Happy Anniversary!

Being a collector of romantic "how we met" stories, I have to admit that my own chance meeting with my future husband is one of my favorites:)

We've been through many ups and downs together, but together we are...after 33 years...and he's still my best friend.

During my senior year of college I had an internship working at the State Department of Agriculture in our tiny capital city. I had made one of those last minute housing arrangements and planned to live with my roommate's sister's boyfriend. The situation became more complicated when they broke-up the night before I arrived. The ex was still happy to have me stay,and greeted me with the announcement that we would be attending a very special event.


He and a large group of friends had just returned from a weekend road trip to the Jersey Shore.One of the friends had the brilliant idea of carrying a tape recorder so that the event could forever be preserved for group memory.On this night they were all assembling at the local hangout to hear the tape played back.We arrived to a full house and I squeezed into a booth to listen to a hilarious series of interviews and narrations chronicling this historic odyssey to the shore.I quickly noticed that I was one "middle man" away from a very cute guy.

If I could only lose the guy in the middle, I could make my move.Finally as the tape came to an end, the beer that had been drunk prevailed and "middle man" wanted out.The cute guy was even cuter close up. I decided to make a move. I put my hand on cute guy's leg and said,
"I hope you're a lady's man, because I'm a man's lady." (true...we both actually remember that:)
I fell in love, he did, too and the conversation began that night is still going on.

My Mom and Dad

The first time I posed the question, "So how did you meet anyway?" the subject naturally enough, was my mother. We were in the kitchen and she was ironing a never ending pile of cotton shirts. She put down the iron and with a wry smile on her face told the story of how she met my father.

My mother was a nurse working in Providence, RI during World War II. The war had just ended and her former roommate, Virginia, was in town to show off her blossoming family. As their afternoon visit wound down, Virginia's brother, along with a group of friends, started to head out the door. Never one to waste the still rationed gasoline, my future grandmother added several items to his agenda along with, "Why don't you drop Virginia's friend off while you're out?".

Several blocks later, not wanting to impose on anyone, my shy mother hopped out at the next stop sign and walked home. My father, hoping to get an opportunity to "chat up" my mother, was dismayed to find her gone.

He went to his sister to ask about my mother's dating status and was given the not too truthful reply, "She's practically engaged." Having lost too many years to service in the Pacific, and never one to waste any time, my dad made his move and the rest is family history, our beginning.

Ingrid Michaelson and Greg Laswell

The New York Times did a wonderful interview with Ingrid Michaelson in a Sunday edition. In this interview, Ms. Michaelson admits to loving the "comfy" life.

She and her husband, fellow musician Greg Laswell, like to spend time sleeping in on weekends, hanging out in Starbucks, making late night dinners, and hanging out on their big comfortable couch.

I’ll take comfort over fancy forever: I think that’s what sets me apart from Lady Gaga!

Ingrid Michaelson and Greg Laswell met on tour at a show they were both doing in upstate New York about five years ago. Although both share the same profession, they are careful to keep their home life and work life separate. Laswell recognizes that they may have an overlap in their audience, but their musical skills rarely come together.

 It’s funny because we don’t do music at all when we’re both home. It’s the last thing we ever think of doing. We usually just hang out, go to dinner and watch movies. It’s a very separate thing with us.

The song, "Landline" was the exception to the rule. Riding out a storm, sitting in a church in Maine, Michaelson and Laswell started playing around with the music and lyrics which eventually became the hit song they recorded together.

All I ever needed was a landline, just in case the power lines go down.

Ingrid Michaelson and Greg Laswell were married in Maine in August 2011. Maybe they both found all that they ever needed.

http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?p=107593062

When I See Your Smile

I would say all couples have their own love stories; the story of how they met, how they started liking each other, and how they ended up in the altar. Ours was nothing unusual except that I met my wife when we were 10 years old.

Yup, you read it right. We were only 10 years old when we first met. That was in school.

We were both transferees from different private schools. Our parents both decided to move us to a public school where tuition fees are less. And so we met, on the first day of that school year. We were in fourth grade.

I couldn’t remember much but all I knew was I liked her already. I tried to be close to her so we ended up as very good friends. Our classmates started to tease us, and as a school-aged boy, I would feel embarrassed. But then we remained good friends and would end up sharing school stuff like notebooks and crayons.

The following year, we started a project called “Friends Comics”. I would draw some cartoons on folded A4s, and she would do the same. We stapled our work together, and our “comics” was born. I think we can call this our first “baby”. It was a weekly thing and our classmates (even our teachers) would pass the comics along until everybody has read it. I designated myself as the “editor” and she was the “assistant editor.”

Closed for Renovations

The first time we met, Alvin was recovering from a failed relationship and I was closed for renovations, not exactly the most ideal of beginnings.

Rewind to the year before. We were each in our own long-term relationships. Mine ended abruptly when my boyfriend died of a sudden heart attack one afternoon in April. His ended with a painful but inevitable break-up late the same year.

It was understandable then, that when we met over dinner arranged by a mutual friend, romance was the farthest from everyone’s mind. To be completely honest though, the fact that he was very cute didn’t escape my attention.

Everything seemed to go right that night. The food was good, conversation was great; we were laughing the entire time. Looking back, I still marvel at how easy and comfortable things felt; it was like the whole group just clicked.

For the next few months, we all hung out as a group, which was fun because Alvin and I got to know each other in a very relaxed, no-expectations kind of way. It was a lively blur of movie nights, group dates and long conversations.

5 months after we met, we became a couple. 2 and a half years later we got engaged, and early last year, we were married.

Alvin is an easy person to love. He puts up with my every-other-week mid-life crisis, he watches whatever movie I want to watch, he listens when I rant. Also, he cooks and has saved me from starvation countless times.

