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COOK - BLACK
August 17, 2002
'They say opposites attract'
Jim and Pearl Cook to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary next week
The new man who was working at Dixie Home Stores in Lockhart wanted to follow her home, but Pearl Black did everything she could to discourage him. Dating was different in 1942.
Pearl's parents were strict and she was afraid of what they might say about Jim Cook, even though he was tall and handsome, had family ties to Lockhart and had served in the Civilian Conservation Corps. "I told him every kind of lie to keep him from going home with me," Pearl said with a smile. "I even told him I was 21, but it didn't help. He followed me anyway."
It turned out that everything worked out for the best. Hayes and Bertha Black, Pearl's parents, approved of Jim. On Aug. 22, Pearl and Jim will celebrate their 60th anniversary. "He was real loud and I was real shy," Pearl said. "They say opposites attract," Jim said.
Jim was born in Lockhart, the son of Jay and Lillie Mae Patrick Cook. His father was a sharecropper and the family lived in several different counties. During the Depression, Jim got a job with the CCC building a reservoir at King's Mountain, N.C. He got a discharge to take the job with Dixie Home Store.
He had seen Pearl in the store and thought she was pretty. He particularly liked her blue eyes.
One Sunday, he got the chance to get better acquainted with her. He and some friends had been playing music and he encountered Pearl and some of her friends near the Askew Bridge.
They talked and he asked if he could walk her home. After the meeting with her parents went well, they began seeing each other.
"I liked his smile," she said. "I always thought he had a beautiful smile, and he does have a sense of humor." After Pearl's graduation from Lockhart High, they decided to marry. Pearl was again afraid of what her parents would say. The couple decided to elope. Pearl's mother operated a store out of their house with candy, headache powders and other small items. Pearl began smuggling her clothes out of the house in the empty candy boxes and taking them to a friend's house.
Jim didn't have a car to pick up Pearl on the day of the wedding, so he borrowed his uncleÕs pickup truck. They went to the home of Jim's grandparents to get dressed and then went to the home of the Methodist minister, Rev. Farr, to be married. Jim's grandparents had a large two-story home and he and his wife set up housekeeping in two rooms. He made $12 a week for a six-day work week at the grocery store.
In March 1943, Jim was drafted into the Army. Pearl was pregnant with their first child when he left for basic training. Jimmie Cook was born before his father left for overseas duty, but his father was gone for almost two years after his birth. "I showed him pictures, but when Jim came home, Jimmie wouldn't let his daddy touch him," Mrs. Cook said.
Those long, uncertain days of World War II were some of the hardest days of her marriage, Mrs. Cook said. "We lived for letters," she said.
"I still have a lot of them. One of the scariest times was when I went three weeks without a letter. Naturally, I thought the worst. But when I did get mail I got a stack. I think that brought us together, being separated so long."
Jimmie, who served for more than 26 years in the Navy, is a teacher in Jacksonville, Fla. The Cooks also have two daughters, Joyce Mincey and Sharon Cook, who both live in Rock Hill. They also have seven grandchildren, one great-grandchild and two great-great-grandchildren.
Jim, now 79, is retired from Torrington and Pearl, 77, is retired from Her Majesty.
They are active in their church Lockhart Freewill Baptist where Jim is a deacon and teaches one of the men's Sunday School classes. Pearl is an assistant teacher in one of the mother's Sunday School classes and both she and Jim sing in the choir. Jim also is a 1970 graduate of Beaver Creek Bible Institute.
Jim also was a Monarch fireman for 14 years and has been serving on the board of directors for the past 12 years. The Cooks enjoy playing board games together and reading and Mrs. Cook said she thinks this keeps their minds sharp.
They also enjoy vegetable and flower gardening together. Pearl said she thinks the secret to a long and happy married life is to learn to compromise.
"You have to love them, first of all, and give in a lot of times when you don't want to," she said. "But the best thing that has kept us married is knowing the Lord is our savior and he helps us with our problems." Jim said his advice to others is to be willing to admit you are wrong.
"Nobody is right all the time and it takes two to argue," he said.
"He has always had so much patience," Pearl said. "I've always admired him for his patience." The Rev. Richard Conyers, pastor of Lockhart Freewill Baptist Church, said he attributes the Cooks long marriage to their strong commitment to Christ. He pointed out that along with their church work, the Cooks also voluntarily lead a worship service at Ellen Sagar Nursing Home every two weeks. "To be a good Christian is to be a good spouse," Conyers said. "They are faithful and active servants for the Lord."
By ANNA BROWN
