(Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival)
When Helen Viola Jackson was born, the year was 1919 and the United States had just finished fighting World War I. When her husband James Bolin was born, it was 1843 and the U.S. had yet to fight World War I. Or the Spanish-American War. Or the Plains Wars. Or the Civil War. Or the Mexican War.
You get the idea.
Jackson married Bolin in September 1936, when she was just 17 years old. Bolin, who fought in the Civil War, was 93. It s a situation akin to a Gen-Zer marrying a World War II veteran.
The two met in her hometown of Niangua, Missouri. Jackson would go to the elderly man s house every day after school to take care of him. But Bolin had no way to repay her except to offer to marry the young girl.