We danced to Duke Ellington and saw Blue Hawaii
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We danced to Duke Ellington and saw Blue Hawaii Submitted By: Judith "Judi" McIlvain Lewis '68 Bradenton, Fl We met in 1965 when I (Judi McIlvain) was a freshman and he (Donovan Lewis) was a sophomore. He says he spotted me on the Boyd Auditorium stage as I walked across wearing a ridiculous beanie and signboard sporting a poem that we had to write to introduce ourselves. The only part of it I remember is: "I'm from Mount Holly, by-golly." We formally met at a potluck on Sept. 26 at Wilmington Friends Meeting when a classmate (Gretchen Koenig) introduced us. We danced to Duke Ellington and saw the movie Blue Hawaii with Elvis, and got chased out of the park after hours while stargazing with friends (Yes! We had a telescope with us) in our brief College relationship. We dated for one month before he asked me to marry him. Not ready to give up my College fun, I ditched him. And, to be honest, it was not an easy route for a racially mixed couple in southern Ohio in the 1960s. Five years later, we re-met while living in Xenia and Dayton, had a first date in August 1970, got engaged in September and married in October. We will have been married 50 years in October 2020. We have had a great life, teaching in Providence, RI, for 40 years and now retiring in Florida along the lovely Gulf Coast. We laugh about our brief time together at Wilmington College, but more often we appreciate the wonderful education we got there, and we have fond memories of friendships made on that lovely campus, many of which endure today through Facebook, Christmas letters and cards, and visits. RETURN TO SITE
Transcript of We danced to Duke Ellington and saw Blue Hawaii
We danced to Duke Ellington and saw Blue Hawaii
Submitted By: Judith "Judi" McIlvain Lewis '68Bradenton, Fl
We met in 1965 when I (Judi McIlvain) was a freshman and he (Donovan Lewis) was a sophomore. He says he spotted me on the Boyd Auditorium stage as I walked across wearing a ridiculous beanie and signboard sporting a poem that we had to write to introduce ourselves. The only part of it I remember is: "I'm from Mount Holly, by-golly." We formally met at a potluck on Sept. 26 at Wilmington Friends Meeting when a classmate (Gretchen Koenig) introduced us. We danced to Duke Ellington and saw the movie Blue Hawaii with Elvis, and got chased out of the park after hours while stargazing with friends (Yes! We had a telescope with us) in our brief College relationship. We dated for one month before he asked me to marry him. Not ready to give up my College fun, I ditched him. And, to be honest, it was not an easy route for a racially mixed couple in southern Ohio in the 1960s. Five years later, we re-met while living in Xenia and Dayton, had a first date in August 1970, got engaged in September and married in October.
We will have been married 50 years in October 2020. We have had a great life, teaching in Providence, RI, for 40 years and now retiring in Florida along the lovely Gulf Coast. We laugh about our brief time together at Wilmington College, but more often we appreciate the wonderful education we got there, and we have fond memories of friendships made on that lovely campus, many of which endure today through Facebook, Christmas letters and cards, and visits.
RETURN TO SITE
