Written by Emma Stone
Carl and Mamie Hammock recently celebrated their golden anniversary, renewing their vows surrounded by friends and family on January 5th.
The couple, from Shreveport and Ruston, first crossed paths on the Louisiana Tech’s campus.
“I just looked at her. She was passing through the student union and I noticed her,” said Carl. “I asked my friends about her. I started walking her to class.”
After about a month, Mamie agreed to go on a date. Carl took her out to Griff’s for burgers.
From there, the two hit it off.
“Two and a half years later, he proposed to me in the quadrangle on campus,” said Mamie. “I made him call my daddy and ask his permission.”
With her father’s blessing, the couple tied the knot on January 5, 1974. Their early years began with humble beginnings.
“When we got married, we didn’t have anything,” said Carl. “She left me some change but took it out of my pocket to buy a dining set, a table and four chairs, for $30.”
The couple stayed in Louisiana Tech’s housing for married students for one year.
“Carl was a workaholic, thus allowing us to purchase our first home,” said Mamie.
After graduation, Mamie initially worked as a substitute teacher in the local school system, later transitioning to a P.E. teacher at Simsboro, while Carl devoted 38 years to a warehouse company before joining the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office.
“She tells me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear,” said Carl. “Sometimes I go out in left field but she knows how to pull me back in.”
After 10 years of marriage, the two had their son, Carl Stewart Hammock Jr., then their daughter, Kristen Hammock-Young.
“He’s just a good person and easy going, with me that is,” said Mamie. “The older we get the more we listen to each other. We don’t sugarcoat, and he is just an honest person.”
The celebration service hosted plenty of music and dancing.
“I’m not the same person she married, and she’s not the same person I married,” said Carl. “You either grow together or grow apart.”
Words of wisdom were given for those looking to get married or are in a long-term relationship.
“Make sure it’s the two of you before it’s the three of you,” said Mamie. “Young people need to get to know each other before adding another person.”
As the Hammock family continues to grow, their enduring love and commitment serve as a testament to the strength of marriage and the importance of growing together over the years.
