My First Love Story…
May 5th 2008
Claudia DainGoddess Grins
Was the story of how my parents met and fell in love and got married. Doesn’t every kid want to know those essential details? The details of how I got here? The unspoken wish that it will happen to me someday?
My mom and dad’s love story was so unique and so romantic that I was telling it routinely on the playground during recess. Even other seven year old girls knew it for the Love Story it was. So, here it is, one more time.
My dad was a Marine during WWII and became a paraplegic. It was while he was in the VA hospital in Manhattan that he met my mom. She was a student nurse. The patients and nurses weren’t allowed to fraternize, so they kept their budding romance a secret, which wasn’t easy. One time, my mom took my dad for a walk in his wheelchair through a field of grass. The MPs drove by, so my mom took a nosedive into the tall grass, hiding. If she’d been caught, she would have been kicked out of school. So there’s my dad, sitting in his wheelchair in the middle of this field he in no way could have gotten into by himself.
“What are you doing?” the MP asked, trying not to laugh.
“Just out to get some air,” my dad answered, lighting a cigarette.
“All by yourself?” the MP said.
“Sure. Yeah,” my dad said, taking a casual drag.
By this time the MPs are both laughing out loud, ignoring the sounds of my mother snaking through the grass on her belly. The MPs got my dad out of the field, kept their gaze averted from my mom, and didn’t say a word to anyone. Who says MPs are heartless?
To be honest, my mother’s mother was horrified that her daughter wanted to marry a paraplegic. To be honest, who can blame her? This was 1948. Being disabled was not as mainstreamed as it is now. There was no handicapped parking, no ramps, nothing to make it easier, no sensitivity training. People stared. And, if you’ve done the math, why was my dad in a VA hospital in 1948? The war had been over for three years. He’d been a paraplegic since 1942.
I’ll tell you why. His parents didn’t know what to do with him. He was damaged goods and they basically wrote him off. Their own son. Their first born.
So, here’s my mom, in love with a guy who can’t walk, whose own parents have left him to molder in a VA hospital, a guy whose life expectancy is about ten years and he’s used up six of them. What does she do? She marries him.
She marries him. And they stay married, and he stays alive, for another forty-three years.
My first love story was a great one, wasn’t it?
Is this why I write romance novels? I don’t know, but I know it didn’t hurt.
Shameless plug alert: The Courtesan’s Secret comes out tomorrow. I hope you buy it and have the fun of immersing yourself in another love story from another time and another place, because once upon a time is the best way for a love story to start.
What about your mom and dad? Grandparents? Aunts or uncles? How did they meet and fall in love? What’s their love story?
63 Comments »
Margaret Garland on 05 May 2008 at 6:18 am #
Sniff, sniff. Well, shoot. There’s nothing like a little tear in the eyes first thing in the morning. Gets the dust and night crud out of them.
How could you not become an romance author, Claudia? With that story in your genetic makeup? You couldn’t have done anything else. Crew, I guess, but that was another lifetime. Thank you for sharing such an wonderful story with us.
I know my parents told me how they met but I can’t remember. It was back in the 30’s. A 2nd marriage for Daddy at 40, first for Mother. Who was 30. To my young eyes, they seemed so old. They were married 42 years.
I don’t know how other family members met. Not something they talked about or I wasn’t listening. Bad me. I’d say my meeting DH was the topper.
Sabrina Jeffries on 05 May 2008 at 7:03 am #
Though I’ve heard the story a couple of times, it never ceases to choke me up. And you should hear the stories Claudia tells about her father–he was a wonderful man. Hard to believe that anyone would write him off because of something as stupid as “he’s a paraplegic.”
I never heard the part about the field, though. That is too wonderful. Sounds just like your dad, too.
My parents met in the college cafeteria. Mom was in college on workstudy, so her job was to serve food, and dad was a ministerial student. That’s all I can remember. I’ll have to ask them to tell that story when they come to visit in a month. They’ve been married 50 years.
