Hursts' Berwyn Jewelers' Love Story Contest

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will be announced soon.

• Joseph and Mary

  Joseph and Mary

  I met Mary in 1960 when she was a senior in a private school in Chicago where I was a rookie teacher. I taught her chemistry and math. She was very pretty,smart, funny, and was a ballet dancer in a semiprofessional company. After graduation the principal asked Mary and me to meet to discuss Mary’s college plans. After the meeting she told Mary that I would walk her home.

  Later I went to I.I.T. to talk to my education professor. I asked him if it would be correct for me to ask Mary for a date. He said if she was a graduate, it was fine. So I did. We dated all summer and in September she started teaching ballet and I was her accompanist. In October I knew I loved her and asked her to marry me. She said ’yes’.

  Her mother was not pleased. She wanted Mary to dance. We stopped seeing each other for awhile. We got married in 1962. The principal came to the wedding. Her mother did not. We have been married for 47 wonderful, loving years.

• Match.com Me

  Match.com Me

  so before we were married my wife dated the founder of match.com. As a joke he put her profile online, they used to joke about the losers that would email her. then I came along, wrote romantic and clever emails. she dumped him and married me!

• You’re Going to Need This...

  You’re Going to Need This...

  Rich and I met 40+ years ago,and are married 38 years. I had gone out with girlfriends to a corner meeting place. My friends left with others and I realized I didn’t have a ride home before curfew. I asked a fella I knew there if he could give me a lift. He said he didn’t have a car but would ask Rich. Rich reluctantly said okay and I thought, well he looks safe. It was 5 city miles to my home, lots of stoplights, I kept talking.We got to my address and he said, "Well okay then so long"

  I told him here’s my phone # you’re going to need it. He said, Why? I said because I usually don’t go home with strangers and I won’t be going back to that corner. He took the small piece of paper, put it on the console. My houselights went off then on, time for me to go! The next day he cruised past my house 2x before he called later at night. We’ve been together and in love ever since and he can still recite that old phone #.

• A 23 Year Love Story

  A 23 Year Love Story

  It was a nice summer day back in 1987. I was with my family in a remote Wisconsin location, Chetek. I had met the boy next door, Brian. It was an instant friendship. We had a good "pen-pal" relationship. It turned to a romantic relationship in 1991 but only lasted a couple of years before we both went our separate ways.

  Then one day out of the clear blue I get an email from an address that looks oh so familiar. I was shocked, my heart pounded in my chest. Could it be? It was. We would have conversations that would last hours, catching up on everything. It was like we had never separated. Finally on a beautiful summer evening in July, Brian had "the talk" with my father. My father gave his approval.

  Officially on August 20, 2009 Brian had asked me to marry him. My high school crush had finally become a reality. In August of 2010 Brian and I will be married and it will be 23 years this year that we have been friends, and now become one as husband and wife.

• Relative Stranger

  Relative Stranger

  I didn’t expect anything when I heard he was visiting. In fact, I was a little disappointed my space would be invaded, but figured it would be like a big like one big family. Yeah, right. Never thinking that this guy could be anything more than my cousin’s third cousin, I didn’t consider him. That Thursday was uncomfortable. He was silent and confident, but it struck me as conceited. Halloween was tomorrow and I spent the day with the two guys in my life. That night my cousin went to sleep, leaving me alone with this stranger. We tentatively began a casual conversation but soon the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th hour was upon us. We talked until the early morning and I forgot it was a stranger I was sharing my life with. But we’ve been sharing our lives every since. He’s lying here snoring loudly as I write our love story for the world and I hope the sounds of love will always remain. And I’m still thinking, that maybe one day, we’ll be family.

• The Equation of Love

  The Equation of Love

  We met in high school Algebra class when Jon accidentally retrieved a passed note intended for someone else. Erica was a punky and spunky 14 year old girl and Jon was the shy and sweet sophomore. Back then, we were both very different people (teenagers YUCK!) and, yes, I used to write his last name after mine when I absentmindedly doodled in my assignment notebook.

  Who says "young love doesn’t last"? We have basically grown up together and have remained best friends for over decade (12 years!) and according to our family and friends are "FINALLY" getting married this August!

• From Childhood to Old Age Together

  From Childhood to Old Age Together

  My husband and I met when we were 6 years old and in grammar school. We had a whole group of friends but Dick and Gaile were almost always childhood sweethearts. His grandparents even had the local candy store. We continued dating off and on through the same high school. Broke up for a while, and were even engaged to others, but got back together in our early 20’s. Married in 1969. Had some issues and divorced in 1972. Guess what, re-married in 1974 and still going. Have been through several illnesses, including one right now. Rich (not Dick anymore) just got out of ICU after two weeks and will need rehab, but hopefully a healthier person. Looking forward to old age together (only 63 now), sharing our love of cats and people. And how’s this for a sense of humor - when we remarried - he would say, he did it to get his furniture back. I would say, but I got another diamond out of it - who was the smarter of the two! Diamonds are forever and hopefully so are Rich and Gaile.

