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Norman, 83, and Anne, 79, met in 1947 when he was a junior at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory and she was a freshman dating one of his fraternity brothers. Norman tells their story:
The blonde: In the fall of my junior year, I was a cheerleader practicing on the football field one afternoon. Nearby was a group of girls getting ready for the annual powder-puff bowl game. When practice was over, two girls asked if they could practice their blocking on me. It was a joyful experience, especially since one of the girls, a blonde, was very attractive.
The football player: Later I asked a fraternity brother who the blonde was, so I could ask her for a date. “Go ahead,” he said, “but be aware that she goes with a friend of ours.” Her name was Anne. She was dating a fraternity brother named Lee who was a 240-pound guard on the football team. During the school year I got to know Anne, but I didn't ask her out. Then to my surprise, she stopped me in the hall one morning in the spring and asked if I was busy the next Friday night.
The kiss: She asked if I would take her to a sorority outing, since Lee was going home that weekend and suggested she ask me. I said yes, and we went with another couple to a barbecue dinner at Lake Hickory. Anne and I got our plates and went down to the beach, where I spread a blanket. We ate and talked, and as it began to get dark, we lay on our stomachs and looked at the water. All of a sudden, we kissed. It was spontaneous and wonderful. I dated Anne one more time before Lee returned, but that was the end of that.
The angry boyfriend: The next fall, a friend said he knew someone who wanted to date me. It was Anne, he said. “What about Lee?” I asked. He told me they had broken up, so I asked Anne for a date that night. A few days later, I heard her old boyfriend was looking for me. Apparently he hadn't been told about the break-up. “You can't hit Warlick,” someone told Lee. “You could hurt him badly.” I weighed only 130 pound to his 240. “I don't plan to hit him hard,” was Lee's reply.
The understanding: I told Anne I cared a lot for her, but not enough to get hit. So she told Lee she wanted to go out with me, and he understood. Anne and I were married in June of 1950. We've lived in Cherryville since 1951.
Kathy Haight
