The Sweetest love story

[Jo McDonald]

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The Sweetest Love Story
John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform,
and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central
Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he
didn't, the girl with the rose. His interest in her had begun thirteen
months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he
found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the
notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a
thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he
discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time
and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He
wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond.

The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.
During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other
through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A
romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she
refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she
looked like. When the day finally came for him to return from Europe,
they scheduled their first meeting - 7:00 PM at the Grand Central
Station in New York. "You'll recognize me," she wrote, "by the red
rose I'll be wearing on my lapel."

At 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved,
but whose face he'd never seen. I'll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what
happened: A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and
slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her
eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness,
and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I
started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not
wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, provocative smile curved her
lips. "Going my way, sailor?" she murmured. Almost uncontrollably I
made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was
standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she
had graying hair tucked under a worn hat.. She was more than plump,
her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the
green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in
two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my
longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld
my own.

And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her
gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My
fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was
to identify me to her. This would not be love, but it would be
something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a
friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful.

I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman,
even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my
disappointment. "I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss
Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"
The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what
this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green
suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And
she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you
that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street.
She said it was some kind of test!"

It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom. The
true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive.
"Tell me whom you love," Houssaye wrote, "And I will tell you who you
are."

[sixdogsmom]

Yeh! I like that!

[Judy Harder]

Thanks Jo......that did my heart good.......Plus the tear ducts!!!
I would love to expierence  a love like that.
Oh well.......maybe next life.

AOYP

[Bonnie M.]

This is a great story, Jo.

Did anyone happen to see "Extreme Makeover" last night, on ABC?  My sister, Patsy, lives in the Dallas area, so the show was on a couple of hours ahead of out here oin "California time."  Patsy sent me two e-mails during the two hour show, saying that we really should be watching the show, so when it came on at 8:00, we did watch it.  It was the most wonderful show, and I hope others got to see it.  The young man the story was about was blind, and he was amazing.  What made me think of it, when reading about this story, was that the young man said that by being blind, he didn't develop prejudices towards people, because he couldn't see them.  He could only judge people by what he could hear, and by the way they were on the inside.  Wouldn't that be a good lesson for all of us?

[Ms Bear]

He was amazing.  So intelligent and talented.  His parents have done a remarkable job raising him and what a joy he must be to them.  They should be very proud of him and of themselves.