Story by Jon Stalnaker AKA The Studebaker Dude
Sydney is our first granddaughter and our first grandchild to get married. Young people these days are not as eager to marry and start a family as the baby boomer generation I grew up with. And Sydney is part of that demographic. She graduated from high school, went off to college to get her degree, and spent plenty of time traveling the world, often alone. She visited multiple countries and fell in love with Scotland. Sydney loves to read, and she also loves to write. After graduating from college at Humbolt State in California, she got an opportunity to get the degree of M.Litt in Ethnology and Folklore at the Elphinstone Institute, School of Language, Literature, Music, and Visual Culture at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. (I copied that verbatim off the back of her dissertation book…there’s no way I can remember stuff like that anymore) She settled down in Aberdeen and decided to become a citizen of Scotland. To call her an independent woman is an understatement. With 14 grandchildren, some of whom are approaching their 30s, Sydney is the first and only one to get married, so far.
Looking back at all Sydney has done, we were quite surprised when she got engaged. We were pretty sure she was not interested in such a thing and would live her life happily in her independence, not that there’s anything wrong with that. We’re all quite proud of her as a free spirit that does what she wants and when she wants. I was particularly proud when she stood out from everyone else in her high school by driving a Studebaker to class. One of my most cherished books is her graduation photos from the high school Class of 2014. Not just because there are multiple pictures of her with her Studebaker, the book is replete with pictures that clearly show her personality and her sense of adventure and greatness. My favorite Sydney story was about her standing in line at a store wearing her Studebaker t-shirt. She was standing behind an old man, and he saw her shirt and asked her “do you even know what a Studebaker is?” To which she countered back “sure, I own one, would you like to see a picture of it?” I’ve gotta tell you, that was one of my proudest moments.
Well, Sydney surprised us all when she expressed some serious feelings for a young Scotsman named Paul Davis. I like to call him Tall Paul for obvious reasons, if you look at the wedding photo. My daughter Jillian is not tall, nor is her husband, Tim, or her other daughter, Alyssa. Paul is at least a head taller than Sydney’s dad, who is the tallest of the Hubbel clan. I haven’t met Tall Paul in person yet but have spoken with him on the phone. He seems like a good chap, has a good job, and apparently loves Sydney to pieces. That’s a good starting point and I am not at all concerned about Sydney’s wellbeing as she can handle herself. And like a good Scottish lad, he looks good in a kilt.
It was a small ceremony at a grand venue. The ceremony took place at a Scottish Estate. Thankfully, we weren’t invited. I really don’t look forward to such a long trip and we would not have been able to leave Carlene’s mom or take her. I do hope that they can come to the “colonies” to visit one day. I think Tall Paul might like to see some Route 66 treasures of which there are plenty in Sapulpa. They’re young, already have passports, and have much more patience dealing with airports and flying than this old man.
I’m happy for Sydney and Paul along with my daughter Jillian and her husband Tim. The wedding was awesome and I’m glad they got the family together since they now are spread out in California, Oklahoma and Scotland. May God bless this wonderful union and give them a strong marriage and a long life together.
