Saturday Open Thread

Posted on September 1, 2018 by rikyrah

Good Morning. I hope that you are enjoying this weekend with family and friends.

Lemuel Arthur Lewie and his wife Reva Goodwin Lewie of Baltimore (seated in front) have been married for 70 years. They pose with their daughter Marcia Thompson, left, and grandchildren (standing left to right) Candice, Troy and Christel Thompson) during an anniversary party for them at Martin’s West.

One of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen and his artist wife mark 70 years of marriage in Baltimore
By Jonathan M. Pitts
The Baltimore Sun

Seventy years ago this week, a 28-year-old military pilot named Lemuel “Arthur” Lewie Jr. and his girlfriend, a beautiful 18-year-old Baltimore high school senior named Reva Goodwin, visited a courthouse in South Carolina and got married in a quiet ceremony.

They didn’t tell their parents; Reva’s mom and dad thought she was too young. Time has proved them wrong.

The Lewies, now 98 and 88, celebrated seven decades of marriage in a ceremony in front of more than 70 people in Baltimore on Saturday afternoon.

Guests at the bash included children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and friends and family members from as far away as South Carolina, California and Hawaii.

They all looked on as the Lewies renewed the vows they exchanged on Aug. 28, 1948.

“My granddaughter once asked me, ‘Grandma, where are the pictures of your wedding?’ ” Reva, a retired longtime arts educator, said moments after once again pledging to continue loving and caring for Arthur till death parts them.

“I just told her, ‘There aren’t any, honey, we eloped!’ Today’s the first time we’ve had it all — the pictures, the reception, everything. It’s wonderful.”

In many ways, the occasion – a luncheon at Martin’s West the family dubbed “A Timeless Romance” — had the feel of more than just personal or family history.

Lemuel Lewie, Jr., known to friends as Arthur, was not just any military flier. He served with the Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces.

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His memory is failing a bit, but he can easily summon tales of his time in the service. One of fewer than 100 surviving Tuskegee Airmen, and the only unit member still living in Baltimore, he has won numerous medals and been a guest at the White House.

Reva knew little about the unit in the summer of 1947 when she and her three sisters visited Columbia, S.C. But when Arthur came by her grandmother’s house to visit “the pretty girls from Baltimore,” she was as drawn to him as he was to her.

“He was tall, slender and handsome with dashing, blue-green eyes and reddish hair,” she recalled Saturday.

“I was robbing the cradle, but she had everything – good looks, a good shape, and she came from a good family,” he replied, laughing. “I always knew what I wanted and knew how to get it.”

He proposed after three days, putting his bombardier’s ring on her finger.

After he completed a graduate degree in chemistry – and after she graduated from high school – the couple moved in together in Baltimore, by that time with the full approval of their families.

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36 Responses to Saturday Open Thread

  1. vitaminlover says:
    September 2, 2018 at 12:37 am

    The Lewises are a lovely couple. This is neat history. Their smiles are beautiful!

    Reply
  19. Liza says:
    September 1, 2018 at 11:44 am

    Full text…
    Barack Obama’s Eulogy for John McCain
    “What better way to honor John McCain’s life of service than, as best we can, follow his example.”
    NORA KELLY
    12:20 PM ET
    https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/09/barack-obama-eulogy-john-mccain/569065/

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      September 1, 2018 at 11:53 am

      “So much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse can seem small and mean and petty, trafficking in bombast and insult and phony controversies and manufactured outrage. It’s a politics that pretends to be brave and tough, but in fact is born of fear. John called on us to be bigger than that. He called on us to be better than that.”

      Reply
  24. Liza says:
    September 1, 2018 at 9:27 am

    Border collie “Kirk” watches the video of when she won the agility competition.

    Reply
  32. Seven Shakur says:
    September 1, 2018 at 3:29 am

    Wow! I hope to one day find a love like they have 🙏🏾

    Reply
  34. rikyrah says:
    September 1, 2018 at 12:15 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄

    Reply

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