DebMarlowe on 05 May 2008 at 7:27 am #
Such a lovely story! No wonder they raised a daughter with strong convictions and a big heart!
My parents did NOT have a great love story, and interestingly, I’ve always wondered if that was one of the reasons I love romance so much….
Ellen on 05 May 2008 at 7:43 am #
Lovely story. It was such a great way to start my day.
My parents met on a blind date. My dad said it was love at first sight, but Mom did mention that my father was so painfully shy, she didn’t know what to make of him, except he was a great looking sailor about to be shipped off.
Nine months later (and trust me, we joked about that a lot) my Dad called her up and gave her the old “You might not remember me” speech. They dated, married and spent the rest of their time joined at the hip. Together they built a home. Together they had seven children. They also buried one of their children, my brother David, together. They never let anything or anybody come between them.
Mom passed away in 2002, but there is not a day that my Dad doesn’t mention something about her. I know that in his heart, they are still together.
amy1242 on 05 May 2008 at 7:46 am #
I don’t know how my parents met. My dad was in the navy and mom was a nurse, but I think they met after dad got back and mom was working in the hospital. They hate each other now, unfortunately. Dad’s on his third wife (three years older than me) and mom’s on her second husband (the guy gives me the willies). No love stories there. No wonder I’m so jaded when it comes to men.
But I love your parents’ story, Claudia. It somehow balances things out for me, knowing that it DOES happen from time to time.
Karen Rose on 05 May 2008 at 8:12 am #
Claudia, your story brought tears to my eyes. How remarkably beautiful!
elsiehogarth on 05 May 2008 at 8:17 am #
I just love real life romance stories.
My parents met at a co-workers party, one Saturday night, in 1955. When my Mom, arrived at the door, and rang the door bell, my Dad actually opened the door for her and her cousin. My Dad says he just stood there staring at my Mom because she was so beautiful. He stood there until his friend came over to see if it was the police because the party was really jumping with music, people etc. He told them to come in, made the introductions and told my Dad to take their coats. My Dad went to take my Mom’s coat but her pearl necklace, from Woolworth’s, got snagged on her coat and needless to say there were pearls all over the floor. Both of them then started looking and collecting the pearls. All my Mother could think about was that my Father was such a loser.
Did I mention the part about how my Mother is Spanish and only spoke Spanish with barely any English. My Father is French and spoke French and English.
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 8:28 am #
I love hearing love stories! *G* Elsie, yours is wonderful, like something out of a movie.
Amy, your parents sound a lot like mine, at least at the start! It doesn’t always last, but love is still love at the start. I’m enough of a romantic to believe that, too.
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 8:29 am #
DebM, your comment intrigues me. That makes so much sense! Even if there is no love story, we crave it, we’ll search for it, we’ll create it. And isn’t that great?
elsiehogarth on 05 May 2008 at 8:30 am #
Continuation:
So you already know communication is going to be a big problem. Well, needless to say…my Dad stuck to my Mom like glue and she tried her best to get away from him all night. It was useless. My Mom was so fed up that she decided to leave. Her co-worker then has the brillant idea that my Dad should take her home. So off they go and when they got to my Mom’s street she got out of the cab and said goodnight. My Dad just shook his head and tried to explain that he wanted to see her straight to her door. My Mom was planning on going to the wrong door so my Dad wouldn’t know where she lived. Her plan was foiled so she had to go to her building, then to her door and actually open it and get in. The next morning, when my Mom wakes up she finds my Dad sitting, in the kitchen, having a wonderful conversation, in French, with her Aunt Frances. My Mom’s Aunt loved my Dad especially since he worked nights and was going to NYU during the day.
doglady on 05 May 2008 at 8:30 am #
What a fantastic story, Claudia. No wonder you write such insightful heroines. Your Mom saw thru the physical to the great guy in that wheelchair. And your Dad is true hero material.
I actually didn’t know my parents’ story until my cousin started talking about it one day. My Dad was stationed in Germany with two of my Mom’s brothers. He saw a photo of my Mom on Uncle Bobby’s desk and asked “Is that your girl?” “No, that’s my sister.” “She can’t be. You two are too ugly to have a sister that beautiful.” He asked if he could write to her. Apparently writing to soldiers was a thing to do. (This was right after the Korean War.)They wrote to each other for a year. Dad came back to the States on May 3rd. Stopped in PA to see his folks. He said he was going to Alabama. They wanted him to stay to celebrate his birthday on the 4th. He said “Nope. I’m going to Alabama to get married.” Mom and Dad dated for a week. They actually only had one real date. They got married May 11th. Her brother was
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 8:32 am #
Margaret, your parents always seemed old? Like, “Eeewww, they’re too old to have fallen in love!” old? LOL How old were they when you were born? My dad was 35 and my mom 30 when I was born.
elsiehogarth on 05 May 2008 at 8:34 am #
Continuaton:
Aunt Frances was all for my Dad…..my Mom still didn’t want anything to do with him. Avoiding him at all costs. He would go and pick her up at work, be with Aunt Frances etc…she finally had it Mom decided to go out with him and show him how miserable she can make him. Well, it din’t work. She saw that he was a great guy and after 4 months decided to marry him. 52 years later, Martha Clara Isabella and Jean Louis they are still together.
doglady on 05 May 2008 at 8:38 am #
a Methodist minister and he officiated. They were married for 40 years when my Dad passed away ten years ago. He had bought her engagement ring and wedding band in Germany AND he bought a set of sterling silver and had her initials engraved on them - her initials as they would be once she was married! He was either very confident or just not going to take no for an answer! I am sure they had their disagreements, but we never heard or saw them. They genuinely enjoyed each other’s company. They laughed a lot. My Dad bought my Mom a ring every year at Christmas. My niece and I love to go through Mom’s jewelry box and talk about his search for a unique ring and how Mom reacted every Christmas. My oldest brother has bought her a necklace to match one of the rings every year since Dad died. He also makes sure she gets flowers and candy on special occasions just like Dad did.
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 8:47 am #
Doglady, your story is truly moving and so deeply romantic. How can anyone ever get tired of reading or listening to a romantic story? I’ll never understand that.
Sabrina Jeffries on 05 May 2008 at 8:58 am #
Elsie and doglady, what great stories!! I just love hearing real life romantic stories.
Elsie, your story reminds me that I recently heard my baby brother and sister-in-law’s love story. When they first met, he thought she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen, and she thought he was a dork. But my brother can be very funny and witty, and that’s how he won her over. Plus, he was persistent. They’ve now been married over 15 years (not sure how long). He proposed in New Orleans while they were visiting us!!
That always makes me smile.
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 9:05 am #
Sabrina, you’re so sweet! My dad really was amazing, and so was my mom. They were very funny together, constantly flirting and teasing each other. I think that was an important ingredient in their relationship—she never treated him like he had a disability, which was an essential factor for him.
My dad used to *hate* it when people thought well of him without knowing him, you know, just because he was that crippled guy, he just *had* to be a nice person. He found it SO insulting. Who wouldn’t?
Lismore on 05 May 2008 at 9:15 am #
What an absolutely beautiful story, Claudia. I don’t usually like to start my day off with tears, but this was worth it.
My parents met at the end of WWII on a blind date. They went out for three days and then got married. Seemed to work out as they had five kids and were married for 38 years until my mother passed away in 1984.
Buffie on 05 May 2008 at 9:16 am #
Oh Claudia, what a wonderful story!!! It sounds like both your parents are amazing people.
