Love endured years for Fields

From the prairies of Oklahoma to the plains of New Mexico; from the despair of the great depression to the wonder of a new millennium, longtime Portales residents Glen and Shirley Fields have seen it all. And today, they celebrate their 53rd Valentines Day together as a married couple.

If you’ve been through the Portales school system or if you attend any Ram sporting events, you likely know who the Fields are. Both Shirley and Glen taught in Portales for several years and they don’t miss a Ram or Lady Ram basketball game.

“We love to go to the ball games,” Shirley said.

Glen taught school in Portales for 39 years, while Shirley taught at Steiner and Brown elementary for 17 years.

But this love story begins not in New Mexico, but rather in Alva, Okla.

“(Shirley) lived out in the country about 22 miles out,” Glen said. “Her grandmother would bring her to church and one time she told her, ‘I’ve got a guy that I want you to meet.’ (then) we went together a few times.”

“He would come over and we’d go out and get a Coke and then he’d get back to studying,” Shirley said. “We sort of just fell into each other right during the beginning.”

Shirley told a story from shortly after they met each other.

“We played volleyball out in the country, and (Glen) was down at the fishing pond, and they couldn’t get him away from the fishing pond. Finally he came up and started playing volleyball — well, that was right down my alley. I played volleyball all my life,” Shirley said. “He played volleyball pretty good too. We kind of hit it off there playing volleyball against each other.”

“I was just running here-and-there and playing and fishing and having a good time,” Glen said.

Summer came, and Glen went to work harvesting as far north as South Dakota, but soon after getting back together, Glen set his plans into motion.

“He took me home to meet his parents,” Shirley said. “We were sitting in the living room, I had his class ring, and he took it away from me and I said, ‘What are you doing that for?’ And he took it away from me and put a diamond on my hand. I was shocked. I had no idea that he was going to give me a diamond when he took me home to meet his parents.”

The two were married on March 17, 1955 and moved to Portales in 1959 to teach school.

“(I thought she was) a beautiful gal and easy to get along with,” Glen said.

“I thought he was good looking,” Shirley said.

As 53-year veterans of the institution of marriage, Glen and Shirley offered up some advice to younger couples.

“Don’t go to bed mad,” Glen said. “And put God first in your life,” Shirley added.

“We just trust one another,” Shirley said. “And we know that we are there for each other.”

“I don’t know what I’d do with out him,” Shirley said.

Glen said he usually takes Shirley out to dinner for the Valentine’s Day, but Shirley also said he was full of surprises.

“For a while, while we were still young and slim, (we’d get) chocolates,” Glen joked.

But on Wednesday, just a few hours before going to a Valentine’s Day dinner, Glen excused himself for a couple of minutes and returned with a purple charm necklace in an ornate jewelry box for Shirley’s early Valentine present.

“I have lots of purple to wear it with,” Shirley beamed.