this giant plant for him ,” Sandra Green said . “ I was getting it out and he kind of laughed and said , ‘ That ’ s for me ?’
“ The funny thing was he had also gone to a flower shop and bought this really nice flower arrangement and had it sent to my school . But I didn ’ t know that ’ til he told me because it got there after I had already left work for the day .”
The next week was funny too and , Sandra said , a sign of God ’ s hand at work in her and Johnny ’ s future .
Sandra , a 4-H instructor at the time , went on a field trip with her class , where she caught the
Unaware of the developments earlier that day , Johnny Green showed up for the date , about three hours early . “ A month later he asked me to marry him ,” Sandra Green said . “ We moved the wedding up to [ June 2 , 1984 ] because Johnny ’ s brother was in the military and about to ship out , but he ended up having to ship out the day of the wedding anyway .”
Susie Harrison , now Susie Rogers , served as Sandra ’ s maid of honor . Rogers ’ prayers led her to the seminary and she later performed missionary work in Jordan .
Sandra laughed recalling a frantic call
The Greens and their four grandchildren , from left , Iona , William Henry , Lillie and London .
Courtesy photo
Either way , Johnny Green tired of waiting and decided to write Sandra . Not knowing her address , the envelope , postmarked Feb . 7 , 1984 , is simply addressed to Sandra Hodges , Lexington , OK 73051 .
“ I don ’ t know , I probably never expected it to actually reach her or her to ever get back with me ,” Johnny Green said . “ But I figured it was worth a try .”
Fortunately for both , Lexington being a tiny town with a small post office , as Sandra Green describes it , Johnny ’ s letter found its way to her .
Johnny , in the letter , apologizes to writing Sandra , should she be involved with someone else . Otherwise he asks that Sandra , should she be so inclined , call him and maybe they could go to dinner , a movie or church together sometime .
Sandra called and she and Johnny set a date the following Saturday to go eat in Norman , Okla .
Visits to church together followed , leading to a Valentine ’ s Day dinner date and an early sign the couple were in sync .
“ I went to a flower shop and bought flu going around at the time .
Her fellow teachers at the school were laughing when she returned to work . She had a date with Johnny that night , and another man had called the school looking for her leaving word that he wished her to join him at his church night .
“ So , I have two dates that night , and I ’ m sick as a dog ,” Sandra Green said . “ I couldn ’ t figure out what to do so I finally just called to cancel both , but I wasn ’ t able to get hold of Johnny .” from Johnny while they were dating . He tried to make spaghetti , basically meat and ketchup , to disastrous results .
“ He gained 50 pounds the first six months after our wedding from my cooking ,” Sandra Green said .
The Greens , now four months shy of 41 years of marriage , went on to have three children : Monica , Zachary and Allison . They have four grandchildren , London , Lillie , William Henry and Iona . The Greens moved to Texas in 2006 .
8 Community Life