Real Life Love Stories

In honor of Valentine's day, would you mind if I told you a few love stories?

"Falling For You"
Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl. She was so beautiful that she was known as the "Sunshine of Scipio" in her hometown. One day she went rollerskating at a local amusement park with a strong young man. As graceful as she was, the two shoes on wheels got the better of her and she fell flat on the rink. The handsome man looked down at her and said, "Well, I knew I'd fallen for you, but I didn't know you'd fallen for me." 

That lady was my Great Grandmother and her witty fella-my Great Grandpa!

"Keep Going"

The couple was attending their first grandchild's wedding reception. The DJ had called all the couples to the crowded dance floor. The white haired man took his wife's hand as they danced. While the music played, the DJ would ask all the couples married under ten years to leave the dance floor. Twenty years, thirty years, forty years...the once crowded dance floor now held only two or three couples. The white haired man and his beautiful wife continued to bounce along. The DJ looked astonished. "Fifty years?" The white haired man raised his voice over the music, "Keep Going" The DJ continued to guess and the white haired man continued to shout "Keep Going" even after they were the last couple on the dance floor. They won a floral centerpiece for being married the longest, but I think the fact that their love "kept going" after so many years was the real prize.

My Grandma and Grandpa were married 66 years before he passed away, and their love keeps going.

"The Little Things"

It had snowed quite a bit the night before this cold Saturday morning, but Choir practice stops for nothing.The couple hustled into the car, the wife taking a little longer to get out the door, and drove slowly down the street hoping the snow tires would do their duty. The Church parking lot was dusted in a fluffy cloud of snow that crunched under the weight of the car. The car came to a stop in what the man hoped was a parking spot. "Wait one second" the man said to his wife as he opened his door out into the cold air. He proceeded to open the trunk, take out a shovel and plough a small path from his wife's car door all the way to the door of the church. That path was not covered in red velvet, but he was treating her like a queen with such a little thing.

He also ploughed a little path for his daughter sitting in the back seat. Thanks Dad!

I feel like often we look to fairy tale books and movies for those heart-wrenching love stories, when sometimes there are real life love stories all around us. So this Valentine's day I want to say THANK YOU to the elderly couple sitting on a bench in Edinburgh holding hands and watching people pass by. Thank you to the man in my neighborhood, who even in his old age, takes care of his wife who is in a wheelchair and no longer carries on normal conversation. Thank you to my friend's parents who still hold hands and cuddle when they watch movies together. Thank you to the boy who once threw pebbles at my window in order to give me a bouquet of flowers "just because." Thank you to all of you who've reminded me that love exists outside of books and movies. Happy Valentine's Day!