I know I'm in the minority on the 'Derby - and perhaps in this country - but I'm not ready to condemn the possible nuptuals of Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol and her baby daddy. And I finally found a little supporting evidence for my side: Carl and Winifred Blake.
The Florida couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary late last month. He's 73. She's 76. Yes, he was 13 when they got married. She was 16 and having a baby.
A little disclaimer here - this is an extreme case. I wouldn't advocate for getting married before you're legally able to vote any more than I would advocate teen pregnancy (wait, wait, wait as long as you can!!). I don't even think having a baby together means you should get married. Many miserable parents have made their kids' lives that much more miserable by sticking together. But - this is a big but here folks - I shudder a little when I hear there's just no hope for a couple of teens getting married. Whatever happened to good, old-fashioned love at first sight? Can't a girl get married at 18 because she found the guy she wants to spend the rest of her life with . . . and she wants the rest of her life to start right now?
So I offer up the story of the Blakes. Winifred's dad was working for Carl's dad when they met in the small town of Paw Paw, (you can't make this stuff up people) Michigan. They fell in love. He'd been working as a driver delivering farm equipment from the age of 8, so few suspected she was robbing the cradle. When he told his father she was expecting, the elder Blake wanted him put in jail. But Carl and Winifred got married and she gave birth - and they made national news because he was considered the youngest father in America (the youngest to admit it anyway).
They went on to have six kids - by the time Carl was 19 he was already the father of four - who say they were raised in a house of love and respect. One daughter joked to a reporter that if they'd tried threatening to call social services (as she said too many of today's kids do), her parents would have handed her the phone and dared her to make the call.
But this story isn't about their kids. It's about Carl and Winifred Blake who got married as teenagers and still kissed on their 60th wedding anniversary like they were newlyweds. Not everyone is that lucky - especially people who got married with a baby on the way - but sometimes it just makes you feel good to know they could be.
Other Posts By This Author:
They Say: Dads Cheat, but Not for Sex
So He Delivered His Own Kid, Should We Give Him a Quarter?
What Bristol Palin Can Expect, After Baby Algebra
They Say: To Teach Teens, You Really Have to Scare Them
Can a Mom be 'Too Dumb' to Parent?
Texas Judge Orders Woman to Stop Bearing Children
Preventing Teen Pregnancy, One Tick at a Time