My parents met at work. My mother had recently divorced and had two children at home. Needless to say, she had a lot on her plate. It was my dad’s first day on the job. He walked into the workroom and put in stuff on my mother’s desk. My mom walked right up to him and told him to get his stuff off of her desk (she was tired of having a man push her around). Now you have to get the mental picture — my mom is barely 5 feet 1 inch and my dad is 6 feet 5 inches. My dad said he knew then and there that little spunky woman would be his wife. They have been married almost 40 years now. And she still tells him what she thinks
Meg on 05 May 2008 at 9:18 am #
My parents never had a love story. If they did it was before me. They had only been dating for a while when my mom got pregnant. My “dad” left my mom when he found out. I would not know what he looked like if Mom didn’t have pics of him when they were together. I have only met him once and that was more than ten years ago.
Sorry, I know it sounds like a real downer, but I’m cool with it. Like I said, I only met him once. My younger sister’s father is the man I have always known as Daddy. And I couldn’t love him any more if he were my real father.
But I do love reading all these romantic stories of how the parents met. They sound like a romance novel themselves.
Julia London on 05 May 2008 at 9:21 am #
What wonderful stories! Claudia, that is such a wonderful story.
My parents met at college in class. nothing particularly romantic. I don’t know about my grandparents. But I ran across a newspaper article from 1917, when my grandfather came back from fighting in France. It was about my grandparents and their wedding. It was such a kick to read because it talked about how my grandfather was “one of the most popular young men about town” (small town) and my grandmother was “lovely and kind during her long wait for him to return from the war” and “considered one of the town’s beauties.” The article described their wedding and then how they got on a train to go to Lubbock for their honeymoon.
Yeah, the Lubbock for a honeymoon kind of blows the romantic fantasy, LOL, but it was wonderful reading a little into their lives.
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 9:45 am #
Julia, I love that story about your grandparents! It’s hard to realize that life was like that for much of America, small towns, everyone knowing everyone else. It’s A Wonderful Life, anyone? LOL
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 9:46 am #
Meg, your Daddy was your dad, none other. *That’s* the love story that belongs to you, not the sperm donor that was your bio father.
Kim on 05 May 2008 at 9:47 am #
What wonderful stories!
I have absolutely no clue how my parents meet. They’ve been divorced for over 30 years and still hate each other. Its hard for me to even imagine them caring for one another. Like someone else mentioned, I think that’s what made me love romance novels so much. I also think having romance novels as my basis for what love should be gave me a pretty high standard. I want sparks and grand gestures! lol
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 9:48 am #
Buffie, I love that story! Being on the short side of things, it resonates with me! My DH is a foot taller than I am.
I can take him any day of the week.
Really. Just ask him. LOL
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 9:49 am #
Kim, that’s the beauty of romance novels–you can see what it’s supposed to be like and hold out for your own hero.
Meg on 05 May 2008 at 9:54 am #
LOL, Claudia!! Thanks. That made me laugh.
And I agree with Kim. Reading romance novels help me decide that I was NOT going to settle. They help me set my standards.
Sheridan LA on 05 May 2008 at 11:23 am #
First, your parents are awesome. What a great Monday story
My grandparents had a cute one.. at least I think so.
My grandmother was working as a fortune teller at a carnival (for fun) and in walks this tall, blond handsome man. She knew he was the one. I cannot remember all the details of how they started talking, but they dated a bit, then he said he could not marry any girl who had the opportunity to get an education (college) and did not do it. So, she enrolled in the same college he was in. (He worked his keester off to go to school and was in athletics on a scholarship, worked selling peanuts, etc at football games.) they dated all through college with my grandpa majoring in business, I think.. and my grandmother (as she put it) majoring in my grandpa and minoring in English. They were together until his death at the age of 93. (They were married in 1922)
Ellen on 05 May 2008 at 11:30 am #
My boyfriend, at the time, introduced me to my husband. It truly brought new meaning to the expression “kissing a frog to meet your prince!”
I loved all your stories. I especially enjoyed the honeymoon in Lubbock. Talk about true love!
Freedom Writer on 05 May 2008 at 11:34 am #
My mom was a Navy nurse and my dad was in the Marines both stationed in San Diego. My mother had plans for New Year’s Eve 1956 to visit her brother up in LA, but they had a fight and so she didn’t go to LA. Then her best friend told her boyfriend that she would not go out with him that night unless he found someone for her to go with. So that Marine found my dad, the quiet sort, sitting in a movie theater watching movies alone on New Year’s Eve and talked him into coming along. She was 5′2″ and he was 6′4″. They made quite a pair. They were engaged on Valentine’s Day 1957 and married on May 17th of that year. They were together until his death in 1989. My dad would always tease my mother on her anniversary by saying “Yep, I’ve been married for 30 years to the wrong woman.” (replace the 30 with whatever # it was)
Freedom Writer on 05 May 2008 at 11:38 am #
As for my grandma and grandpa, they met in High School. My grandma had been dating a boy by the name of Andy, but when my grandpa came to town she dropped Andy like a hot potato to marry my grandpa. Then in the mid 70’s when both my grandma and Andy’s spouses had both passed on they got back together and lit up the town most Friday and Saturday nights until Andy died in 1983. My first date with my dh was interrupted briefly so that I could attend Andy’s wake.
Lisa H on 05 May 2008 at 12:04 pm #
Oh Claudia, what a beautiful story…Ellen I feel for your Dad, your mom must have been amazing.
My favorite “love story” is about my grandparents. After 42 wonderful years of marraige, my grandmother(13 years younger than my grandfather) found out she had cancer. She fought a courageous battle, but died one year later. The day she was burried, my grandfather, who had never been sick a day in his life, had a stroke and was rushed to the hospital. After being unconsious for a week, he began to recover and started asking for my grandmother. My father, not wanting to worry him, said she was home. My grandfather asked why she wasn’t at the hospital with him and my dad told him, she was sick…this must have caused him to remember that my grandmother had died. That night he died. The doctors could find no medical reason for his death.
Although our family still mourns after now 30 years, we are happy they are togther, they adored each other beyond measure.
Sheridan LA on 05 May 2008 at 12:17 pm #
what awesome stories…. It is very inspiring to know that there are such wonderful TRUE love stories as well as the ones we read.
Sabrina Jeffries on 05 May 2008 at 12:31 pm #
Lisa H, what a sweet story!! I suspect that if one of my parents died, the other one would have a hard time going on. They really depend on each other.
Lisa H on 05 May 2008 at 12:52 pm #
I think it is so true…that old saying…”You never know what you have until it’s gone.” One person really does complete another.
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 12:58 pm #
Sheridan, I love that story!! Your grandpa sounds like quite a man. It always impresses me to death when people work their way through college. It would be so easy not to! I’ll bet your grandma was happy she got her degree *and* her man. Boy, did she have to work to get him. LOL
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 1:03 pm #
LisaH, what an incredible story! I know that’s how I’d like to go, about one hour after my DH. I have no desire to live even a day without him.
Luv, twu luv…
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 1:05 pm #
Freedom, I LOVE that story. They always say that those who have loved well once, will love again. I can’t imagine it in my case, but I *want* it to be true.
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 1:06 pm #
Ellen, that’s perfect! So orderly, isn’t it? *G* The one who wasn’t quite the thing introducing you to the one who was. So tidy. No loose ends. Like adding yarn while knitting. LOL
cail on 05 May 2008 at 1:06 pm #
ok, here goes:
gma and gpa met in the 30s when he snuck into a dance she was attending with his bada$$ crew and swept her off her feet. i recently snagged a few old pictures of them from the week before the wedding and i fully intend on scanning them.
mom and dad met in study hall at college, turned out their friends had been trying to convince them to go out on a blind date but they met separately and hit it off.
my personal fav happens to be my own at the moment. i met my guy when i was 14 on vacation. we sailed together on a lake for 2 weeks, then exchanged addresses. for years we wrote letters to each other and visited each others homes. we got to know the families, the gfs and bfs, and everything about each other. when we finally ended up in the same city and spent some time together again for more than a few days, the romance blossomed (more like exploded, but thats another story). i couldn’t be happier.
cail on 05 May 2008 at 1:07 pm #
btw, this is the PERFECT way to start the week. these stories are precious!
Sheridan LA on 05 May 2008 at 1:09 pm #
Claudia.. yeah.. she definitely had to work to get him. He came from a very poor family and valued education above all.. so he worked hard to get that degree. My grandmother thought she would find a man, get married, etc.. When he found out that she COULD go (they were not wealthy, but were comfortable) her not taking advantage of that was not an option.
Got to admire him for sticking to his guns.
Sheridan LA on 05 May 2008 at 1:10 pm #
HAHHAHAHHA!!
luv, twu luv.. I love the Princess Bride.
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 1:20 pm #
Cail, that’s a whole set of wonderful stories! You know, it really is a great way to start the week, isn’t it? I love thinking about love. I’m sitting here now with a big, sappy grin on my face.
Caren Crane on 05 May 2008 at 1:37 pm #
Wow, everyone has great stories! Claudia, I love your parents’ love story. Really the stuff of great romances. I think my parents’ love story was rather common in the 1950s. My father was the brother of my mother’s best friend. He was three years older than them and was a senior when they were freshmen in high school. As the years went by, she would see him when he was home from college for the summer and holidays. I think he wanted to date her long before she decided he was a valid option.
Since their incredibly bitter divorce, she says she rushed into marriage to get out of her parents’ house. That I believe! But, they were also both hardworking and very charming people who shared a HUGE amount of chemistry. They were married for about 17 years before my father’s midlife crisis and were divorced for about the same length of time before he died. Mama says, though, she wouldn’t change a thing. She got five great kids and some good memories. Romance of another sort.
Karen Hawkins on 05 May 2008 at 1:51 pm #
Caren, that’s such a sweet story! And you’re right, some romances don’t end in Happy Ever After, but in Happy Enough.
Claudia, what a great blog! I’m all teary-eyed or I’d write more.
KariE on 05 May 2008 at 1:56 pm #
These are some wonderful stories.
I really don’t know how my grand parents, let alone parents, met. But one memory of my great grandparents has stayed with me for many years. My great grandfather had died and we were in the funeral home at his last showing. It was time for the immediate family to say the final good byes before we laid him to rest. My great gma walked up to the casket with my gma, she (g gma) laid her hand on his hands and said “You told me you would never leave me alone. I love you.” They never showed any great displays of effections towards each other. But I came to realize that it isn’t what others see of your relationship, it is what you share with the one you love.
Those simple words still have an effect on me, even after 14 years. I want a love like that.
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 2:43 pm #
Kari, that’s so true. Most people never see the sweetness, the richness of a relationship. What a lovely moment between your great grandparents. I think we all want a love like that!
Kathy/Cookiedough on 05 May 2008 at 3:34 pm #
great stories!
Makes me bummed that I never asked how my parents met.
I’ll have to ask an older sister this week to find out.
Sad that I never asked either!
Kathy/Cookiedough on 05 May 2008 at 3:40 pm #
I do know how my sister met her husband of 30 yrs.
She was 17 and looked across the school yard at some hairy dude fixing a car, said that’s the guy I’m going to marry to her friends.
They met through mutual friends a few days later and have been together ever since- even so far as to live together secretly before they got married.
My dad was very Catholic and protective of his girls, so we knew there would be a freak out at the news- even I at 8 knew to keep my mouth shut about it all.
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 4:19 pm #
Kathy, I never asked my parents, they just told me! I’m glad they did. It’s part of my genealogy, at least that’s how it seems to me.
Margaret Garland on 05 May 2008 at 4:28 pm #
Claudia said “Margaret, your parents always seemed old? Like, “Eeewww, they’re too old to have fallen in love!” old? LOL How old were they when you were born? My dad was 35 and my mom 30 when I was born.”
LOL, Claudia. Too old for something else was what I didn’t want to think about. Even when I didn’t know the mechanics of the process. Daddy was 42 and Mother was 32 when I put in my glorious appearance. Apparently, I was so perfect that they didn’t bother having any more kids after me. Yeah, that’s it. I was perfect.
