Three Local Love Stories to Set the Mood

Whether you're a hopeless romantic or you think it's a Hallmark holiday, Valetine's Day is officially upon us. Here are a few local tales of love and romance to get you in the Valentine's Day mood.

1. Lori McDonald: High School Sweethearts and a Chucky Cheese Marriage Proposal

My husband John and I met when I was in the 7th grade and he in the 10th grade.  We went to Northern Middlesex Regional High School in Townsend, which was grades 7-12 at the time.  We became friends through a mutual friend, and might have become more, but back then older students didn't date the younger ones. 

After he graduated we lost touch.  I graduated a few years later and went off to college.  One day in the cafeteria I spotted John but couldn't catch up to him.  I left a note for him in his mail box and went on with my day.  Three months later he called me.  It seems that he was just ending a relationship and wasn't ready to make "that" call. 

In March of 1984, we had our first date.  He took my to , in Chelmsford, for ice cream.  From there we went to see the movie Footloose at the theater in Lawrence.  On our third date he took me to a St. Patrick's dance at the West Townsend VFW, where we talked about our individual futures.  We both wanted the same music at our weddings, if we were to ever get married, and everything other goal was about the same. 

I left that date knowing I had found "the one", and John has always said the same thing about me.  A year later, at Chucky Cheese in Manchester, N.H., John proposed.  To know John is to know how appropriate that location was.  We were married a year after that in July. 

This coming July 19 will be our 25th anniversary.  We will first be celebrating the 27th anniversary of our first date on March 9th.  We do that every year.  No big event, we make it simple.  The secret to staying together so long?  Hmm, I'm not sure there is a secret.  We love each other, we annoy each other, we support each other, we drive each other crazy. 

We've seen each other through the birth of three kids and a house fire.  John has supported me through several health issues, and still does.  We are each other's end all be all, if you will.  I can't imagine life without him, and I'd like to think he thinks the same about me.  So, really no secret, its all love, understanding, trust and support.   

2. Claire Petrillo: True Love After Divorce

I had been divorced for a while, loved, lost and was ready to try again.  I was a busy single mother who worked full time and the bar scene was not mine.  I did try online dating, but this is not your average online dating story.  I met one guy before my husband and he turned out to be nothing like he was supposed to be. 

I was hesitant to try the online dating thing again, but I decided to take a different approach.  A friend of mine was trying to booster my self-confidence and she resoundingly told me that if a guy was interested, he would come to me.  So I took that to heart and just watched any messages that might come in.  A couple messages I responded to, nothing I was interested in. 

One day, I got a message from this incredibly handsome man.   He had not taken the easy way out and sent a wink or a flirt.  No, he took the time to write to me.  I read it, looked over his profile was quite impressed and then did absolutely nothing.  

 Ten days later, he emailed me again.  I wondered what his motivations were.  I emailed him back with a simple, non-committal response.  Moments later, he emailed me back.  We started to go back and forth and I was enjoying myself.  Eventually he asked if he could have my number to call.  I said no.  He understood and we kept talking on email, sharing pictures and answering questions.  A couple days later, he asked again if he could talk to me. 

I agreed and he shared with me that he was leaving for boot camp and training shortly.  I knew he was in the National Guard, but I was not prepared to handle something like that so early on in our burgeoning relationship.  He asked if he could write to me, I said yes, gave him my address.  We talked on the phone as much as possible until he left and then I waited impatiently for a letter.

 I can still remember the thrill, the rush, my heart pounding, my hand shaking when I got his first letter.  We still had not met in person and I was nervous to see, feel, touch something that was tangible of his.  I wrote back immediately.  Sometimes twice in one day, every day at least and I hardly every missed a day that I wrote. 

 Then came the day that he graduated and could talk on the phone again, he had written ahead of time when he was graduating and that that letter would be his last.  I was devastated at the thought of no more letters as my days had revolved around them.   I was dreadfully nervous about talking to him again and very excited, all in one.  

When I got the call, it was like talking to an old friend.  We had shared and revealed so much about ourselves, I felt thrilled to be talking to him.  We called each other, texted, sent picture message as often as we could while he finished training.  Then the day came closer, the day he was to come home.  We talked about it and we made the decision I was going to pick him up.  Words cannot describe my nerves.

 As soon as he got off the plane, he called me.  I was already there.  He told me where he was and I started to walk towards the area.  During the course of our letters, I had chided him that I would be so nervous when I met him, that I would turn around and run away.  

As I walked down the terminal towards where he was, my heart tried to beat through my chest.  Then I saw him.  This handsome, tall, imposing figure of a man was standing there in his uniform, grinning at me.  I promptly turned on my heels and started to walk in the opposite direction.  Still on the phone, he cracked up in my ear.  “Get back over here!  I see you, you know.” 

They were the first words I had heard him speak in person.  My nerves broke through to laughter, and I turned around.  Suddenly I was being engulfed in these big arms, crushed against this strong chest and his voice was in my ear, not through a phone.  All your life you hear about love at first sight.  Being a hopeless romantic, I always said that I believed in it, but until that moment, I never lived it.

 One year exactly from that date, we married in a garden full of butterflies, surrounded by our children and our parents.  I pull out that box of letters on occasion, especially when I miss him a lot.  What lays within those pages is priceless and comforting when he is gone.  They are an absolute treasure.

Editor's Note: Read more about Claire Petrillo and her life while her husband is serving in the military in her column,

3. Joanne Stanway: Proposal from a CD Player

I had been widowed for just over four years when I ventured into the world of online dating and posted a profile on what was known then as Matchmaker.com.  Within two weeks I started chatting through the website with this British guy who lived in Lowell, had a decent job, was a dad, and didn't mind that I had a kid of my own. 

I think what attracted me to this guy was the fact that we instantly "talked" to each other as friends rather than two adults looking for love.  A month after connecting online, we spoke on the phone and I loved his slight accent and his very unique, quirky humor which complemented my own.  He told me he was taking St. Patrick's Day off from work to help a friend in the kitchen at the Dubliner Restaurant & Pub in Lowell - to peel potatoes and carrots and make corned beef and cabbage. 

I'd never been to an Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day, so I invited myself.  This would be our first face to face meeting, and the day I realized Phil Stanway was a little bit afraid of me which I considered to be the perfect ingredient for a successful relationship.

  Less than year later, on February 10, 2000 – Phil and I each worked a half day so we could share a late lunch and see Penn & Teller perform at the Lowell Auditorium.  Phil had me over to his cool bachelor pad (12 10-foot widows, cathedral ceiling and spiral staircase), and prepared his stock “date” meal - store-bought quiche and a bag salad. 

Before we ate, he gave me an early Valentine - a CD he compiled of music he said reminded him of me.  It was really quite romantic because he put a photo of the two of us on the jewel case, and another photo on the CD.  There were 18 tracks, starting with Sean Connery's rendition of "In My Life" and ending with Midge Ure's "Breathe."  Track 17, however, was “A Question”.  Phil asked if I’d like to skip ahead to Track 17, and I said “no” – a knew it was a marriage proposal and I wasn’t certain I was prepared, so we ate our store-bought quiche and bag salad and listened to the entire CD.  Track 17 was Phil’s voice saying, among other things, that the past year had been the best of his life and would I marry him. 

As I listened to his words, undoubtedly practiced and re-recorded many times to get it just right – Phil knelt before me on bended knee with a bouquet of roses his hand.  I said yes.  This May 26 will be our 10 year wedding anniversary and a celebration of a marriage that started out as and will always be, a wonderful friendship and a relationship filled with much respect, effort and a great deal of fun.

Interested in even more love stories? Check out our video series "How They Met" with several local couples: