The Haddonfield Sun ran an editorial asking locals to send in their love stories! These are what the paper had received.
If you’d like to submit your own love story please email your story with a picture to [email protected]
In alphabetical order:
The following was submitted by Kate Lane:
When I was little, I’d imagine fantastical scenarios for how I’d meet the love of my life. I’d drop a watermelon on some guy’s foot, and we’d fall deeply in love.
Truthfully, I don’t even remember meeting Jeff. He was just someone who lived in my freshman dorm. However, a month after we began dating, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.
It may not be the most exciting story to tell our children, but that’s ok. Ours is an ordinary love story made extraordinary, one small act at a time.
Kate and Jeff Lane have been together for 16 years and married for 12.
*****
The following was submitted by Harriet Monshaw
I replied to an ad in the Philadelphia Magazine. After two years of responding to these ads. I had given up; nice guys, but…
Anyway, I continued to read these often amusing ads. Then I read this ad that read, “Executive, single, 48, slim, good appearance and grooming with many active interests (backgammon, sports, theatre, dining etc.) and a sense of humor wants to meet an attractive slim, interesting, compatible woman under 45. Phone and photo appreciated.” It sounded like a good winter date to me. I responded, but no photo.
He called the following Sunday evening while I was watching PBS’ Carre’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” With no recording device for the program, I asked him if he wouldn’t mind calling back about an hour later. Carre I could count on; a phone call from a stranger I couldn’t. He called back. After a relatively brief conversation, we made a date for the following Sunday.
He took me to Pier 111 a bar and restaurant in Atco. I bit of a distance from Haddonfield, but I thought he probably didn’t want to be seen. We sat at the bar. I faced the television and he faced the door. He ordered a scotch and soda; I ordered a brandy alexander. The Phillies were playing an important championship game. He never watched the game, but just talked to me. Boy was I impressed!
When he took me home, we sat in his car in my driveway chatting. I told him that I had to say “goodnight” because I was working the next day. He walked me to my door. I said “goodnight.” He asked if he could kiss me goodnight. I hesitated and then said, “okay.” He gave me a brief kiss and said, “More…” I said, “Goodnight, Val!” and started to laugh. Then he started laughing, we almost couldn’t stop.
Two days later, I was leaving for work and noticed a card in my mailbox. The card was a Snoopy-type dog wearing a Sherlock Holmes hat looking over a fence. The card read, “I’m so happy I found you. Is there a reward?” He wrote, “I enjoyed meeting you the other night and am looking forward to seeing you again. I hope the feeling is mutual. Val.”
I thought to myself, ah gee, he seemed so nice, but must be some kind of a nut. I then remembered my former roommate who received a nosegay after her first date with her husband, an engineer. Is that what engineers do? I accepted his date for the next Sunday. We were married nine months later.
*****
The following was submitted by Jane Spence
Feb. 14 is the day we tell the people we love all the ways they make our lives better.
This year, my Valentine is to a program that made all the difference for my daughter and I. Over 25 years ago, as a single parent, it saved my life. I don’t know how we would have survived my daughter’s “school years” without the program.
Today it continues to make life better for countless other parents, grandparents and kids in Haddonfield. I’m speaking of Haddonfield Child Care.
I love Haddonfield Child Care because the program genuinely cares about the kids and their families. For 30 years, they have been truly dedicated to seeing that the children of our community thrive and grow into strong, healthy and happy adults, staying in touch with families, and continuing to connect with us as our children have grown up, developing careers and having children of their own.
I love it because I knew my child was in an nurturing, safe and supervised environment where she could play with other children, participate in enriching activities, enjoy a healthy snack and, on most days, complete her homework. The program provided structure without feeling confined. It always knew my daughter was happy and well cared for before and after school each day.
I love it because I know how hard it is to be a working parent, especially a single one. You worry about your kids all day long and some of us worry most during the hours between the final school bell and the time we get home from work. After-school programs keep children safe and busy during those hours. Hours that studies show can be some of the most dangerous for children, when they get into trouble or get hurt. I could go to work each day with the peace of mind, never having to worry where my daughter was, whom she was with or what she was doing.
I know I’m not alone in my affection for the staff of Haddonfield Child Care. There are parents all over the country just like me, who love their kids’ afterschool programs, and kids, like mine, who loved that program too.
It has been determined that children of working parents spend more waking time with their teachers and/or childcare providers than their family. There is very little opportunity for quality family time each evening with dinner to prepare and homework to be completed, prior to a reasonable bedtime. My daughter and I were lucky enough to have that quality time because the Haddonfield Child Care fostered an environment where she could enjoy some after school downtime and then do her homework until I picked her up.
We returned to our home with the luxury of time to discuss the day’s events and our plans for the coming days. I’m convinced the one reason my daughter is a teacher is that she loved and learned from the staff of Haddonfield Child Care each day that she spent with them and wanted it “pay it forward.”
So, today as we take the time to share our love with the people in our lives who matter most, I’m happy to share my appreciation with Haddonfield Child Care.