• Meeting in a Sushi Restaurant is Very Rare!

  Meeting in a Sushi Restaurant is Very Rare!

  Meeting in a sushi restaurant is rare, but even more so is having a twin sister as amazing as Jennifer Molinari ! I’ll never forget the day that Jen called me and told me of this new guy in her life named Christopher Maul. I could tell in the tone of her voice that this was much different than any other. Over the next several months he became like the brother I never had. We would often times wrestle at family parties like brothers often do. Because of this bond, I was very happy to hear of the event that took place last Monday. Jen came home from a long day of work to an empty house. She played with her little kitten Payton for hours all the while Chris was hiding in her closet. Finally she needed to get Payton’s leash out of the closet for his walk, and as she opened the door Chris lunged at her with a diamond ring in his hand shouting "MARRY ME! MARRY ME"! Jennifer was so excited it took her 10 minutes to get the one word "Yes" out of her mouth. Congratulations

• Mistletoe Surprise

  Mistletoe Surprise

  What my family thought was going to be a Christmas dinner with my boyfriend’s family turned out to be much more! After being given a tour of his home, my boyfriend’s family gathered my family into the living room. My boyfriend Brian made sure that he and I were the last to enter.

  As we were about to enter the living room with everybody, he stopped me. He told me that I HAD to give him a kiss and he pointed up. I looked up to see a mistletoe. I looked back down to see Brian down on one knee with a ring in hand! I heard gasps from my relatives as I quickly said yes. Brian knew I had never gotten a kiss under the mistletoe before so after saying yes, I had gotten my very first mistletoe kiss!

• My Lost Love

  My Lost Love

  I met my Sweet-pea two years ago as she endured the death of a male companion. Relatives of the deceased asked me to care for her. I was drawn by her exotic beauty, and as awkward as it was, we hit it off fairly well.

  We lived together just a short time before I bought her a new house, and took care of her every need. My caring nature may have moved me along a little too soon with my new love. Understandably she didn’t immediately overwhelm me with affection, but I had no regrets. We were happy. She loved to sing to me and never hesitated to come to my side and rub her cheek to mine.

  Now, I am struggling to endure my own loss. Sweet-pea’s life ended suddenly when one of my dogs grabbed hold of her neck. The life span of a peach faced love bird is about 12-15 years, and I was looking forward to spending a little more time together. I guess I’ll have to spend more time with my wife now, but that’s another story.

• Blind Date Karaoke

  Blind Date Karaoke

  A blind date at karaoke doesn’t sound like the best of ideas, but it turned out to be.

  My neighbor thought her coworker and I would make a great couple so after months and months of avoiding the situation both he and I agreed to meet. This is what brought us to a local restaurant/bar which had karaoke that night. Everything went great but I wasn’t sure where/how to leave things. So I grabbed one of the karaoke tickets and filled out the following:

  Song: Call Me
  Artist: Lisa (my name)
  Song Number: wrote my phone number

  This worked because he contacted me the next day - and when the time came and he proposed to me, there was the karaoke ticket I had filled out and given to him....he added a romantic message on the back of the ticket about how he carried it with him everyday!

• Patty Has Always Been A Romantic

  Patty Has Always Been A Romantic

  Patty has always been a romantic who loves Meg Ryan movies. One of her favorites is Sleepless in Seattle and the idea of meeting in NY at the Empire State Building. I thought it would be great if I could arrange for us, without her knowing, to be married in NY at the top of the Empire State Building. I was able to find a minister through the internet who would marry us. We flew to NY with her thinking we were going to get married by a Justice of the Peace. She was surprised when we went to the Empire State Building and was met on the ground floor by a lady who told her she was a minister and would be performing the ceremony. We took the elevator up to the observation tower where the minister began the ceremony. We repeated the vows we had especially written for each other. The minister then told me I could kiss my bride and as I gave my bride a kiss. I was surprised to hear the applause and cheers of the small crowd that had gathered without my knowledge during the ceremony.

• Love at First Sight in a Pub

  Love at First Sight in a Pub

  I came to the USA July 95 as a 19 year old from Germany, working as an Au-Pair. I had no idea that my grandmother’s words:"Don’t fall in love over there" would be so relevant so quickly. Within a month my life changed forever.

