Lucky 13 get together for auld lang syne
Girlhood friendships formed long ago in Sweeny help keep women connected
Thirteen girls grew up in small-town Sweeny, attending Sweeny Elementary, Sweeny Junior High and Sweeny High School. They danced at sock hops and went to Friday night football games together. They shared a rivalry with West Columbia.
The “Lucky 13,” as they call themselves, are still friends today and meet a couple of times a year.
Many of them met in first grade in 1947, and they are now in their late 70s.
They are spry and active and dressed with polish for the treasured get-together.
Joyce Willoughby, a widow, has two daughters; she is hosting the Lucky 13 at her West Columbia home.
Pat Thompson, who is still married to her high school sweetheart, lives in Baytown. Gwen Gerlich is on her second marriage (of 50 years), has two sons and lives in Houston. Gloria Floyd is divorced and lives in Clear Lake; she lost her daughter about a year ago. Dianne Westmoreland is a widow and has a daughter; she also lost a child.
Anniece Larkins has a daughter and lives in Shore Acres. Sandra Letteney, a widow, has three children — and a new boyfriend. Charlotte Sterling has been married for 52 years and has two chil-
dren; she lives in Louisiana and had the longest drive to get to Joyce’s house.
Wanda McKay, who lost her only son a few years ago, is on her second marriage. “He was sent from heaven,” she said.
Sue Carr is married and has one daughter; she is the youngest in the group, she proudly proclaims, amid a roar of laughter from her friends.
Other women have joined the original group over the years, and there are a few who are not in attendance. Jan Kovach, who is married and lives in Newport Beach, Calif., was not able to make the trip, but she met with the group in November. Shirley Christian, who is divorced and has three daughters, lives in Kingwood, and was having medical issues. Gynell Juqua lives in Galveston and couldn’t make it.
One member of the group, Frances Duncan Hein, died in November.
The Lucky 13 don’t raise funds for a charity, try to solve world problems or discuss politics. They get together to support and love each other.
“We don’t do controversy,” Anniece says. “We just stay away from it.”
Charlotte adds, “And we don’t care if we don’t agree. It doesn’t matter.”
Jan lived next door to Dianne from the time she was 5 to 16, when her family moved to Corpus Christi, she says in a phone call. “I thought I was going to die when I moved,” she says.
But over the years, the Lucky 13 sent cards and letters and called her, keeping her tied to the group.
A pregnancy at age 16 pulled Wanda away from the group, she shares. Her husband made her quit school. He didn’t let her drive, and she had no money and no family. But the Lucky 13 started coming by. The visits kept Wanda tied to the group and eventually inspired her to go back to school.
“I missed her,” Darla Williams says. The women get quiet.
“I was jealous,” Sue says, as laughter fills the room again. Sue fights to be heard above them. “I thought it was dreamy that she got to leave school and get married, have a baby.”
Wanda got her high school diploma when her son started elementary school; then she followed with a college degree. By the time her son graduated from high school, Wanda had divorced and made a new life.
All of the Lucky 13 members are college educated — although Sue jokes that they grew up in the era of the “MRS degree.” Women were supposed to “get married and have babies,” she says.
But these women had plans. “I wanted to be a teacher,” Pat says. Charlotte can’t believe how uncommon it was for women of their era to be college educated.
Thoughts turn to their recent loss. Anniece recalls Frances revealing her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Jan had described her last hug with Frances: “I knew I was saying goodbye.”
Bubbly Darla changes the mood with the Lucky 13 Bing Crosby wedding story.
In 1957, Bing Crosby was getting married to Kathryn Grandstaff in West Columbia. The Lucky 13 had heard about it. They played hooky, piled into Charlotte’s car and drove to the location of the reception. The brazen young women waltzed in like they belonged there and even shook hands with Bing Crosby.
“He was not wearing his hairpiece,” Darla recalls. “I did not even know it was him that I had met until afterward. He did not look like Bing Crosby without his hair!”
What’s the magic ingredient that keeps the Lucky 13 together?
“We have this conversation, and it’s like when we are together again, we just
pick it back up where it left off,” Dianne says.
Gwen thinks it’s because of their Sweeny upbringing. “We came from a small town, a small high school, and because of that, we wanted to be involved in everything. And we wanted to be involved in everything together.”
Jan credits their mothers’ influence. “We all had strong mothers. Strong women produce strong women.”
They realize what they have is special.
“I feel sad for my daughter that she doesn’t have this,” Dianne says.
“When my daughter got sick,” Gloria says, “if I did not have this group, well, I just don’t know what would have happened or how I would have made it through that.”
Gwen adds, “My son and his wife recently went to their high school reunion and met up with Sue’s daughter and her husband. Both of the couples want a relationship similar to the Lucky 13, and they have made plans to see each other again.”
Frequent visits and commitment helped them build this bond. “Now that Joyce is in a wheelchair, we will go to Joyce,” Sue says.
They pray for each other. And laugh with each other. They all agree that they laugh and cry a lot.
“We text everyday!” Sue says of her relationship with Joyce.
“We are not competitive with each other,” Pat says.
There are boundaries, too. They wait for a member to bring up her struggles; they don’t call people out.
“Friendship, right now, means everything to me,” Shirley says. “The bond grows tighter with time.”