Each February we ask our readers to share stories about how they met their true love.
‘I was too shy to tell her of my feelings.’By Flores Colón
I met my true love in Utuado, Puerto Rico, in 1933.
web LOVE 2X colon nowI was 15 and working in a store that Maria would frequent on her way home from school. She was my age but attended the Catholic High School while I was attended the public high school. I was too shy to tell her of my feelings.
I eventually enlisted in the Army-Air Corps and served in World War II as a navigator flying bomber missions over Germany. Maria moved to New York City after she finished school.
The war had a tendency to make you less shy so when I completed my combat duty I wrote to her. I was, and still am, madly in love with her. I sent her a letter asking her to marry me and we were married Nov. 1, 1944 in Utuado with our
families present.
We have spent our lives traveling the world while I served 30 years in the military. We still travel but at a slower pace. Our last travel goal was to see all 50 states which we accomplished with a trip to Hawaii in 2012.
Our family consists of one daughter, three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. We were blessed to have all our family together for a reunion this past Christmas in Rancho Bernardo.
‘All the qualities I adore in my husband still stand.’
By Ellisa Levant Beaver
I met Steven, the love of my life, in 1989 when he knocked on my door to pick me up for a “blind date” set up by his cousin. I was 25 at the time and though I expected we’d have a nice time, I also had doubts a “love connection” would be made. Steven was between jobs, was 10 years my senior and also bald with a beard! Didn’t sound great on paper but WOW was there an immediate spark when we locked eyes at the door!
LOVE 2X Beaver nowWe quickly became inseparable and our relationship took off at lightning speed. We married, had a son, bought a home, and started our own business by 1991. A few years later I gave birth to our daughter and our business was successful and growing. I felt blessed every day being married to such a generous, warm, loving, involved and supportive husband and father…my very best friend.
Over the next 14 years our love and our lives were idyllic until the day our son was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma; a rare bone cancer. We catapulted into the fight for his life and the well being of both our children. After a 3 ½ year battle, our precious boy passed away at age 17. This loss devastated us to our core. Steven and I spent the next few years focused on our daughter and as a team succeeded in supporting her to make a successful transition to college.
Metaphorically, it feels like a massive wrecking ball has all but demolished my heart, body and soul. Yet through the debris the foundation remained. All the qualities I adore in my husband still stand. I’ll surely love him forever and will enter the next chapter of our lives by his side.
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‘When life smacks us, we rant and laugh and carry on.’By Jennifer PeranteauThis month Steve and I will celebrate our second anniversary. This may seem like a small milestone. After all, what’s two years? But in June of 2010 we lived on opposite coasts. Two years earlier I hadn’t even known he existed. Add in that we were both in our 40s, and that I unintentionally stumbled across the love of my life online, and we have a bit of a story.web love story 2x Peranteau THENWe still marvel at how it all happened. I’m sure my dad (who passed away in 2005) had a hand in it. I think he decided it was time for me to be happier. For me to have someone to laugh with; to share wine, coffee, and the occasional rib eye; a true partner in life. I found all this and more.Early on I discovered funny similarities: we lived only 12 miles apart when we were 4; our mothers share December birthdays; both our dads were redheads. That list grew longer quickly. And the waits between our monthly visits seemed to as well. It was simply meant to be.Steve’s proposal meant moving 2,500 miles away from a place I’d lived in for 10 years, leaving behind a job and good friends. And then there was the blended family. We were both “package deals” with children from previous marriages. The transition was difficult as I looked for work and helped raise a teenage stepson and stepdaughter (I had no experience with girls) in addition to my own two boys. Meanwhile, Steve set his empty nest clock back and welcomed three more people into his small house.In less than five years we’ve been through surgeries, a burglary, child dramas, job frustrations and unemployment. Yet through all that’s happened we’re a solid team. When life smacks us, we rant and laugh and carry on. Two years down, 48 to go!
* * * * *‘I want people to know that it is never too late to find your ‘soul mate’’By Jody CampilloI am very happy to be married to the love of my life!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMark and I met in 1988 when we were attending the University of San Diego. We were great friends in college, but never pursued a romance. Often I found myself attracted to Mark, but I was intimidated to ask him out because I thought he was “USD Royalty” (long line of Campillos have attended USD) plus he was popular, in a fraternity, with plenty of girls interested in him. He says he liked me “romantically” while we were at USD too, but was intimidated to ask me out because I was a cheerleader and didn’t think I would go out with him.We laugh now about our perceptions and often wonder, “what if”? We stayed friends during college and after. He was even a guest at my first wedding. We stayed good friends over the next 15 years.In December 2003, after I had been divorced for about 10 years, and Mark had been divorced for about two years, Mark and his children attended my son’s birthday party and my family joked around saying, “Why aren’t the two of you dating?” Well, “the spark” was rekindled and four months later we were engaged! Later that same year, we got married and by the end of the year we were pregnant!Now, we are very much enjoying our life living in the BEST place on earth, Poway, and watching our four children grow. I thank God for Mark and his patience and humor.I want people to know that it is never too late to find your “soul mate”! Sometimes the journey is long and twisted but the ending is so so sweet!Happy Valentine’s Day to my wonderful husband, Mark Campillo, and to all Powegians!
‘I can honestly say that my marriage keeps getting better year after year’By Alisa DiLorenzoIt all began one summer afternoon when I entered the Delta Chi fraternity house on The University of Colorado at Boulder campus. I was going to be spending my summer in Boulder on an internship program. I walked into the kitchen and that is when I first laid eyes on Tony. He was prepping the dining area as he was going to be our morning cook and kitchen helper for the summer. I used to joke with him before we started dating that it was a plus that he knew how to cook and clean.web LOVE 2X dilorenzo nowWe fell in love over long conversations at that house and long drives into the Rocky Mountains. As the summer drew to a close we weren’t sure what was going to happen. I was going back to DePauw University in Indiana to finish up my senior year. What we thought would be a summer fling ended when I began to board my plane to leave. That’s when we knew there was something more.For my entire senior year we would call each other daily, write letters, fly, drive, and do whatever we could to stay in touch. Two years later we were married in 1996.For 16 years we have been there for each other. There have been tough times and good times and yet we have always been there for one another. Tony is my cheerleader, my rock and my lover.Our marriage is better now than it has ever been. Through our podcasts, books and workshops we now teach couples how to have extraordinary marriages themselves.I can honestly say that my marriage keeps getting better year after year and I am so blessed to be Mrs. Tony DiLorenzo.
