Dating in Dallas

Susie describes her student years at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
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I stayed all four years. I graduated with a double major, a B.A. in education and a B.A. in Spanish.

(And you also met your husband at SMU?)

Yes.

(Can you tell me how you met him?)

It was a blind date. That was the beginning of my sophomore year. During my freshman year I had met—my roommate, as a matter of fact, my roommate at SMU was Jewish. She was from New Orleans, Elaine Stern, and she was my roommate all four years, and we’re still in touch. We’re close friends. And I also met a young lady from Illinois, Barbara Rhodus. Barb was on a scholarship, and so she had to work at a little drugstore that was across the street from SMU. And a lot of the foreign students that worked would go and cash their checks at this store.

So she met my husband, my future husband, there at that store when he would come and cash his checks and buy chocolates, etc.. They started talking, and he told her that he was from Israel. So she immediately thought that he was Jewish. So she wrote me and she said, “I have this wonderful guy I want you to meet. He’s so cute. I think you would be great together.” Blah-blah-blah. So I was really looking forward to meeting him. And she told him that there was this beautiful girl from El Salvador, that we would be so cute together. She never mentioned religion or anything like that to him, only that I was from El Salvador. Well, he never imagined that somebody from El Salvador was Jewish.

So when I arrived in August of ’66, back for my sophomore year, he called me the very first day I arrived. I was awfully sick. I had bronchitis, tired from traveling and all this. He says, “I’ve waited for three months for you to come back to school, your suitemate has been telling me all about you.We have to meet.” I said, “I just feel terrible. I can’t meet you.” And he kept insisting. So he said, “Well, can we just at least have a cup of coffee.” I said, “Well, OK, you know, but I feel ugh, and I probably look the same.”

Anyway, we went out for coffee, and I kept coughing and coughing. I thought he was great. He was good-looking. He was wonderful. He was sweet. It was a very short date, but I still remember that I went back and I told my roommate, I said, “I just met the guy I’m gonna marry.” And we got married three years later.

(How did you just know?)

I just knew. It was a feeling the minute I saw him. It was just like this—like I’d known him all my life, I don’t know. It was this weird thing.

(And in that first meeting, did you figure out that he was a Christian Palestinian?)

No. You know, it never came up. That was the funniest thing. It never came up. And like I said, maybe because when I grew up I never—all my friends were Catholic and Christian and their parents were from different backgrounds, , that I never was into the: Who is—? By the name knowing where they’re from or whatever it is. It didn’t click inside. Even if he told me his name, I wouldn’t have known what religion he was. So I was happy-go-lucky. “Hey, he’s from Israel! My father’s gonna be so happy!” (laughs) Never knowing that he was a Christian.

(What happened next?)

Well, can you believe it? I met him in August, and I came back for my Christmas holidays here to El Salvador, and we were coming back from the airport, and my father said, “How are things?” I said, “They’re great!” He said, “You look so happy.” I said, “Yes, I met this wonderful young man.” And he said, “Really?” I said, “Yes, he’s from Israel.” And he said, “What is his name?” So I told him, and we almost had a car accident. He says, “Are you crazy?” (laughs) “He’s Palestinian!” And at the time he said “Turco,” you know, because that’s what they call them here. And I said, “What? No, he’s not.” He said, “Yes, he is!” He was so upset. My dad was so upset. He made me promise that I would never see him again.

(On that car ride home?)

Yes. That whole Christmas vacation was really pretty bad. Because, everybody was trying to convince me that this was the wrong thing, that if that was the case, I might as well stay here, not go back, if I was going to continue seeing him. I wanted to go back, so I lied. (pause) I did. So I thought, “Well, if he’s not the one, I’m going to find out by myself.” And I didn’t think of the consequences. I didn’t think of anyone, really. I guess when you’re in love, you just don’t think.

Transcript by Sandy Adler, Adler Enterprises LLC.