You don’t have to be a music fan to know about the Woodstock Music and Art Festival of 1969. The festival was a pivotal moment that has defined music, counterculture, and even showed how one can manage an event.
When it comes to famous musical events, the Woodstock festival sits at the very top. It had around 400,000 people attending it, and famous artists like The Who and Jimi Hendrix were performing in it. It was a place for rock lovers, aspiring musicians, and people accepting the changing times brought about by the 60s. And it was a place of forming new love.
If you were one of the 400,000 people in the Woodstock festival and if you could present your picture or evidence, you would be quite a celebrity!
Finding true love in the crowd of a festival is not impossible but a rare occurrence. But, when fate has written a wonderful love story for you, it can’t be stopped, right?
The love story of Jerry and Judy Griffin started in the Woodstock festival of 1969. Judy was driving to the festival but on the way, her car broke down. She was with her two friends, and they became quite depressed. This was an event of a lifetime, and they were going to miss it. The only way out, as per her friend’s suggestion, was to hitchhike.
However, was that a safe option?
As luck would have it, Jerry was also driving down the same path with his friends, and they pulled up. At first, Judy and her friends were a bit hesitant, but when they noticed that they had a girl with them, they hopped in. And that was the beginning of their romance! Jerry, like most guys, was quite flustered that a cute girl was going to Woodstock with him.
Well, the ride may have been long but in the car, love had started sparking between them. Jerry had his separate tent, and when they reached Woodstock and set up their own camp, Jerry and Judy were already into one another. They have not parted since then.
Both Jerry and Judy were New Yorkers and coincidentally, both wanted to move to California. After being together for 5 months, they moved to Los Angeles in a Volkswagen van and Jerry began law school. Later on, they started living in Manhattan Beach. They still live there.
The relationship that started back in the Woodstock Festival is approaching 51 this year. They have two sons and five grandchildren now.
But the Woodstock Festival remains a fond memory in their minds.
While they have a lot of stories to tell to their children and grandchildren, they regretted not having any physical proof. They did have a camera but they did not click any pictures.
But some couples have romantic luck written all over their fate. As luck would have it yet again, they came across their own pictures suddenly in a PBS documentary which was made in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock festival. The documentary – Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation – has Jerry and Judy in it, soaking in the rain, covering each other with a blanket.
When a friend sent the couple this image, they cried out in glee. It was an unexpected gift. The picture was clicked when they had known each other for about 48 hours.
Now, their recreated image makes this 51-year-old relationship seem so permanent. Jerry and Judy got married in December of 1975. But the couple doesn’t celebrate their anniversary on that day.
