Love Stories of Our Own

In the spirit of St. Valentine and the upcoming love and friendship day, I would like our readers to send in their love and friendship stories and I will post them.  I think we need to be reminded of what is important in life when so many things around us remind of the bad.  I don't think I need to cite the many examples. Just turn on the news if you wish to be depressed.    I think it's necessary and healthy to be reminded of the love that can surround our lives whether its from a good friend or a family pet.  Its love that makes the world a calm place to raise our children.  It's love that fulfills our desires to strive for something better and not settle for anything less.  It's love that pushes someone to achieve great feats.  It's love that takes care of the world's orphans and feeds the hungry.  Isn't it love for our family and friends that makes our lives worth while?  Acts of love towards strangers is contagious and memorable that feeds both the hearts of the giver and receiver.  Isn't it love that makes the world go round?  

So to start it off, I have two stories for you.

This is the story of my good friend, Kathy, and her family.  

When I was in grade school, I spent a lot of time with Kathy's family.  I had always loved her parents.  They were kind and generous and always treated me like one of their daughters.  During this time, Kathy had told me that her parents were divorcing.  To a young girl in grade school, I didn't understand nor did I feel it was in my business to ask any questions.  To me, I only knew that it didn't make any sense that two good caring people who were raising four wonderful girls would break apart a family unit. Over the course of the years, Kathy and I slowly lost touch with one another.  It's been over twenty years since I had seen Kathy last.  We finally connected through Facebook about one month ago.  During our conversation catching up about our past,  I asked how each of her parents were doing.   Her mother was doing great, still working with patients as a physical therapist and her father was well and healthy.  She had said that over the course of the years, her parents had always had maintained a close relationship with them as a family unit, spending time together during the holidays and such.  During one Christmas about five years ago, Kathy flew home from New York to visit for a few days.  During Christmas eve, her parents announced that they were getting married again!   They had kept their relationship on good terms while they dealt with their personal issues.   Finding strength and healing to overcome their individual struggles, they also found the courage to allow their love to continue over these years and came full circle to close the loop on what they had started so many years ago.  

This second story is about my godmother and her husband.  

My godmother Louise had married Stanley many many years ago in Los Angeles.  They relocated to Orange County and bought their first house in the mid 60's.  I lived across the street from them.  Stan was the kind of man who had many great stories to tell but he kept a quiet life.  Until you spent some time sitting in their living room couch, you wouldn't know that this man's eyes could sparkle like stars when he spoke of his days driving trucks or his time spent in the Army.  His wife Louise was the chatty one, garrulous at times, and loved to be the one to interrupt him and finish the story like it was her own.  

Louise and Stan loved each other.  They loved to gamble.  It became a past time and near hobby for them.  They would hit the road with their federal tax return money and try to increase their income at the tables.  They would save their coins, roll them up and hit the road from OC to Reno to play the slots.  Every day over the years, Louise would cook his meals, wash his clothes, and as he got older, she would take him to the doctors and drive him to church every Sunday, even if they were in Reno or Vegas, they never missed mass.  She loved him dearly and cared for him as a loving wife.  She had always kept her independence and worked over the years too but seeing them as I grew up, she had embraced her duties as wife and loving mother. Louise's love for Stan was unlike other couples.  Their relationship seemed like a gem in a coal mine.  He used to tell me, "As long as Louise was happy, that's all that mattered to him."  

As I got older and left for college, I had less opportunities to stop by her house and visit. During my sporadic and infrequent visits, I would see them age over the years.  Tears would swell in Louise's eyes as she would update me of their lives.  She told me of Stan's last visit to the doctors and the ailments that would keep building up:  

He needed to stop smoking, so he quit cold turkey.  

He couldn't see any longer.  

He couldn't drive any longer.  

His kidneys were failing him.    

He had been in and out of the hospital over the last few months.  

He caught pneumonia and had to be taken to emergency.  

He had to use a walker, he's too weak to stand strong on his own.  

He needed in home care because it was too much for Louise to do by herself any longer.  

He was now in a wheel chair.  

He just got transferred from his home to a hospice.  

He had been in hospice nearly two weeks.  

The next day would have been his 92nd birthday.  He had passed away in his bed.  

The funeral was small and private.  He was the world to her and she, his.  They were their own persons but even better as a couple.  To me they represented a true loving couple- not even close to a Ricky and Lucy type but more the private type that doesn't get the attention of TV and trash rags.   It's the type that behind closed doors they showed their affection and love for one another and toward others.  They were the kind of couple that you wished were your parents.  Louise once showed me a slice of her wedding cake that she had wrapped up in wax paper and had intended on eating it later after their wedding.  It somehow ended up being packed away with with her wedding dress.  Years later, it was still intact and on display under a glass case when they renewed their vows on their 50th anniversary.    Louise married Stan at the age of 19.  They were married for 69 years.