A Genealogical Inquiry (Part Two): On the cusp of love

Prior to their marriage, Ernie (then Prudhomme) and Bob Ferry enjoy a day together at Rock Pond in Linton, located just past Conversation Club. (Courtesy photo)

At the end of the day, after shedding the dull banalities of work, what remains? For some it may be the smile of one's child, or dinner with family. For others it is a particular pursuit, whether it be academic or ambitious. There is something or someone who makes it worth getting out of bed in the morning.

Life is often a lonely crossing. Tritely put, "You come in to this world alone, and you leave it alone." Though the beginning and end is often a solo venture, the middle narrative does not have be so empty.

Before I launch into the continuation of last week's column, I first want to begin with a quote from Orson Welles.

"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story."

Some are lucky enough to find love early in life, while others still retain the hope one day they will find the person who makes them happy.

My grandmother, Ernie Ferry's, journey to eventually meeting my grandfather, Robert "Bob" Ferry, began in the halls of the former building of Linton-Stockton High School.

The two would often see one other passing between classes, but their contact was limited.

Their difference in their age was slight -- Bob graduated in 1942 and Ernie followed him a year later.

"He didn't notice me. Bob played football and he was 'the big man on campus,'" Ferry stated with a laugh.

After graduation, both of their lives would diverge greatly.

Post graduation, Bob quickly enlisted in the Army Air Corp., which later became the United States Air Force, where he worked as a flight engineer.

Bob's entrance into the military came at cost. Besides from being athletic, he was also scholastically inclined.

"He had a scholarship to Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer (Ind.), but, like most people during that time, he wanted to serve his country, so he enlisted in the military. I remember mom saying after they were married, my grandmother was upset he did not take up the opportunity to go to college," Nancy Karazsia, mother of the author, explained.

Post high school, Ernie began working in Fort Wayne, where she worked in the accounting department for International Harvesters, making the polite wage of 50 cents an hour.

"I was working six days a week and with overtime, I was making 26 dollars a week. After everything was taken out I was making $19 a week," Ferry said.

Minus the cost of room/board and bus ticket cost, Ferry yielded an earning of $10 to "blow on anything!"

After the war ended, both Bob and Ernie returned to Linton in 1946.

"A lot of his friends went to college, but they told Bob not to go (after leaving the military), because he wouldn't be able to take the classes he wanted to take.

"They were wanting him back at (Citizens National Bank), where he worked in high school. So he went back there after the war," Ferry said.

After Ernie returned, she found a job at in the office of Miller Construction, which was formerly located across the street from where Bob worked.

Working in downtown Linton presented an opportunity for the two to once more meet.

"I heard he wanted to take me out. One day I was walking home from work and he came out of the old Elk's building and said 'Hold on. Hold on! I want to talk to you.'"

After hearing Bob's voice, Ernie stopped and turned around when Bob bluntly asked the question: "I want to ask you out."

"We went out on a date, and he called me a few days later saying he wanted to take me out again. It happened to be I was busy. I wasn't going with someone else, but I had made other plans," Ernie explained.

Bob, possessing a cool demeanor, politely hung up the phone, but later tried again. Ernie was once again busy.

"He called a third time, and I went out with him. He told me later on if I would have turned him down, that would have been the last time he was going to try," Ernie then looked over to the author and said, "Aren't you lucky?"

Ernie and Bob married less than a year later on May 11, 1947 and remained so for 63 years.

Though my grandfather passed away in 2011, which left a sizable hole in the heart of our family, I find it best to end the story at its most optimistic: Two people on the cusp of love, enjoying the moment for what it was worth. Its price, I assume, meant more to them than anything tangible.

"And there was a time when you and I owned all the sunshine in the sky," authorship anonymous.

Grant is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 19. He can also be reached via email at gkarazsia@gmail.com.