Ours has always been an easygoing relationship. We talk, we tease, we laugh.

I think the fact that we've both been in long-term relationships in the past and that we've both known pain, albeit different kinds, play a big part in how we are with each other. Simply put, we have learned to distinguish the essentials from the non-essentials.

Everything else we take one day at a time.

http://thejonastory.wordpress.com/ 

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves

Since I met my husband in a local bar favored by the after-work crowd, I was happy to read that Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves also met at a favorite after work watering hole in West Hollywood.

She watched as a bearded man with a rasta hat worked hos way toward the bar. Her first reaction was to retreat to the other side of the club, but when mutual friend Lance Armstrong made the introductions, she realized things could be looking up.

Camila Alves is a very independent woman who was raised in the farmlands of Brazil. She came to LA to visit an aunt at the age of 15 and never left. For years she worked cleaning houses or waiting on tables before she got her big breaks in acting.

Matthew McConaughey is a born and bred Texan. he was first cast in a series of romantic comedies which formed the early years of his acting career. He took a break from Hollywood films to take on more challenging independent and dramatic roles. His Academy Award for his role in Dallas Buyer's Club is testimony to his versatile and accomplished acting.

Matthew proposed to Camila on Christmas day 2011, about four years after they met. She had never planned to marry, but love changes the best of career intentions.

The Alves-McConaughey family now has three children, two boys and a girl.

Camila Alves showed such love and support for her husband during the Academy award ceremony when she had to turn away from cameras in an attempt to hide the flow of tears which overwhelmed her during his emotional speech.

One more little fact about this couple made me like them even more. After Hurricane Katrina, the Alves-McConaughey family adopted many homeless pets from New Orleans, and more recenlty, Matthew rescued a local cat. Passing some boys who had doused the poor animal with hairspray and were attmpting to set it on fire, McConaughey intervened and took the cat home. Hooray for heroes!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_McConaughey

Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson

Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton
 

Heart of oak are our ships, jolly tars are our men,
we always are ready; Steady, boys, steady!
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.

By the time Lord Horatio Nelson met Lady Emma Hamilton, he was a hero of epic stature in the eyes of the British Empire. His dramatic and bold actions against the French, during the Napoleonic Wars, led to one victory after another boosting the morale and hopes of his fellow Brits.

Although many details of the early life of Emma Hamilton are unclear, she is known to have lived in the village of Hawarden, where she worked as a maid. Her life turned more interesting when she became friends with a fellow domestic servant, Jane Powell, who introduced her to the life of an actress. Emma's beauty and charm led her into high society, where she became the mistress, and eventually the wife, of Sir William Hamilton.

Now, as Lady Hamilton, her former life of uncertainty and struggle was replaced with a solid position in late 18th century England. As wife of the British Envoy, Lady Hamilton met Horatio Nelson in 1793, when he came to gather reinforcements against the French during the Napoleonic Wars. He returned in 1798, a living legend after his celebrated victory at the Battle of the Nile, in Aboukir.

Emma is reputed to have flung herself upon Nelson in admiration, calling out “Oh God, is it possible?” The war had aged Nelson, and he was weakened by the loss of an arm during battle. Lady Hamilton nursed him back to health, under the roof of her husband, and arranged a party of 1,800 guests to celebrate Nelson’s 40^th birthday.

In 1801, Emma gave birth to Nelson’s daughter, Horatia. They were still living in the house of Sir William, but this was soon to change. Nelson bought a small cottage near what is today Wimbledon, and set up a home with Emma, their daughter, her mother….and Sir William, who idolized Lord Nelson.

They became the "cult couple" of the time; the two most famous and celebrated Britons in the world. Their romance was tolerated, and even encouraged by all.

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Hamilton

Go Navy!

 My husband Kevin was in the Royal Navy and in early 1978 he wrote to our local newspaper asking for pen pals. I had always enjoyed writing, so I sent a letter. We carried on exchanging letters and getting to know each other.

Toward the end of the year he came home on leave, and asked if we could meet. As I was only just 20 my dad made him come to the house, we hit it off straight away.

Within a month he asked me to marry him. 

We were engaged by January 1979 and married that July.

Lots of people said we were mad and it would never last.

On the 7th of July this year we had our 33nd anniversary and we are still happy and together.

 We also have two great kids now 25 and 29.

http://www.jollyjillys.blogspot.com/

Cupid and Psyche

Pan Comforts Psyche

The story of Cupid and Psyche is the story of what true love is really all about ...trust. 

Cupid, sent on a vengeful mission by his very jealous mother, Venus, is instructed to make the beautiful Psyche fall in love with a hideous creature. Of course, Cupid falls for Psyche himself and is then left with the dilemma well known to most married men; how to keep both your mother and your bride happy. 


Cupid, trying to protect Psyche from the complications of having gods and goddesses in the family, keeps his identity from her. The lovers are perfectly content until Psyche experiences what most women experience in a new relationship; doubt fostered by "well meaning" friends and family. 

The photo to the left depicts a lovely sculpture showing a very sad Psyche seeking comfort from Pan after she breaks her promise with Cupid. She has tricked Cupid to discover his identity, and he is forced to leave her. Pan looks as if he is teaching Psyche what she already knows to be true. Love thrives on trust, and one must follow the heart when finding that special someone. 

To regain her love with Cupid, Psyche is forced by Venus to go through many terrible tasks. Psyche now knows her heart and is willing to do anything to get her god back. Cupid learns that sometimes you have to make Mom a little angry in order to preserve your marriage; so he insists that the torture cease and whisks his bride away to eternal bliss. 



Happy Valentine's Day!