P. J. Beckley - God Gave Me You

Our Dating Years

I t was in the year of 1949 that my parents wanted to go to a revival at the Methodist Church in Byhalia, Ohio. I recall the Chatfields were the singers and Reverend Cramer was the preacher. Little did I know that Kenneth was there with his girlfriend, whom he was engaged to, and I was there with my parents and my boyfriend. As I was too young to date, I could only be with my boyfriend when my parents were around. Kenneth said that night was the first time that he came under real conviction. He said he would have gone to the altar if his girlfriend had gone, but she didnt, so he didnt.

In 1950, Jenny broke the engagement and married one of Kenneths friends. I guess he took the breakup very hard. At that time, he was working at Ranco, and they said it was a wonder he didnt get hurt as his mind was somewhere else, but he finally accepted it and went on to other things. God had a plan for Kenneths life, and he did not realize it. He was not raised in a Christian home.

Later that fall, some ladies of our church in Richwood, Ohio, wanted Kenneth to take them to a revival in Marion, Ohio, at the Pilgrim Holiness Church. He said he would gladly take them. His plan was to drive them there and then drop them off and then pick them up after the service was over, but they asked him to go in with them, and he reluctantly did. The service began, and the preacher did a wonderful job of preaching Gods Word, and Kenneth again came under real conviction. That night, he said God did a wonderful thing in his life, and he gave his life to Christ. Again, God had a plan for his life all along.

He then started coming to our Pilgrim Holiness Church in Richwood, Ohio, where my parents, my brothers, my grandmother, and I went to church. I used to sneak a peek at him as he was so nice-looking, but I knew he wouldnt look at me as he was much older than me. It was just nice to see him anyway.

In 1951, Kenneth was inducted into the army. The night, before he was to leave for the service, our church had a farewell party for him. After the party was over, he came up to me and asked whether I would write back if he would write to me, and I said I would and gave him my address. He said it would be nice to hear from people back home. We started writing back and forth. I never expected anything to become of this.

Kenneth had gone through boot camp, and also he was chosen to take the training they give to officers, but this was for noncom soldiers. He was stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia. As it is very hot in Georgia, he had gotten a very nice tan, as he tans very easily. There were sixty to seventy soldiers that were chosen to take these officers (noncom) training, and Kenneth was one of the eighteen that lasted in the training. He told me later that the training was very hard. They had to keep razors in their pocket and shave every so often as they had to look the part. Shoes had to be shined every so often also. After graduating from the class, he was then chosen to be a teacher for the new soldiers coming into the service. Many of the soldiers were being shipped to Korea, and he was scheduled to go overseas four times, but the general pulled his name each time as he said Kenneth was his best teacher. God was preparing him for the ministry.

Sometimes we never know why God allows some things to cross our path, but he always knows what is best.

In August 1951, my dad had dropped me off at Grandmas house in Richwood so I could spend the day with her. I really liked going to my Grandma Smiths house. That day, I was not dressed up as usual, and my hair was a mess. Later that day, who should come to my grandmas house but Kenneth? He was in his Crosley convertible, with the top down, dressed in his uniform, and wow , was he nice-looking, and he had a great tan. I told my grandma, You can talk to him. I would be in the kitchen as I did not want him to see me the way I looked. Grandma answered the door and asked him in. They talked for a while, and then she told Kenneth that I was there and told me to come out and talk to him. I was shy, but I came out and talked to him. He then asked Grandma if he could take me home (Ashley), and she said, Sure, that would be fine.

We left my grandmas house and headed toward Ashley. Kenneth was talking to me, and I was really quiet as this was the first time I had been alone with him. Kenneth decided we would go through Delaware as he wanted to stop at Ranco, where he worked before being inducted into the army. He said, Come on, Phyllis, I want you to go in with me, so I did. Everywhere we went, they would say, Is this the little woman, and naturally, I would say no. From Delaware, we headed to Ashley.

My mother was very happy to see Kenneth. When I walked into the house, I told my mother not to tell him how old I was because I figured he would have nothing to do with me if he knew my age. I guess that did not matter. He asked if he could take me on a date, and my mother said sure. I knew then I had to get cleaned up, and then we headed out for our first date. I really could not believe this was happening to me. I was actually having a date with the one person that I wanted to go with. He asked me if I wanted to go to the movies, and I told him we were not allowed to go to the movies. He probably thought he had a strange one on his hands. We went to see some of his friends. We had a very good time. Later, he took me home and asked if I would go out with him again the next night, and we went out every night during the rest of the time he was home. The second date, I got my first kiss from him. Wow , he was a good kisser. He was always telling me what he thought of me and what a nice person I was. He was a very romantic person, telling me how beautiful I was and that he had fallen in love with me the first time he saw me. All I could think of was Wow, this was really happening to me .

He left to go back to Fort Gordon, Georgia, and our letter writing became more interesting, and I certainly was falling in love with this handsome man, and he, with me. I sure did miss him. We wrote more than twice a week to each other. If I was in the yard, the mailman would say, I have something for you, and I knew it was a letter from Kenneth.

Kenneth got his next furlough at Christmastime. Boy, I was glad to see him. We were together every day while he was home on furlough. He was always giving me something or buying me something. He then surprised me one night and said, Phyllis, I love you so much. You are the love of my life, and I want you in my life forever. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife? And he opened up a little box that held a beautiful diamond ring. I was totally surprised and did not answer him for a whole day. The next night, I told him I would be honored to be his wife, and he slipped the diamond ring on my finger. I thought What are my parents going to say? as they did not believe in rings, but I took it anyway as it was a token of our love and devotion to each other. I know I was young, but I did not hesitate then that I was going to marry the love of my life. Before Kenneth left for camp, he asked my father for permission to marry me, and my father said yes. A few days later, he had to leave for Fort Gordon, Georgia. I was so sad to see him leave. We both cried when he left. We then started writing back and forth almost every day. Oh, the love in our letters. Our love grew very strong.

Kenneth was a very romantic person. He sent me a picture that he took while stationed in Fort Gordon, Georgia, and he wrote the following on the back of the picture.

Dear Phyllis,

To the girl I love, the sweetest girl I know with all my love, my heart, hugs and kisses.

When you look at this picture, honey, remember me as though I am there with you and I will be there.