It’s the same story, boy meets girl and they fall in love, but the problem was he came from a poor family and her parents were not impressed.
So James decided not only to court Jane but to court her parents as well.
In time, they saw deep inside that the boy courting their daughter was a good man and worthy of her hand.
But the bright future was postponed because the tall, handsome young man was a soldier. War broke out and he was being sent overseas for a year.
As is every young couple’s traditional custom, he dropped to one knee, opened a little jeweler’s box and popped the question, “Will you marry me?”
She wiped a tear and said, “Yes. Yes, of course I will!”
They were thus engaged.
They agreed on a date one year from then when he would get back, even securing a chapel and her wedding dress as well.
But tragedy struck.
Only a few days after he left, the girl had a major car accident, a head-on collision.
After coming out of a coma she woke up in the hospital, saw her father by her side and her mother crying, and knew something bad was wrong.
She was to find out her injuries were severe from traumatic brain injury.
The part of the brain that controlled her face muscles was damaged, leaving her scarred for life. Her once lovely face was now disfigured.
When handed a mirror, she too began to cry, saying, “Yesterday I was beautiful, today I am a monster.”
Her body was also covered with many ugly wounds that she would have to cover.
Immediately she decided to release her fiancé from their promises as she knew he would not want her anymore. He would forget her, and she would never see him again once he found out.
Her worst pain was not from her injuries but the thought of losing James.
For one year the soldier wrote many letters, but she would never answer.
He even phoned her many times after she recovered enough to answer the phone, but when she heard his voice she would hang up.
But after one year, her mother walked into her room in the rehab center and announced, “James is back from the war.”
Jane shouted, “Whatever you do, don’t tell him about me. Don’t tell him I am here or what happened.”
Her mother, playing the devil’s advocate, said, “He’s getting married,” and handed her a wedding invitation.
As the daughter took the envelope, her heart sank because even though she knew her dream of marrying James was over, she still loved him and always would.
With great remorse she opened the wedding invitation.
Her name was on it and not another.
Confused, she asked her mother, “What is this?”
That was when James, dressed to the hilt in his uniform, entered the room with the prettiest bouquet of flowers she had ever seen.
He knelt beside her bed and asked, “Will you marry me?”
The girl covered her face with her hands and said, “I can’t. I am ugly.”
He shot back, “Oh yes you can, because I love you more than the day I left. Without your permission your sweet mom called me and told me of the accident and sent me photos. When I saw your photos, I realized that nothing has changed. You’re still the person I fell in love with. In my eyes you’re still beautiful as ever because I love you.”
They went on to marry and live many years together and raised off a beautiful family living the good life,
When I read this true love story, I could not help but think about my own.
Flor and I were engaged to marry after a two-year online and slow snail-mail courtship.
I had visited her in her home of Cebu, Philippines, eight months after we met through friends online. I took the knee and placed the ring on her hand.
As she had her plane tickets and visa in hand and was about to leave for America one week later, I called her from the military hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, the morning after I suffered a heart attack while in support of the troops as a contractor.
Like the girl in the story, I was calling to tell Flor she was no longer obligated to take my hand in marriage as I had no way of supporting her any longer.
Immediately, she replied, “I am not marrying you for your money, I am marrying you because I love you. You need me now more than ever. I will personally nurse you back to health.”
When I could get my composure from weeping, I said, “Thank you, baby. Now I know for sure I am marrying the right girl.”
This coming June will be 14 years since that conversation took place.
She did what she said she would do and nursed me back to health and has given me a reason to live.
With Valentine’s Day looming, I hope I have inspired at least just one person to look beyond any faults or mishaps they might have encountered along the way in their pursuit of happiness.
Looking through the eyes of love.
God bless you and God bless America.