Psst! Wanna buy a bridge in Brooklyn cheap?
Margaret Garland on 05 May 2008 at 4:48 pm #
Good grief! I was out and about all afternoon and came home to read some incredibly moving love stories. Loverly.
Meg, as someone already said, your Daddy was your real father. A guy who can get it up, have sex and move on is not much of a man in my books.
I think I told you all my story already. I was sent to Philly to train to run a mall Santa booth. On the red eye flight back to Dallas, I got acquainted with the guy sitting behind me. He lived in Lancaster, PA. He told me he had 5 kids. I made the sign of the cross like you would a vampire and told him to get away from me. That was Nov 2, 1975. Jan. 1, 1976, I found myself standing in a small church in Columbia, PA facing a preacher. The only 3 people I knew were my 2 kids and the soon-to-be DH. Yup. All 5 kids were there. Nobody could have better step-kids than I do. They are the best. Hard to believe 32 years have passed since that day.
cail on 05 May 2008 at 4:58 pm #
Margaret, I ALWAYS love when you tell your story.
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 5:23 pm #
Margaret, i do, too. I’m pretty sure it’s a rule on Mt. Oly that love stories are always on topic.
Lori on 05 May 2008 at 6:31 pm #
Beautiful story, Claudia! Here’s mine… My aunt and uncle (who fell in love in the 5th grade and married 12 years later and are still married at age 80), set up my parents for my dad’s 25th birthday in August 1959. Blind date. They were engaged 3 weeks later and married in December the same year. They were married until my dad passed away at age 70.
My story is that I met my hubby sophomore year of college on the first day - in the elevator in the dorms. We lived on the same floor. Met him and thought - I’m in love. Seriously. He says it was the same. That was August ‘85. We’ve been together ever since; married in 1994 and have 2 kids. Son #1 was due on our 1st anniversary. We still celebrate our “dating anniversary”, and think of that as our real anniversary. So when folks ask us how long we’ve been married, I really have to think hard, cause I only know that we are close to our 23rd anniversary. No clue that we are coming up on our 14th anniv unless I really think hard on it.
RachelG on 05 May 2008 at 6:59 pm #
What a lovely story, Claudia. I don’t have any romantic stories. I feel like the odd man out.
rachelg
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 7:12 pm #
Rachel, no way! I don’t believe a word of it.
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 7:14 pm #
Lori, your family has the Love At First Sight gene! *G* How fun! And people say it’s not realistic. They just don’t know any better, huh?
Meg on 05 May 2008 at 7:22 pm #
What a great blog today, Claudia.
KariE — Your great-gma’s words moved me to tears. I would have been completely undone if I had been there to see it.
KariE on 05 May 2008 at 8:10 pm #
Meg, thank you. I was and still am.
They were married for 65 years. You hardly see that anymore.
I still can’t get over all these touching stories. What a wonderful blog, Claudia.
I’m looking forward to getting The Courtesan’s Secret tomorrow.
Aspen on 05 May 2008 at 8:20 pm #
My grandparents have a good story. They met at an ice rink my grandpa kept falling and my grandma decided to give him a hand (she is a great skater and one of my fondest memories is her rollerblading down the stree at 75 armed with a mop for sudden stops). Anyway, they started their courtship and grandpa went back to his ship he was a sailor. They communicated through the tellegram.
Their letter writing courtship involved them calling themselves by different names “Jack” and “Jill.” My grandpa propsed by telling my grandma it was time for Jack and Jill to get married and wouldn’t it be nice if they went to the wedding this summer. My grandma went around her house with the tellegram saying “I think Bill proposed…I think”
Claudia Dain on 05 May 2008 at 9:16 pm #
Oh, Aspen, what a cute story! I love that she went around the house with the telegram; I can just see that.
I’m in awe that she was rollerblading at 75! What an amazing woman!