  Neither one of us was supposed to be at the Irish Times in Brookfield - I was under age and he had been barred from the pub - however for a special event, a good-bye party for one of the other nannies, we were both allowed to be there. We hung out all night, met the following days and within 2 weeks were unseparable. After my year was up, I returned to Germany in tears and did everything in my power to return. After one year of separation I was granted a student visa and came back to live with Leighton. We dated for 6.5 years and got married October 13th 2001 - I am sad to be so far away from my entire family in Germany but could not let the man go who is learning German for me, folds my undies, and takes all my craziness. I love this man.

• Tragedy and Miracles

  Tragedy and Miracles

  In December of 2007 my fiance Chris was killed by a drunk driver. I then found out I was pregnant with his daughter. While I was grieving, Chris’ friends were all there to help me. They bought the crib, helped throw a baby shower for me, and built a baby nursery for my miracle. One of his friends, Greg, was always there for me. He was there to comfort me, to share stories with me, or to just be there to wipe my tears. He was the one responsible for purchasing the crib for my daughter, he was one of the first people at the hospital to hold my daughter when she was born and he has been there for us every day since. In May of 2009 Greg and I realized our love for each other and he accepts my daughter as his own and shares stories with her about her real daddy. He is my soul mate and my hero. Greg is the man who helped me through the hardest time in my life and proved to me that finding love more than once is possible in a lifetime.

• Second Chance

  Second Chance

  Joe and I met over 40 years ago when we both worked at the Chicago Public Library. I guess his feelings for me were deeper than I felt. Never found out the truth till years later.We both loved hockey so we did share that. He and I both married other people and led our lives. He and I both divorced and did not met again till last year. I know the boy I left behind had become a man that I could easily fall in love with. That’s exactly what I did, but he had no idea.He left Chicago after a visit and called from the airport and quickly said I think I love you. He hung up before I could even respond. He came home again last March and we both knew our feelings were mutual and have decided to marry next year.Road has been bumpy, but we always end up together. Marriage planned for 2011. So love has been given a second chance.!!!!!!

• The Kiss

  The Kiss

  Every Friday night I would meet my sister and brother in a neighborhood bar to have a few drinks, play darts, and mingle with our friends. There was this handsome man who would come in every night, get his drink, walk around, and sit back down by the bar. He would then disappear at exactly 1:00 am by himself. Maybe he was married? One Friday night I came in, saw my sister and brother talking to him, so we were introduced. Every time he came in, he would get his drink, then come directly over to me. I was nervous and ecstatic all at the same time. I was not the only female that was interested in him, and there was one that was very persistent. He would get annoyed with her and leave. But one night, right after she approached him, he walked away from her, came over by me, grabbed my hands, pushed me up against the back wall where I was standing, and gave me the biggest, hardest kiss I ever had right in front of everyone. That was it! I was in love! Seventeen wonderful years later, and Frank still knows how to kiss.

• My Reluctant Groom

  My Reluctant Groom

  Larry and I dated for about 18 years before he popped the question! He doesn’t like to rush into things.

  He proposed on the balcony of our hotel room in Ixtapa, Mexico in January, 2007. During the rest of our vacation, and throughout the rest of our engagement, he joked about what would happen at the wedding. He stated that when I would place the wedding band on his finger he would scream, "It burns! It burns!"

  We were married on January 24, 2008, at sunset, in the beautiful cove of La Cala in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Our families and friends traveled from Illinois, Wisconsin, and Alaska to celebrate our wedding day. My reluctant groom did not scream, "It burns! It burns!" when we exchanged our vows. He quietly stated that we would spend the rest of our lives together.

  We danced our first dance, as Mr. and Mrs. Brand, to Bob Marley’s - Is This Love.

  Yes, it is.

  PS He always wears his wedding band. And once in a while, he screams, "It burns! It burns!"

• The Night I Fell in Love

  The Night I Fell in Love

  I met Stephen at a bar while I was in the process of being blown off by a friend. He was there with a friend who at the time I thought was good looking. As the night went on and the drinks made me more talkative, Stephen is the one I ended up flirting with the most. By the end of the night he claimed he had a memory like an elephant so I bet him he would not remember the color of my underwear. He bet me that I would never call him the next day. It took all day long, but I finally did call. And he did remember the color. 16 years later and 3 beautiful kids, we are still together. We may have issues, but our love is still strong!

• Every Day: A Love Story

  Every Day: A Love Story

  A little girl looked up at the moon and said,
  Dear Moon, I love you but tell me there will always be the morning.
  ’The morning will always rise, little one.’
  And the moon dove into the sea to fetch the dawn.

