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“I worked the French Room, which was the best room,” said the second generation CEO. “My specialty was dyeing men’s hair green. Honest! Remember this was back in the ‘60’s and flower child time. There was a band called Roscoe and His Green Men and they asked if we could dye hair green. Our instructor told them that I could do that. It was hysterical! We got free tickets to their show and front row seats. I also dyed my hair green ... and pink ... and yellow. But it was short-lived. Dad said, ‘Stop that!’” *** Al and Louise do not agree on where they met. “It was at a game in Holdingford,” said Louise. “It was at a game in Upsala,” said Al. “No!” declared Louise. “It was a game in Holdingford and I saw him walk by and I said to my friend, ‘Boy, is he a cutie!’ I found out his name was Fons. A week later my friend said that Fons wanted to be my pen pal. He was leaving for basic training. We wrote letters every week for three years. I sent him cassette tapes too. I still have them.” Fons is short for Alphonse, of course, and rhymes with ONCE upon a time. Stated Al, “Remember the Fonz?” Said Fonzie, “I kind of liked her because she was a pretty good looking chicken and she was feisty.” Said Louise, “I had a 1963 Valiant Convertible and I drove to a baseball game with my sister Mary, and when we were pulling into a parking spot I heard this voice ... ‘I wouldn’t park there if I were you.’ It was Fons. Well, that’s all I needed. I parked there anyway. Then a foul ball came over and splashed my windshield. I heard an hysterical laugh from the bleachers. But Fons came down and wouldn’t let me drive the car that way and he taped up the window for me. I thought to myself, ‘Wow. That was pretty nice. He was very considerate.’” This was not to be the only broken windshield in their life before marriage. “We were in three accidents within six months,” said Louise. “We should have both been killed.” In the first accident -- Louise was not in the car -- Al suffered a fractured skull, dislocated hips, and a knee spiraled out of its socket. “I was in bad, bad shape,” he admitted. Said Louise, “A priest who came to give him the Last Rites told me, ‘This kid is not going to make it.’” Although Louise had gone to the party with another fellow that evening, her eyes had been for Fons. She stayed on watch duty at his hospital bedside through two nights and two days. Al was in the hospital for three weeks and then at home with his parents in a hospital bed for four months. After he recovered, they went on their first real date. The second accident occurred with both of them in the car and they hit a concrete bridge. Al was taking Louise back to the beauty school in St. Cloud. Said Al, “I never fall asleep when I’m driving or even when somebody else is driving, but I must have fallen asleep. We hit a concrete bridge. Louise was sitting next to me and had her head on my shoulder or she would have been killed. After we crashed I saw that I was okay and I asked Louise if she was okay. It was a miracle. The car was totally demolished. Nobody could believe we got out of it alive.” Louise said the nearby farmer talked to them that night and after seeing the car told them to get checked out at the hospital. He said, “You have a very active guardian angel.” The third accident wasn’t so life-threatening but was maddening. Louise tells the story: “I had saved $400 for my wedding dress, and I’m driving Al’s car and I was passing someone and hit them. My $400 paid for the damage but I was sick to my stomach. I had saved all my hairdresser tips and picked out a Jackie O. design at Herberger’s in St. Cloud.” We didn’t report the accident to Al's insurance company because his insurance rates would have gone up. Added Louise, “I learned that you’re not supposed to pass someone in an intersection.”
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The Victoria GAZETTE |
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November 2014 |
