Simply Mad About LOVE Stories - day 4

Hello! It is day 4 of "14 Days of Love Story".  Angela from Never Nola has shared a second story with us.  Thank you Angela!  This time is her grandparents' love story we get to enjoy.  It is beautifully written with lessons about never giving up and it shows bad weather is not always a bad thing...read on & enjoy!

{ send me your story } who are you in love with?  tell me! you can send your story to simplymad@ymail.com

Here is Gladys & Aldo's LOVE story

{ My grandfather Aldo caught his first glimpse of HER at his fathers funeral in May of 1946. It was her family who owned the funeral home, and she was working in the office for the summer.

During the months that followed he was so Intrigued by this beautiful woman that Aldo would find business and personal reasons to develop a relationship with her father, hoping to know Gladys better. Aldo sent penny postcards almost weekly, asking where he could meet her…Gladys on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with him.

A few months later Aldo was invited to have dinner at Gladys’s summer home in Bayville, NJ. He anchored his boat- the NOLA just beyond the reef and swam to shore. He walked up to the home to find Gladys’s wearing a Tattered Old Swimsuit and her fathers Overalls, painting the house… She stared back startled at the soaking wet man in his swim shorts, horrified that he was their dinner guest.

Several weeks passed and Aldo and his friends decide to embark on a 2 week adventure aboard the NOLA. They sailed along the Hudson River as a Northeastern storm began to encroach upon them. They were in Bayville at the time and (strategically) decided to anchor outside of Gladys’s home. That night the storm hit and beached the NOLA on shore. Aldo spent 3 days waiting out the storm; sharing stories, playing games, and woo’ing the woman he would later marry.

Finally, they were dating… and were attending the Military Ball In NYC. They danced until 2am, and then went to an early morning Mass. It was LOVE.

When Aldo was transferred to Alaska for several months on business, he and Gladys promised to be in touch. They wrote each other every day while he was gone. He returned on Valentines Day 1947 and within a week of his return, he proposed.

July 26, 1947 they were married.

From the Storm that washed the NOLA on shore, the girl who was NEVER interested, and the boy who NEVER gave up,  bloomed a Love story made for the movies. A story so inspiring that it needed a name. An idea so simple that NEVER giving up on what you want, will eventually bring your NOLA to shore… }

Simply Mad about LOVE Stories - day 3

Welcome to day 3 of "14 Days of Love Stories".  Today's is the story of a dear couple friend of ours, who preferred to stay anonymous...:o) 

This is a story of sweet love found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  A master love plan in his mind...a total surprise for her heart!

{ send me your story } there is plenty of time and every love story is worth telling - email  me at simplymad@ymail.com

Here is their story...
{ We were business partners in a cruise vacations business.  We became very close almost inseparable.  At that time he was going thru a divorce and I would give him advice about how to try and work things out with his wife and when that didn't seem possible, I would introduce him to and try to set him up with my friends.  In October 2007, we attended a business conference held on board a cruise liner while it made its way from NYC to London across the Atlantic.  In attendance were many colleagues from the travel industry who knew us well and with whom we had attended previous conferences. 

One of the formal nights the entire group ended up in ship’s disco as it pretty much happened every night of the 6-day trip.  At one point during the night we went to the outdoor area of the disco to have a cigarette but we could still hear the live music playing.  As if fate was waiting for the perfect moment – a moment when we would be alone - the music switched from danceable to slow and the singer said: “those of you who are in love and want to express that love to your partner, this is the time.  Dare to do it!  This is your chance!”  He asked me to dance repeatedly and I kept saying noooo…it was a slow song and I was shy.  He insisted so much that the man sitting next to us started egging me on to accept the invitation to dance.  At that point I couldn’t say no anymore without starting to look childish so I agreed.  Half way through the song he whispered in my ear: “it seems I am falling in love with you”.  I pushed back, looked at him and laughed.  I couldn’t believe it!  He then  said: “what you say is not important, I just had to tell you how I felt regardless of what your response or decision would be". 

