So I was looking around the Romantic Times website the other day and ran across this:
It’s a contest for real people to tell the stories of REAL romances…great romances that should be immortalized in a romance novel. I thought this was about the coolest thing ever and tried to think about if I knew anyone who would qualify…and I couldn’t think of anyone!
I know there are great romances out there–against the odds, rife with conflict and great sexual attraction out there in the world. If not for very real romances, there wouldn’t be romance novels. It’s just that most people fall in love in the ordinary way–they meet, they are attracted, they get to know one another, they fall in love, they get married…happily ever after.
But I know there have to be greater stories out there than that!
My grandparents had a really good story…but I realize now that I don’t know enough of the details. I’m not even sure how they met. It might have been in school, though my grandfather dropped out in 5th grade, so I wonder if that’s how. I know they would not have intermingled otherwise. My grandfather was Italian. My grandmother was Cuban. In those days (they married in 1935…my grandmother was born in 1914, and I think she was younger than he was) this was considered interracial. Though my grandmother was white (with blue eyes, no less) she was considered black by the Italians because Cuba had so many black people.
Somehow, however, they got married. It was a huge scandal! My grandfather’s sisters (who raised him as his parents had died young) were so outraged they found them after their elopement and stayed with them all night so they couldn’t consummate the marriage and in the morning, they thought they could get the church to annul the marriage. (Trick was, they hadn’t married in a church, but at the courthouse, so there was nothing the sisters could do…besides the fact that my grandfather and grandmother were both legal adults, there really was NOTHING they could do.) This marriage caused a rift that lasted well after I was born–all those years later.
I know my grandparents were devoted to each other. My grandfather allowed my grandmother to get a job back when women didn’t work. (She worked at a baseball factory right across the street from her house so she would be home when my father and uncle got home from school.) She had her own checking account. My grandfather had started up his own business (which is now run by my father and my brothers) and while not “progressive” in any way–the man was definitely old school–he knew better than to try and stifle the independent streak that ran through my grandmother’s veins. (Yes, yes…I get it from her. I’ve heard it all my life.)
So in there is probably a really great story and I don’t know it and that makes me sad!
What a great way for someone who does have a great story to immortalize it through a novelization. Or just through telling family stories or talking to your friends. Or sharing on the blog!
Do you know any great love stories that are real? Even if you don’t know all the details? Do you know any that might be a contender for the contest? Post here if you do!
UPDATED TO ADD: I just got word that I’m allowed to announced that I will be one of the launch authors for this venture. I wasn’t permitted to say so before right this minute…I really was at RT looking for the ad, though…it just wasn’t an accidental find, LOL! I can’t give more details, but I’m really excited to be working on this project and can’t wait to see which story I’m given to novelize. Isn’t it exciting?!?
By all reports, Julie Leto was a sweet child once, somewhat shy, preferring to play quietly in her room making up stories. However, being raised with three brothers in a loud, primarily Italian household did have its influences and Julie discovered her inner tough girl. That’s probably why most of her heroines kick serious butt. Writing sassy heroines has worked out, as she’s sold nearly thirty books to three publishers featuring strong, confident women. Julie lives in Florida with her husband, daughter, spoiled dachshund, enormous guinea pig and a wide range of relatives all within driving distance.
ANOTHER WILD WEDDING NIGHT
Hard to Hold
Love Me If You Dare
Wild For Him
Subscribe to Posts 
Comment
I don’t know of any “great” love stories, but I do hear from time to time some awfully good ones. I know one couple, married probably 30 or 35 years by now, who did everything together. Worked in the same department, went to lunch together, traveled, and eventually retired to go live on a houseboat somewhere in England. They didn’t have children, but they really didn’t need anyone else. Sorta strange, but also rather romantic at the same time, especially that they were still so in love after all those years of “togetherness”.
I can’t wait to read more stories. :SmallSanta:
Comment
Even the simplest love stories are great ones- love doesn’t have to be noisy or make a big splash. Isn’t love itself the story?
Comment
My husband’s great grandparents met in a cemetery. She was visiting the grave of her deceased husband and he was visiting the grave of his deceased wife. I even wrote a story about it.