  The little girl looked up at the morning and said,
  Dear Dawn, I love you but tell me there will always be the day.
  ’The day will always break, little one.’
  And Dawn stretched itself across the sky to make room for the sun.

  The little girl looked up at the sun and said,
  Dear Sun, I love you but tell me you’ll never forget morning and night.
  ’They just have to remember me, little one.’
  And the day was bright.

  Then the moon pushed its starry blanket over the day
  So the sun could sleep and dream.
  And dawn woke the sun and encouraged it to shine.
  On and on they rose and shined and fell together.
  And the little girl was happy.

  And like morning and night, we are forever connected to those we love
  if together we nurture each day and are mindful of all that comes between us.

• Finding My Soulmate in Austria

  Finding My Soulmate in Austria

  While vacationing in Innsbruck, Austria, I decided to do some hiking in the Alps for the first time. At the meeting point, I noticed a handsome man sitting on the steps. I told him I was nervous, and while hiking, he put me at ease. We spent the remainder of the day strolling the old city and ending with a romantic dinner late into the evening. Our parting at the train station the next morning seemed like a tear jerker hollywood movie; thinking I would never hear from him again since he lived in California and I in Chicago. Two days later, to my surprise, I received an e-mail from him. Over the next three weeks, while he was still in Europe, we shared long e-mails and hundreds of dollars worth of phone calls. After returning home that weekend, he came to visit me in Chicago. At that point, I knew he was the one. One month later, he quits his job and moves to Chicago to be with me. Six months later; while, of course, hiking in Hawaii, we were married in a stream in front of a waterfall. And, two months later expecting our first child.

• Two Wars and 2500 Miles

  Two Wars and 2500 Miles

  A few years ago I walked into my cousin’s house and was told by one of his friends I was in the room of my future husband. I laughed it off. My current boyfriend, Cory, was the one telling me this. Cory and I met four years ago and had an instant connection, and became friends immediately, both of us secretly wanting more but me being the one guilty of not allowing it to happen, Cory’s persistence and confidence never stopped. Cory left for the Marines in 2007, and we began to fall out of touch. One random day I received a call from Cory and our friendship was alive again. Soon after, Cory had to do a Field Op and was gone for thirty days, longest thirty days of my life, when he returned he called, and I was never happier to hear from him. It was then I realized we were meant to be together, and so we started our relationship. Since then, Cory has been deployed to Iraq and will be deployed to Afghanistan in a few months, as hard as it can be at times, two wars and 2500 miles will not keep us apart.

• Nasti Love

  Nasti Love

  I met Jim at a party the summer before senior year of high school (1971). Although he was with another girl he stared at me all night. We cheated our way into each others heart literally, we were playing poker. We started dating about 2 weeks later. Jim was my prom date. People said it wouldn’t last but here we are 34 years, 5 children, and 6 grandchildren later. Our love has seen us through alot of good and bad times over the years. But I wouldn’t trade one day of it.
• Jack & Gale

  Jack & Gale

  The Story: I always felt that I wasn’t meant to live a day past 20. I was out of High School when my friend that was a year younger and still in school introduced me to Gale. I had no intension of getting involved knowing what type of home I grew up in and didn’t want to subject anyone else to that environment. Gale had her work cut out for her. She became my best friend and before I knew it, I couldn’t help but love her. We were married by the time we were 20. Our family and friends said that we were too young and it wouldn’t last. It will be 27 years in October that we’ve been married. I can’t imagine taking another breath or seeing a single day without her. I guess that some things are meant to be and thank God I wouldn’t change a minute of it.

• 25 Years and Counting!

  25 Years and Counting!

  Ours started like so many others. We met in high school. After the very first time we met, John told his friend "I’m going to marry that girl". Three months after graduation, he did! We were young, with next to nothing but we were together! The next 6 years, brought 3 kids into our family. Babies, diapers, toddlers, what a crazy few years that was! But we made it through because we had each other and a lot of help from our great families! The years went by with so many things to experience. Grade school, high school, pets, a house, the "teenage years", a son’s marriage, the loss of both of our mothers, sending a son off to the Marines. Together, we have made it through so much. Anyone who has raised a family, knows you can’t do it without a lot of love! It has definitely not been an easy ride but we have made it - together!!! Funny, at our wedding, there were people taking bets on how long it would last. We were the long shot, but against all odds, we have made it - TOGETHER!!!! Because of our love, here we are - 25 years and counting!!!!

• You Just Never Know...

  You Just Never Know...