My sister in law had always told me he liked me…she would say: "look at the way he looks at you" and I would always say" “noooo, he is my partner…no way!"

We finished dancing and re-joined the group inside.  I thought about what had just happened and the truth was that I liked him, I liked being around him, I felt very comfortable around him and at that point nothing else seemed important – why not give it a shot?!  I looked at him, I caressed his hair and then he kissed me!  That’s how it all started!  We tried to hide what was going on from our colleagues on board, but our efforts to conceal our new found love went out the window when we were caught kissing in a dark corner like two teenagers.  That was over 5 years ago…today we live together and we are happier than ever! }

Simply Mad about LOVE stories - day 2

Day two of "14 Days of Love Stories"  is here!  Christine sent us her parents'- Maureen & Hector - love story.  Christine live in Hayward, California not far from where this love story unfolded.

Very touching love story full of perseverance,  patience and determination - at the beginning from Christine's mom and later on from her dad.






Here is Christine's parents' story...
{ It all started in 1968, my parents were both 11 years old. My father was a navy brat, so he and his family were always moving around. His family moved into a house in Hayward, Ca, which happened to be 4 houses up the street from my Mom's, who lived with her parents and 6 siblings. There were lots of kids in the neighborhood then, so they all played together. My Mom told me that she would be sitting outside with her friends talking and hanging out and my Dad would be running up and down the street with his friends lighting of fire crackers and then go inside and call the cops telling them it was my Mom and her friends. The cops would show up and talk to the girls who would then say it was the boys in the neighborhood. My Mom said that my Dad and his friends would always shoot the girls in their butts with beebees. Despite all the "girls YUCK!" flirting, my Mom still had a crush on my Dad. Once they were high school age, my Dad and his family packed up and moved to Japan for about 3 years or so and my Mom was devoted to trying to stay in touch with my Dad and his family. 

Maureen & Hector at their wedding

At that time, my Dad just saw my Mom as a friend. My Mom wrote my Dad, his 2 sisters, his mother and his father each a letter every single week they were gone. Things didn't work out between my Dad's parents while they were living in Japan, so his mother packed up the kids and moved them back to their house in Hayward. Of course my Mom was ecstatic! It was then that my Dad developed feelings for my Mom and they took each other to their Senior Proms. My parents continued dating after high school and got married in 1980. They moved into the house my Dad had lived in, in Hayward.  My Mom's parents still lived down the street. By 1988, my parents had 4 kids, 2 boys and 2 girls. In 1994, my parents pack all us kids up and we moved into a bigger house...it was the 17th house my Dad had lived in. In 1995, my Dad developed Multiple Myeloma (bone cancer) in his right arm which caused him to have to retire as a police officer. We were devastated. The following years were filled with lots of hard and emotional times. The doctors told him that with his type of cancer, he wouldn't live more that 3-5 years. My Dad lived just under 10! 


At the time of his passing, he was the 3rd person on record at Stanford known to live almost 10 years with his type of cancer. In the last 6 months of his life, my Dad had started setting goals of certain days he wanted to make it to for different reasons. Making it to a certain date meant extra retirement benefits would kick in to help my Mom financially. Some of his other goals were to make it to Thanksgiving so that he could have one more turkey dinner with my Mom. And Christmas so that he could watch his kids, who were now in their teens and early 20's, open gifts with that same look of excitement they had as little kids when Santa came. That year, we had a Star named after him and presented him with the certificate of authenticity on Christmas Day. He was pretty impressed with that. His final goal was to make it to Jan. 26, 2005 because my parents were to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, which also happens to be my sister's birthday. He made every single one of his goals and died the following evening. It was very sad to see him go, but in the end, all he cared about was spending time with his family and celebrating his love with my Mom one more time. We just recently hit the 8 year anniversary of his passing and this story crosses my mind every year. It is an amazing story of LOVE that I love sharing! }

Thanksgiving dinner - Hector reached one of his goals!