My love of parades dates back to my childhood and also my courtship with my husband.
The first time Cliff flew to visit me when I lived in Houston, we went to two parades. He was stationed in Montana at the Air Force Base in Great Falls. The year was 1992. W
e picked a perfect time! The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was about to begin and so we went to the parade for that in downtown Houston. We also went to the Huey Lewis concert at the Rodeo. Going to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was a huge event and still is. A few years ago Hanna Montana and many other famous singers would perform there in one week. When I was a kid I saw Crystal Gale and lots of others I can't think of off hand. When I was a teen I saw The Jets perform. I just checked and the Black Eyed Peas, Brooks and Dunn, Tim McGraw, Justin Beber, Keith Urban, Mary J. Blige and about 7 others will be there. Wahhhh. So, I was thrilled to share such a fun experience with Cliff. I had just taken my drivers test that day and we rented a car for the week. Believe it or not I got in a small fender bender that day on the way to my sister's--Cliff was in the car. But we still made it to the concert. Later that week we went to Galveston to stay in the Flagship Hotel on the beach and to attend the Mardi Gras parad
e on the Galveston Seawall. It was a rainy, dreary day at the parade but we still had a great time. We ate at Landry's, a seafood restaurant. We also rode on the Boliver Ferry. It was a great time to be 18 and 20 years-old and in love!!! Houston is a big a crazy city. It was exciting to share that with my small town Iowa boyfriend.Before Cliff went back to Montana we took my then three year old brother, Kris to the Houston Zoo for an afternoon. Cliff and I also went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
It was so hard to say goodbye to him and go back to work in the busy office for electricians I worked at. We saw each other again soon after though. I ended up moving to Montana about six months later to go to college in Great Falls. It was a difficult experience for me because I had never been without a support system of some sort around me. Looking back, I am not sure it was the best decision, but I wasn't afraid of anything at the time. I learned to drive on ice in Montana in a rear wheel drive car. Cliff and I muddled through those exciting and also heart wrenching moments. We are still here to tell the tales and laugh at it all no
w. It's fun to write about it now and save some happy memories of our courtship.~Heather
2 comments:
I posted some videos of my husband's father, one of which showed the college that my husband and I attended as we were dating. It was so much fun to sit here tonight and see parts of the school, and talk about how life was back then.
I think that videos/posts are such great catalysts to go walking down Memory Lane!
Never been to Houston. But, I lived in Iowa for six months, and visited Wichita Falls, Tx once... Can I get partial credit? haha!
I wish we had some videos from our younger days....Just photos. I have never been to coastal Georgia....Just Florida on the Atlantic side only. One day... Houston is too busy for me now-a-days. When I go there I just pass through until the kids are older. We have gone to some things there, but not a parade....yet.
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