Back in the day, my love aspirations were based on couples I’d seen on my favourite soaps. To fall in love just like Bo Brady and Hope Williams was probably the biggest goal in my younger life.
Oh! To have someone call me ‘Fancy Face’ as I set my wide jaw to indifference – though my eyes would say otherwise – would be the be-all-end-all of romantic endeavours. Or so I thought.
Romantic Dreams
Many things change over time, and as you age, so does your perception of that perfect love. Gone are the longings for daytime drama-like romances where demonic possessions, kidnappings and love-child sagas are the things romantic dreams are made of. And having a long thought dead husband return to reclaim his lost love after she’s fallen in love with another? No thanks! Who need the stress of tossing a messy love triangle into the already muddy mix of love and marriage? Not I!
There comes a time in life when seeing a partner load the dishwasher is all the foreplay one needs, or when not having to clean up the crumbs after them one night out of six means that what you have must really be true long-lasting love.
Now? In my fifties? I’m fascinated with ‘older’ couples who seem to have it all figured out. You see them around all the time. Hubby waiting outside a store as his lovey picks through the racks. The fella keeping the car warm for his missus outside the Costco, one eye on the door so he can drive around and fetch her when she pops out with cart chinched.
The duo out for a wee stroll holding hands and looking like they might actually be enjoying one another’s company. Swoon-worthy relationship goals.
Of course there’s other more visible role models when it comes to love and romance and marriage.
The Queen isn’t a bad one to look up to when thinking of long-lasting love. The Queen and Prince Philip were married 73 years and if either ever strayed outside their marriage for comfort from another, rest assured the paparazzi would have grabbed the snaps and we’d all have read about it.
The image of the Queen sitting alone at the Duke’s funeral will long stay burned in my mind. That image of lonely is how you’d imagine you’d feel after the loss of your life partner, and that picture spoke a thousand words.
Other public couples also stand testament to long-lasting love, even though theirs would be considered a tad unconventional. Gene Simmons and NL’s own Shannon Tweed come to mind. Sharon and Ozzy are another rock ’n’ roll couple who are proof that through sickness and through health (and through all kinds of other strange, scary stuff) marriage can last and love can endure for who knows what rhyme or reason.
Against all odds
Even the most brilliant minds knew better than to analyze it. It was Albert Einstein who said wisely, ‘you can’t blame gravity for falling in love.’ Against all odds, love can last in Hollywood. Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have been in love since their first date on Valentine’s Day in 1983 and Kevin Bacon has been anything but ‘Footloose” since meeting Kyra Sedgwick in ’87.
As for Fancy Face and her Bo?
Their love lasted and like the Queen and Philip, only death separated those lovebirds. Bo died in Hope’s arms in the same park where they first met. Be still my beating heart! And let’s not forget Nikki and Victor, who have been married and divorced at least once a decade over the last forty years and are still together in spite of near-deaths, reported demises and enough affairs to cast doubt on any possible romance rekindling. Proof there’s hope for the rest of us.
Happy Valentine’s Day!