  My mom was a single woman who had just gone through a rough divorce and had a little girl. She was living with a friend (Robin) who knew the perfect man for her. Robin and Glor (another friend) set up the date. Things went well, so well that a year later Rick and Mary were to wed. I stood up in the wedding as the flower girl and my dad (Rick) adopted me soon after. Who knew that my now (late) grandma Glor knew that my mom and dad would be the perfect couple. This story means so much to me because recently my gram passed away and she is the person who brought us all together. She was our rock and glue and we miss her everyday.

• Kickball is for Lovers

  Kickball is for Lovers

  Spring was breaking into summer 2006. A group of post-suburban, late 20-30-somethings came together to form a co-ed kickball legacy - the "Big Red Ballers." From the start, the team’s females sacrifically proclaimed that for this season, "Kickball is for lovers." Whatever.

  And then Amy met Darin. Intrigued strangers, they were powerless at the altar of each other’s competitiveness, smart mouths, easy smiles, and the gamble of love.

  Flirting with a reason to connect off field, both capitalized quickly (nearly desperately via text message) to the found fact that the other claimed dominance at ping-pong (Darin called it sting-pong) and nearly everything else.

  Darin and Amy anchored outfield by day and each other’s hearts by night to form one of the most formidable defenses on and off the field. After back-to-back championships, the duo retired to find ever new ways to turn the night sky green with envy.

  All my love, D.

• Rock and Roll of Love!

  Rock and Roll of Love!

  Upon the request of my co-worker friend Adam, I went to see his 80’s rockband perform. I brought my best friend Kathe along & when we entered the bar, she shouted "Michelle, I know the drummer!" as she pointed to Len. I turned to her & said "Well, there’s my co-worker," as I pointed to Adam. It turned out that my best friend went to college with Len, & after our first date, we figured out that we both attended the SAME college at one point! Long story short, 13 years later Len & I are still still together! We will be celebrating our 1 year anniversary this May & it was our love of rock music that brought us together. Who says you can’t find a great person in a bar?

• Special Presence

  Special Presence

  I have been blessed with the presence of special people in my life for 24 years now. It started with having two extraordinary Grandmas’. They were wonderful people, who always took care of others, always were there to talk to, and always were great cooks!

  Since their passing, I’ve had my Mom who always puts family before herself, the one always there for me, the one who knows what to say in sad and happy moments, the one who can talk your ear off (j/k Mom), the backbone of the family, and another great cook!

  And for the past 2 1/2 years, I’ve had my wonderful wife. She is a sweet, kind hearted person who would do anything for anyone to make them happy. Her smile is one to light up a room! She has that glow to her that makes it hard not to smile when she is around. She completes me as a person and makes everything seem possible. Everything about her makes me happy that I have something so special to come home to everyday. I love you sweetheart, you are my pride and joy.

  P.S.- She can cook too! :)

• What a nice guy...

  What a nice guy...

  I was just transferred to Columbus when unseasonable below zero temps came and my car wouldn’t start. How was I going to get to my store to make sure we opened on time! Panic and frustration caused me to kick my car just as another car pulled into the apt. parking area. The driver looked in my direction but got out and walked into the neighboring apt building. Not knowing anyone, I finally contacted my bookkeeper who was on the way to pick me up. Whew! Just before Nancy arrived, the driver from the car came back outside and asked if he could help me. I smiled in relief and said thank you, it just won’t start. Just as I uttered those words Nancy arrived. I handed the man my entire set of keys, quickly asked which apt he lived in. He called out the apt number just as I got into the waiting vehicle. I’ll be back at 6 and I live in apt G. Nancy asked, "Who’s the guy?" I replied,"Beats me, but I just handed him the keyring to my entire life!" We married 5 months later...now going on 25 years.

• Alaskan Love Story

  Alaskan Love Story

  In October 2005, I decided to go and settle into the "Last Frontier"-Alaska. Big change for this Chicago girl! I started working at a snowboarding shop & was enjoying burying myself in work when not exploring downtown Anchorage & the local parks. Soon my co-worker, William, started raving about his friend James and how we were perfect for each other. I wasn’t interested and tried to make it known I did not date... William was persistent (and meanwhile telling James all about me). After closing shop one Friday night, I needed a ride home & called up William. Instead of dropping me at home so I could go to bed like I planned, William took me to a party where James would be. With some resignation, I agreed, since William was not giving in. As we entered the large, beautiful Alaskan home, the most handsome man I had ever seen came walking up the stairs.

  "That man I want to meet!" I said.

  "That’s James!" said William.

  Well, well. We met, stayed by each others side, and were married two years later. James is the kindest, most loving and romantic man I’ve ever known. Happily ever After!