What is true love? What does true love look like? Have you ever been truly in love? Have you ever loved someone so deeply, madly and truly that you would give your life for them?
Modern love is nothing like before. It’s become too practical, too ego-centrical, too selfish and sometimes even too superficial. It seems that today people love each other as long as it suits them both. The moment things start to become challenging, nobody wants to try and make it right.
But there are some love stories that persevere, that survive the test of time and serve to show us what true love really looks like. These are the stories that should inspire us and show us that we should all be searching for a love like theirs.
Love Story – A Real Example of Devotion, Commitment and Pure Love
This is the story of Preble Staver and Isabell Whitney, the couple who met on a blind date and made sure their love story went down in history. They met while they were both studying in Philly and soon started seeing each other. They hit it off and started dating. Soon afterwards the war broke out and they both decided to enlist. Preble was a marine while Isabell was a navy nurse. Just 5 months after the war ended, in 1946, the couple was reunited and got married.
Preble and Isabell had an extraordinary life together. They were happy but still had to overcome many obstacles in order to stay together. Preble was a lobbyist and a banker so due to the nature of his job they had to move more often so they lived in Virginia, South Carolina and Florida.
The couple had 5 children together, one of which unfortunately died while in high school. The tragedy took its toll on the couple, but they decided that they won’t let this break them apart. As one of their daughters, Laurie Clinton recalls, the accident actually made them stronger. She remembers her father as handsome, tall and communicative, a man with a strong character, and her mother as kind and compassionate. They always supported each other and went through life together, no matter what.
In 2013 Isabell was diagnosed with dementia, so they had to move into a care facility in Norfolk, Virginia. They stayed in the same home but slept in different rooms. Despite not being together all the time, they still found ways to support each other and express their love for one another. Even when Preble was in a wheelchair he would go to his wife’s unit to visit her and check up on her.
On Isabell’s 86th birthday, Preble asked the staff if he could nap with Isabell and they didn’t have the heart to deny him this wish. They fell asleep holding hands, like they did all the time before, and enjoyed this precious moment together. Just a few days later Isabell passed away and Preble was right there, by her side, to send her off to the afterlife. But the greater surprise was the fact that Preble also passed away, on the same day, only 14 hours later. They travelled through life always together and they ended their life journey together, after spending 71 years together.
