Inktober 28: #Sparkle
A story about a double date that went...okay
Martha Johns died last month at the age of 94. She was the First Lady of Furman University when I was there in the 1980s, the wife of John E. Johns. She was a lovely woman, witty and kind, and with a #sparkle that made her a favorite with students. It’s Homecoming Weekend at Furman University; today’s #inktober2023 entry is the story of the first time I met Martha Johns.
At freshman orientation, President John E. Johns mentioned from the podium that he had an open-door policy: he was delighted to spend time with students, he said. It was the best part of his job. It kept him young.
So, in an effort to help President John E. Johns to enjoy his job and stay young, I called him up and asked if he and Mrs. Johns might like to go on a double date to the Dairy Queen with Sharon Kelley and me. He said yes (or, more likely, it was his secretary who said yes). I said great, Sharon and I would pick them up at the President’s Residence.
Sharon and I pulled into the circular driveway at the Residence and the Johnses came out the door, and it was only then that I realized a difficulty that I had lacked the imagination to foresee: I had a two-door car. To get into the back seat, one had to climb over the forward-tilted front seat. Not the most dignified action for a middle-aged, roundish person. But since I was the driver, one of these middle-aged, roundish people was going to have to climb over the front seat.
Good sport that she was, Martha Johns piled into the back seat without hesitation or recrimination. Sharon climbed in with her, and John E. Johns sat in the passenger seat next to me. This lark was seeming a little less lark-ish to me, and the famously jocular John E. Johns didn’t exactly seem overjoyed with the situation either. But Martha Johns kept the conversation going and at least took the edge off the social awkwardness that couldn't be entirely neutralized.
We didn’t linger at the Dairy Queen. As soon as Martha Johns was finished with her Peanut Buster Parfait, we took the Johnses home, relieved that the double-date was over.