Imagine, if you will, that you have no idea what love is. Hollywood has created a projection of what love is “supposed to be like” for years and it is about as close to reality as you are to the former planet of Pluto. Love isn’t something that can be written or faked.
Love is the purest burning flame we will ever experience as human beings. In honor of REAL love, here are 4 real-life love stories that are better than anything you’ll ever see on a screen.
Dashrath Manjhi
in 1960, Manjhi’s wife Phalguni was bringing him lunch and suffered an injury that would eventually lead to her death. Manjhi was heartbroken and decided that if it wasn’t for the local terrain that surrounded their village, he could have gotten his injured wife to the medical attention that could have saved her life. So Manjhi did the only thing he could think to do: he set off with a hammer and chisel and carved a path through the mountains so that his village would have access to life-saving medical resources.
The path through the Gehlour hills that he carved 360 feet was long, 25 feet deep in places, and 30 feet wide. It cut the distance to the nearest medical facility from 80km to 10. According to Manjhi, “When I started hammering the hill, people called me a lunatic but that steeled my resolve.” Proof that love doesn’t have to move a mountain, it just cuts through it.
Irina and Woodford McClellan
In May of 1974, a Russian woman named Irina married an American man named Woodford McClellan in Moscow. In August of that year, Woodford’s visa expired and he was forced to leave Russia and his wife to return to the US. Woodford was denied another visa or even to enter the country. Likewise, Irina wasn’t allowed to leave Russia. The couple was separated for 11 years. Finally, in January of 1986, the couple was reunited at Baltimore-Washington International Airport for an 11-year struggle to be together. Irina went on to write a book titled Of Love and Russia: The Eleven-Year Fight for My Husband and Freedom, that documented her fight to be with her husband again. Love doesn’t understand distances.
Jack and Phyllis Potter
The Notebook is hailed as one of the greatest love movies ever made. For my generation, it is the golden standard for “chick flicks”. The story is about a husband who reads the story of their relationship to his wife to remind her of her life as she suffers from dementia. Although the movie was based on a fictional book, there was a real-life “Notebook” couple in England. Jack Porter began keeping a journal that he wrote in every day early in his childhood. On October 4th, 1941, Jack made an entry that said, “Very nice evening. Danced with [a] very nice girl. Hope I meet her again.” 16 months later, he married Phyllis. As they aged together, Phyllis developed dementia that eventually lead her to be placed in a nursing home.
After 70 years of marriage, Jack would visit Phyllis every day and read her entries from his journals and show her pictures of their life together. Love is timeless.
Fred Stobaugh
In 1940, Fred Stobaugh married the “prettiest girl [he] ever saw”, Lorraine. After an amazing 73-year long marriage, Lorraine passed away. Stobaugh never got over his love for Lorraine, and by chance he saw an ad for a local songwriting contest. Fred, who was self-admittedly tone deaf and not a musician, decided to pay tribute to his wife by writing one of the most touching love songs you’ll ever hear.
The following video is from the people at Green Shoe Studios, who received the lyrics from Fred and recorded his song “Sweet Lorraine”. Prepare the tissues, because as this video shows: Love is the purest inspiration.
