2008 Tournament of Roses
by Staff Writer
FEATURED ARTICLES

It was 1935. Belle had just begun as a new student at the school, her family having recently moved to Forsyth County from Pickens County. She walked around the schoolyard, chatting with her new friends. A little ways off stood a group of boys, watching the girls and schoolyard proceedings. Willis pointed to Belle for a moment. "See that one there, on the right?" he asked the little group. "That one is my wife." When the school bell rang, Willis promptly sat with her at the desk as their studies commenced. Belle was fourteen, Willis was fifteen.

And you could say the rest is history, but there is always more to the story. Belle and Willis had been going together for a couple of years when their relationship encountered a minor hitch, with the name of Eloise. Willis and Eloise had been friends growing up in Forsyth County together, and Eloise blamed Belle for stealing Willis away. Belle and Willis broke up for a little while, until that Valentine’s Day. Belle had gone away to stay with a couple, helping them with their new baby. As Valentine’s Day approached, she thought she’d send an anonymous Valentine to her former beau. The Valentine arrived unsigned, but Willis instinctively knew from whom it had come (the postmark on the envelope helped). Belle and Willis were back together, never to be torn asunder again. They attended church together, country singings together, and any community gatherings that occurred (all under the watchful eye of Willis’s sister, Eunice, of course). Then, one day, he asked her the question, and she accepted.

They were married on January 15, 1939, when Belle was 18 and Willis was 19. The U.S. was still in the midst of the Great Depression, and times were hard for all. Belle and Willis began their married life with only $50 cash, living in the home of Willis’s parents. They worked hard, attended church, and on special occasions when enough money had been saved, they would make the trip to Cumming to see a movie (35 cents each). They moved around a little, working on a local farm and a lumberyard, until they were able to buy their own farm. They purchased 99 acres off State Route 369 in North Forsyth County for $1,200. By that time their two daughters, Mary Joyce and Marjorie, were born.

As the fourth daughter out of twelve children, Belle grew up working hard, bringing money in by assisting the sick to help her family. Willis was the youngest boy of six children. "And I was a spoiled brat," he said with a smile. "Yes, and he still is. Don’t ever marry a baby!" Belle laughed. "But we haven’t ever been hungry." Belle and Willis recently celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary on January 15. Their years together have produced many happy memories, two beautiful daughters, six grandchildren, and thirteen great-grandchildren. When asked how they have stayed together for so long, they replied, "We’d do anything for each other, and that has helped us along." So take note, young couples, for it is a great honor and a challenge to survive the years, overcoming obstacles together. If you are willing to do anything to help each other, the journey will be worth the trials.