His grandparents had an interesting story as well.
His grandmother was taken from her parents in their village in Switzerland by the bishop because she was conceived out of wedlock. He thought she couldn’t be raised in the “church” way being the spawn of the damned and so forth. She was sent to a convent where the nuns taught her to do two things: knit underwear and socks. She wasn’t taught to read or write. When she was fifteen or sixteen, she was sent to the US as an indentured servant to work as a maid for a wealthy family in upstate NY. She spoke no English. Can you imagine?
His grandfather was an orphan who came to the US from Ireland. He went to work for a man who owned a ranch. The man beat the hell out of him on a daily basis. Finally, he ran away and went to work as a gardener for the same wealthy family in upstate NY. And that is where they met.
His grandmother related more to animals than she did to people. She wasn’t very warm and fuzzy but it’s understandable. Despite his grandfather’s hard upbringing and being wounded in WWI by mustard gas, according to all of the stories I’ve heard, he was one of the happiest, most wonderful people. And he would talk to everybody he met even strangers on the street.
My husband tells the story that the first time he saw me he knew he was going to marry me.
Cher :santabag:
Comment
No great love stories here (although, I love Julie’s story and Cher’s).
Hub update: he’ll be fine….his CT showed no bleeding in his brain…
Question (random): I am starting to read “Harry Potter” with my 7 year old. I haven’t read it in awhile…is there anything I need to be worried about? I can remember the story, just not the details. He loves it so far (we’re only about 14 pages into the story).
Comment
Katie, you’ve come to the right place.
No, there’s nothing to worry about in the first two books at all. The third book gets a little creepy (the dementors are scary, especially since through them, Harry can hear his mother being murdered). The fourth through the end all get increasingly intense and deal with issues such as death, dying, grieving, torture (esp. the 5th)…but the first two are fine. A little scary, but nothing more than a seven year old is probably used to in cartoons. But it’s all very individual to the child, I suppose.
Comment
He’s my “Star Wars” boy, so he’s used to death and that type of stuff. Thanks, Julie…we’re not that far, but he loves it so far (he’s been begging me to read it with him, I convinced him that we had to read it together, but he wants to read it on his own….LOL…he’s my reader).
Comment
I am sorry to say I don’t know any great love stories, but I agree with Ev, love itself is a story. One couple I know have been married over 50 years. I love knowing that and knowing them. They moved next door to my family when I was 15 and we’ve remained friends. It is a wonderful thing have such long time friends and such great examples of a good marriage.
:SmallSanta: :reindeer: :ccane:
Julie, thanks for sharing the story about your grandparents. Real life stories about how people meet is always interesting.
:santabag: I’m off the run errands & maybe finish Christmas shopping. Depends on if the day goes smooth! Mostly I need to shop for food & other necessary items!! What fun among the Christmas shoppers!!
:bigxmas:
:rain: Yes, shopping in the rain! We need it, no complaints!!
Comment
My husband tells the story about his grandparents.
His grandfather wanted to come to America from Italy, to escape The National Fascist Party and Mussolini. But immirgrantion rules at that time required that every immigrant must have a job and an upcoming marriage. He had a pending job but no prospects for a wedding. Writing his uncle he tells him of his plight. Months pass before he recieved word from his uncle, that an marriage has been arranged upon his arrival to Nevada. So with a few possessions, a job and a bride? he sets sail to America.
After a very long trip across the Atlantic, he makes his way out west. Upon his arrival to Nevada, plans for the wedding are put into motion. The only thing that his grandfather knows about his bride to be is that she is 15 and was not “pure” of heart.
On that day they married and even thou they had their up and downs, lots of screaming in italian.
They grew to love each other for over 50 years. 
Comment
That’s awesome, Julie :) How fun!
Comment
Jules CONGRATS!!! That does seem like a really great venture, but alas, I have no story of my own, nor do I know of any that could fit the bill.
How is homeschooling going BTW? Are you on Christmas break? LOL!!!
Peace and love,
Paula R.
Comment
I’ve just had a chance to read this. Very cool!!! Both the story of your grandparents’ marriage and the new project you get to be a part of. Congrats!!