Thursday, September 6, 2012

Love Locks - 27 Years and Counting

I had seen love padlocks before, but never with the same intensity as in Paris...



Wickipedia, the source of all knowledge, says:

There are varied explanations for the origin of love padlocks. In Europe, love padlocks started appearing in the early 2000s.[2] The reasons love padlocks started to appear vary between locations, and in many instances are unsourced. However, in Rome, the ritual of affixing love padlocks to the bridge Ponte Milvio can be attributed to the book I Want You by Italian author Federico Moccia, who later made it into the film-adaptation Ho voglia di te.[3][4]
Similarly, an attribution for the bridge Most Ljubavi (lit. the Bridge of Love—now named after the love padlocks) in Serbia exists, where they can be traced to even before World War II. A local schoolmistress named Nada, who was from Vrnjačka Banja, fell in love with a Serbian officer named Relja. After they committed to each other Relja went to war in Greece where he fell in love with a local woman from Corfu. As a consequence, Relja and Nada broke off their engagement. Nada never recovered from that devastating blow, and after some time she died as a result of her unfortunate love. As young girls from Vrnjačka Banja wanted to protect their own loves, they started writing down their names, together with the names of their loved ones, on padlocks and affixing them to the railings of the bridge where Nada and Relja used to meet.

27 years ago, in my fourth year of university, I met my husband.  We were besotted from the start and got engaged 2 months after we met and married 5 months later, on September 7th, 1985.

That seems like a long time ago....

Years pass and there are good times and there are bad times and there are boring times and there are funny times, but through it all, the times have been with him.

We are not, despite the speed with which we married (and for those of you "Anne" fans out there you will recall the infamous quote by L. M. Mongomery "Marriage in hast, repent at leisure"), a particularly romantic couple.  And we can be very hard-headed and disagree about many things (like one of us talks to much and one of us talks to little.  Guess which is which?) 

But we made two great adults and are still best friends.  And we share the same values.

So imagine my shock on our last morning in Paris when we went for a walk and he directed me covertly out to the Pont and handed me the lock with the two keys:



He wrote on the lock, we locked it to the bridge and through the keys into the Seine and kissed.  Pretty good after 27 years.  I left my heart in Paris and took it with me.  Quite an accomplishment.

We'll go back in another 27 and see how it's looking...  Happy Anniversary Barry!  Je t'adore!

29 comments:

  1. Awwwwwww! You two are so cute. Congratulations on 27 years!

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  2. This is darling. Congrats to you 2.

    The northern most town in the Cinque Terre has a bridge with padlocks too.

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    1. I think he and I may need to take a tour of these bridges! Perhaps a pilgrimage???

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  3. SWAK: WMM, thanks for sharing your true romance. Here's to your next milestone together and your sweet Paris memory. Will raise a Friday cocktail to you both tomorrow. P.S. The City of Toronto removed the handful of love locks from the Humber River bridge a while back. But it's not a very romantic spot, and bigger civic worries about falling chunks of the Gardiner Expressway

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    1. GetFresh! Thanks for the toast!

      That it too funny about the Gardiner expressway - I think there are a lot of bridges and roads in Canada that people should be worried about falling chunks! That would be quite tragic, wouldn't it, to be putting on your padlock and get whacked with a big piece of concrete!

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  4. I loved this post, and you made me cry with happiness for you two - you made me think about myself and my DH who I love with passion, and imagine us27 years from now ... - What a beautiful story of love, God bless this union, today and always with so much love!
    Happy Aniversary!

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    1. Thanks Andrea! I did tell him he didn't need to get me anything for the big day as I was so shocked that he was that romantic!

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  5. Aaawwwww - that's so sweet! Happy anniversary and many more to come!!

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  6. How sweet! You look incredibly happy together.

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  7. I hope you two do return in another 27, but goodness gracious I hope you two return many, many times before that!

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  8. Such a happy post to read, thank you for sharing, it made my morning! Congratulations!!! You two are so adorable! I think he IS very sweet and romantic, maybe just not sentimental, both of you are lucky to have each other :)

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  9. Happy Anniversary! You two are such an adorable couple, WMM! I love that your hubby surprised you with the padlock...what a beautiful way to end an amazing trip! :)

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    1. Yes, something like this means more to me than diamonds etc.

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  10. How wonderful! I had a little tear spring up in my eye when I read this! It's so so sweet!
    Well it sounds like someone is a big romantic after all. ;)
    Congratulations to you both on your anniversary and your successful marriage, I wish you many many many more happy years together.

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    1. Thanks Dani! It sure is work, but mostly, I often think it is luck!

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  11. So lovely. It must have been so romantic! Congratulations on your successful marriage. DH and I moved in together after 4 months of dating and were engaged 4 months after that because he wanted to wait and propose until after his bother's wedding. I guess when you know, you know :-)

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    1. Julie - i think you are right, but sometimes it does feel like luck and timing, doesn't it?

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  12. Oh hear you go again ! I`m getting misty eyed at 7 a.m. What a wonderful way to celebrate the anniversary and to think back that you left a little piece of the both of you in Paris ... so sweet.

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    1. Sorry Marsha! I have a post on pots coming up - that should calm the place down! :-)

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  13. Oh your love story is so beautiful, and what a wonderfully romantic thing for your husband to do, mine is the most unromantic man on earth!

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    1. tabs, he goes with you to the south of France - that is pretty darn good! Mine is typically more of a joker - perhaps he is aging like a fine wine....

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  14. Thank you for sharing such an amazing story and it's so sweet.

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Kindness is a virtue...