Yesterday I shared my friend Jens’ beautiful, true love story. The love stories of those I’m close to always fill me with joy, and hope.
Even in this year of confusion and sorrow, I’m seeing new love bloom all around me. Two of my friends have had genuine quarantine romances, the kind where nightly long phone calls are exchanged and “dates” are had feet apart on park benches, the anticipation of touch building over months full of longing. One of my friends is secretly inching toward proposing; another’s husband has taken care of her during her quarantine pregnancy and birth in powerful ways; and another told me her newfound love is “the one”!
If I’m hearing all of these heartwarming stories, I know you are too! Or maybe you’ve even had one of your own. Tell me everything!
In the comments, please share the best true love stories you’ve ever heard.
My 87-year-old grandpa Chuck's late-in-life love story is one of my favorites. (I interviewed him about it here: https://cruelsummerbookclub.substack.com/p/my-grandpa-was-77-when-he-found-love) My grandmother Betty passed away after they'd been together for 53 years. A year later, Grandpa reunited with a high school friend, Donnie, who had also lost her husband, Bob. All four of them had been friends since high school, and have pictures together. Soon, Chuck and Donnie fell in love, united by a lifetime of history, and a brand new flame of passion and joy.
At 77 years old, my grandfather created a new home with a partner he could not stop gushing about. Five years later she too passed away, of cancer, but my grandpa's caretaking for the two women he's loved most in this life, and his four children, is the pinnacle of love to me.
I agree Sheeby. He has loved and lost many important people in his life, but is so grateful for the love he’s experienced, and that’s why I look to him as a guide for my own experiences with love and loss.
My parents fell in love during a pandemic! They were both seriously ill with H2N2 in 1958. Their younger siblings (dad’s brother and mom’s sister) were connected with each other on something called a “party line,” which was a way to meet new people randomly on the phone. My aunt and uncle immediately disliked each other and handed their phones to their older siblings. My parents spoke on the phone for six weeks while they were both out of school with this horrible flu. They were deeply in love before they even knew what the other looked like.
This is so wonderful! What a guiding light for you to look to during this time. Obviously it went well but I’d love to hear more about their first impressions of each other when they finally did meet. 👀
Absolutely! My mom loves to recall that moment after the doorbell rang and she knew he was right there, but she still didn’t know how he looked. For her, it didn’t matter. She was already in love. But it was scary. Then she opened the door and saw him, 6’2” dirty blonde, a little too skinny and so, so handsome. She could tell in that moment that he’d just had the same experience seeing her for the first time. They’ve been inseparable ever since!
I can just imagine the anticipation, standing behind that closed door, knowing (and hoping) your life might now change forever. What a beautiful story, Anne. I'm so happy you grew up with this kind of love in your life.
My parents grew up in the same town. My mom is a year older but they always knew each other. My dad came home from Sunday school one week when he was about nine years old and told his mother/my grandmother, "when I grow up, if I don't become a priest, I am going to marry Mary Fleig". Well, he went to the seminary but got kicked out for being irreverent. He was immediately was sent to Korea. They corresponded while he was there. He proposed when he returned and they got married six months later. My mom was pregnant nine times in nine years...probably a good thing he didn't become a priest! We didn't have a lot of money but there was never any doubt that they truly loved each other.
Wow! Talk about divine intervention. So they kept in touch as friends for many years post-childhood, or did he get back in touch with her post-seminary because he was still thinking of her? I love this story, thanks so much for sharing.
Dad said he wrote to everyone he knew because it was so horrid in Korea (not as much fun as MASH!), getting mail was the bright spot of the day. They'd kind of kept in touch but that's what really got them together. I have some of the letters.
My maternal grandparents were both stationed in Rhode Island with the Navy in the early 1950s (my grandpa built weapons for submarines and my grandma was a nurse). One night, they were both out with friends to see a movie. My grandpa was standing in line when the woman behind him, my grandma, started touching his blonde curls and telling him how great his hair was (anyone who knew Mary Jane knew how on brand this behavior was).
