Where else would young college students find romance and
love in 1963? For Mary Ellen and Tom – uh that would be a fallout shelter. Mary Ellen needed one more elective credit to
finish out her sophomore year studying special education at the University of
Kentucky. After ruling out judo and
woodwind instruments, she took a course in fallout shelter management. Serious
stuff during the Cold War. The class culminated with a mock nuclear
event over the course of a weekend. “It was very realistic, with a recording of
the president’s voice announcing there had been an attack on our country,“ said
Mary Ellen. “It was gruesome, but it was also fascinating. They were talking
about what was going on outside and that there were still people alive." Not exactly the typical stuff of romance. Mary Ellen’s job was
to dole out the limited supply of food and water. This is where Tom comes into the picture. He
was a freshman at the school but he also served on the Blue Grass Council of
the Boy Scouts in Kentucky. They needed volunteers for the mock attack and he
signed up. “She had a hard time siphoning that water,” said Tom. “So I helped
her.” Mary Ellen said from that point on “he followed me everywhere in that
shelter. It was creepy. When it came time to go to sleep he moved his cot near
mine. And I got up and moved my cot to get away from him.” After the class was
over, Tom found out where Mary Ellen was living and called her every night. “I
wouldn’t go out with him for three weeks,” said Mary Ellen. Then she caved. And
a year later they married, went on to have two careers, two children, six grandchildren
and one great-grand child, Willow, who was featured in the previous post.
