asked if I could spend the day with him.  He told her that we were going for a drive.  Saturday was one of the three days that Mamma allowed us to spend together so that was no problem – she gave her permission.  We drove by Don’s place, picked up his mother and drove to town where we got the license without any problems.

Mamma read the newspaper every day so we knew we would have to tell her before announcement appeared in the paper because we really wanted to be the ones to tell her.  We decided that I would tell her on Tuesday the 24^th before I went to school.  So on Tuesday morning when I was all ready for school I told her and invited her to go to the wedding