They dated for two weeks before he was deployed to Europe and basically said to her, I don’t want to break up, so let’s get married. So they did! They were together for 50+ year and I miss them both terribly. ❤️
Mary Jane was so brash! An icon! It's shocking to think about a two-week courtship turning into lifelong love. I am so happy to know that kind of love at first sight exists. Thanks so much for sharing, Sam.
My 87-year-old grandpa Chuck's late-in-life love story is one of my favorites. (I interviewed him about it here: https://cruelsummerbookclub.substack.com/p/my-grandpa-was-77-when-he-found-love) My grandmother Betty passed away after they'd been together for 53 years. A year later, Grandpa reunited with a high school friend, Donnie, who had also lost her husband, Bob. All four of them had been friends since high school, and have pictures together. Soon, Chuck and Donnie fell in love, united by a lifetime of history, and a brand new flame of passion and joy.
At 77 years old, my grandfather created a new home with a partner he could not stop gushing about. Five years later she too passed away, of cancer, but my grandpa's caretaking for the two women he's loved most in this life, and his four children, is the pinnacle of love to me.
That is so wonderful...he found love twice! So sad that he had to bury both but to have such love twice is a gift.
I agree Sheeby. He has loved and lost many important people in his life, but is so grateful for the love he’s experienced, and that’s why I look to him as a guide for my own experiences with love and loss.
My parents fell in love during a pandemic! They were both seriously ill with H2N2 in 1958. Their younger siblings (dad’s brother and mom’s sister) were connected with each other on something called a “party line,” which was a way to meet new people randomly on the phone. My aunt and uncle immediately disliked each other and handed their phones to their older siblings. My parents spoke on the phone for six weeks while they were both out of school with this horrible flu. They were deeply in love before they even knew what the other looked like.
This is so wonderful! What a guiding light for you to look to during this time. Obviously it went well but I’d love to hear more about their first impressions of each other when they finally did meet. 👀
Absolutely! My mom loves to recall that moment after the doorbell rang and she knew he was right there, but she still didn’t know how he looked. For her, it didn’t matter. She was already in love. But it was scary. Then she opened the door and saw him, 6’2” dirty blonde, a little too skinny and so, so handsome. She could tell in that moment that he’d just had the same experience seeing her for the first time. They’ve been inseparable ever since!
I can just imagine the anticipation, standing behind that closed door, knowing (and hoping) your life might now change forever. What a beautiful story, Anne. I'm so happy you grew up with this kind of love in your life.
My parents grew up in the same town. My mom is a year older but they always knew each other. My dad came home from Sunday school one week when he was about nine years old and told his mother/my grandmother, "when I grow up, if I don't become a priest, I am going to marry Mary Fleig". Well, he went to the seminary but got kicked out for being irreverent. He was immediately was sent to Korea. They corresponded while he was there. He proposed when he returned and they got married six months later. My mom was pregnant nine times in nine years...probably a good thing he didn't become a priest! We didn't have a lot of money but there was never any doubt that they truly loved each other.
Wow! Talk about divine intervention. So they kept in touch as friends for many years post-childhood, or did he get back in touch with her post-seminary because he was still thinking of her? I love this story, thanks so much for sharing.
Dad said he wrote to everyone he knew because it was so horrid in Korea (not as much fun as MASH!), getting mail was the bright spot of the day. They'd kind of kept in touch but that's what really got them together. I have some of the letters.
My maternal grandparents were both stationed in Rhode Island with the Navy in the early 1950s (my grandpa built weapons for submarines and my grandma was a nurse). One night, they were both out with friends to see a movie. My grandpa was standing in line when the woman behind him, my grandma, started touching his blonde curls and telling him how great his hair was (anyone who knew Mary Jane knew how on brand this behavior was).
They dated for two weeks before he was deployed to Europe and basically said to her, I don’t want to break up, so let’s get married. So they did! They were together for 50+ year and I miss them both terribly. ❤️
Mary Jane was so brash! An icon! It's shocking to think about a two-week courtship turning into lifelong love. I am so happy to know that kind of love at first sight exists. Thanks so much for sharing, Sam.