My Grandmother was in the Women's Land Army in England during World War II and my Grandfather was in the 82nd Airborne. This is their story, and the reason I will always be a hopeless a romantic and believe that fate plays a part in all of our lives.This is also the reason I chose my blog name.
Grandpa was doing practice jumps over the Welling Valley in England which was right down the street from my Grandma's house. He was the last to jump and something happened with the wind speed and he was shifted and he ended up landing in my Grandma's Oak tree in her front yard.
Both my Grandma and her father rushed out assuming he was German soldier trying to attack their town, so my great grandfather had his rifle and my grandmother had a pitch fork and they were questioning his allegiance. Once they realized he was an American soldier they invited him in.
He didn't leave for a for week and he only left because he was afraid of being AWOL. During that time he and my Grandma decided they couldn't live without each other and she made plans to move to Boston. It is the first and last time she has ever been on a boat (apparently there were rough seas during her trans-Atlantic voyage.)
Before Grandpa came back she made her wedding dress out of the ruined parachute from my Grandpa's practice jump! He left her at the altar twice (because his homecoming date kept getting pushed back.)
And then they lived happily ever after with their 9 children in Boston.
My Grandma and Grandpa were so in love. On the day my grandfather died they danced together around the kitchen before they sat down for there nightly tea. They both dozed off and he died of a heart attack in his sleep. They were holding hands.
This is the most romantic story I have heard! Forget the Notebook and such films, fictional romance isn't the same as true romance! I actually remember my Great Grandma telling me the story of a man falling from the sky and landing in an oak tree in a young woman's front garden, them falling in love and living happily ever after. I never realised it was about her sister until I came to Boston and your Grandma told me, I was captivated by her tales and love for your Grandpa. Thanks for writing this, I was in tears reading this, it's just a beautiful story. I hope Grandma is ok!
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